jn

I think the general consensus is that most algae eaters don't like the winters outside.. but some will tell you they have kept plecos overwinter without any trouble (the plecos of course are not able to tell you that they probably aren't having a good time of it!!) I think the special cold water 'cleaner upper' is a special creature called a snail ! Algae in ponds is the same as algae in tanks, if he plants it up right it should stop being a problem. Since we can't control the sun.. the tub needs to have about 1/2 of the surface covered with plants for shade so he doesn't have green water problems. Waterlilies are the obvious choice but I'm sure there are a few other mat forming plants that could be options too. Oxygenators (submerged plants) help use up extra nutrients too, as do marginals (those that sit by the top edge of the water with just their roots in) Arum lilies are good marginals and there should be plenty of them around!

oh.. also with my autostarting one I find it can sometimes get an airlock in it if I just put the vacuum part into the water too 'straight' .. dunno why... so I just put it in at a slight angle. I think the do-hickey that makes them autostart sometimes gets stuck!!

YOU SWALLOWED IT!!!!!! (or did it just get sucked up in the vacuum!)

Male goldfish have spots on their gill plates.. called tubercles. These can sometimes be confused with whitespot. They also sometimes appear at the edges of their dorsal and pectoral fins (the top one and first ones on the side) http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/gol ... ing-fs.htm If the fish is in a small tank with no filter then odds are there is now ammonia building up in there. How long has he been in the small tank? and how small is the tank? I'd do a BIG water change anyway....it won't hurt. Just try to get the temp about the same. How often have you been changing the water in the small tank and what % at a time?

Yes.. water with salt or meds don't go onto any plants...in those cases it gets tipped onto the gravel driveway (don't want the meds in my septic tankeither !!).. usually plenty of weeds I can try to kill in the driveway! But the water I emtpy from the tank before I clean it will need to 'go to a good home'. Alan, the tank had been treated for flukes and also with some wunder cure so hopefully there won't be too much still alive in there anyway... its going to get fresh filter wool and I suppose I can boil the gravel... What about the ceramic noodles and coarse sponge? I could 'salt and sun' them and/or I do have some PP I could use. And what about the pump and filter tubes then? I suppose whatever I decide to use I can do everything together in one bucket ('cept the gravel) .. so bleach or salt or PP? The plants are pretty wasted in there anyway so it'll get a fresh sterilised lot of cuttings from the other tank. I am repeating 100 times.. 'I will never keep another goldfish inside'. :roll:

Sounds good... will do. My main problem is that the other half hates me tipping water down the sink (wasteful)! He always insists I find a useful place to pour it (usually some otherwise neglected plant in the yard!) I think I need to put some water hungry plant outside the window where my tanks are! That would save me 'traipsing' through the house and garden with every damned bucket of water!! Grrr..... (Don't get me wrong.. I'm all for conserving water...but it can be a little inconvenient!!)

Alot of the new gravel cleaners are 'auto starting' which really just means they have a non-return valve in them I guess... with this type you're supposed to pump them up and down in the water until there's enough water in them for the flow to start. I find they start faster if you make sure your 'out' side of the hose is as straight as possible with it all going 'downhill' ie: make sure no bit of the hose is 'higher' than the bit before it. You'll get the hang of ie either way in the meantime.. nothing stopping you from using a container to scoop water out of your tanks into a bucket if the water quality is no good!! You can work on your gravel cleaner technique after the fish are in good water!!

Oh Newfish Sorry to hear that.. This is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. Strip down it is. I just hate getting everything wet!! :roll:

Hi there Hope he comes right.. but to help you better we need to know how big the tank is thats he's in and how long its been set up.. do you know about cycling and ammonia and all that good stuff? Some pictures would help....also if he's just getting over whitespot and he's been having lots of medication he might just need heaps of fresh water changes and some time to recover

anyone ever tried this pH pill made from plaster of Paris? http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/art ... edications http://www.pondsplus.com/Infofiles/art02.htm

ok We'll just wish you some more heat and sun then !! They'll be huge before you know it I bet!

Hi all, Have moved my last goldfish 'bubbas' out to the pond and now have an tank free to put some pregnant livebearers in in hopes of saving some fry. I can't be bothered stripping it (but will do if that's my only practical solution). How long would it take (assuming temps of around 20-21), to make sure any risk of contamination was gone? (I mean flukes, hex etc) Goldfish weren't really showing any signs but being that this will be a fry tank I want to be sure it's as good as it gets. I know the filter bacteria will start to die off as well but I'm only looking at putting 4 small fish in a 30L well planted tank. I can start some filter media in the tank that they will be coming from. (You know... I think I've already convinced myself stripping it will be more practical..I don't have a spare heater to raise the temp right up high.. just can't be bothered making a mess!!) Let me know anyway.. how long would something like hex hang around?

ah.. I just looked backwards.. your plants have been there nearly a full year now Are they still in smallish pots? I put some in my barrel about the same time (similar types) and they've grown alot, but I repotted them into bigger pots as soon as I got them home...maybe they need to stretch their legs?

Caryl I bet your plants will go crazy this year.. last year they would have been getting settled This year they should be ready to roll... It was near the end of summer when they went in wasn't it? Cold water slows things down heaps! I got impatient with plants in my coldwater tank indoors so I turned up the temp a degree or 2 and the plants really took off!! Give it a few weeks yet !! you can speed up the lilies by raising them up a little closer to the surface and then lower them back down again later apparently.. this helps them get more sun and warmth and grow a little faster. Or take some cuttings... clean them up (KMNO4) ... and grow them in a shallower bin or tank on your porch or something which would be warmer than your pond for a while yet.

I think the UV filters don't work on blanket weed either! Be glad you haven't had to deal with it.. its just indescribably ugly!! I think its likes calcium....and a high pH. Fingers crossed that we haven't seen it come back in the pond at the rental yet! This would be the first time in 2 years. We would have expected it to rear it's ugly head by now! The pond balance was recommended by 'The Water Garden' here in chch. We used a whole bottle of Algaefix at repeated doses (as per instructions) in combination with a desludger to help breakdown the dead algae and it still kept coming back.. if I recall we even did a big vacuum of the bottom to no avail!

The barley straw exract I believe works slowly to inhibit it.. not suree it will kill it outright. The internet always says manually remove as much as possible. I use something called Pond Balance when I have trouble but I'm working with 1100L only.. 5000 is heaps! It's commonly referred to as blanket weed and there was a recent thread about it. An algae killer will kill it but it's a bit of a catch22...if you kill it.. it then lies on the bottom decomposing which steal alot of oxygen from your water but also makes more nutrients for a new crop of algae to bloom. If you do decide to use an algaecide I had a professional tell me use uses AlgaeFix... for ponds. It's quite dear though. Is your pond well planted? Have you got many fish? How well established is it? Does it get alot of rotting vegetation? The key is to address the cause.. which is excess nutrients. It make take a couple seasons to go away so don't get too discouraged in the meantime!

Does the algaefix say to increase aeration? Maybe the oxygen levels drop very rapidly.. I wonder if building up to the required dose over an hour or so would help? ie: let the water turn over a couple of times after each addition to 're-aerate' it?

Since you don't have any fish and you have trees overhanging the pond I'd guess you have phosphates from decomposing vegetation in the bottom of the pond. You might want to keep an eye on the trees to see if they shed into the pond (or if the leaves blow in after they've fallen). That could make things trickier in terms of maintenance and you might want to consider a net or something to help keep this to a minimum during that time of year. But as you said, patience is the key.. your plants will take over eventually with any luck. I hope your boss is composting all that nutrient rich algae I'd say try to plant some submerged plants too, I think lilies feed from nutrients around their roots whereas the leafy type submerged plants often get their nutrients straight out of the water column. Maybe some oxygen weed and myriophyllum and some lysmachia for a start. They should all be pretty hardy

Yeah, the trouble with this stuff is that I can't imagine the average pond keeper being able to specifically identify which type.. you'd probably need miscoscopes and stuff The lucky thing in this case is that it seems the cure is the same regardless of which specific type it is. Plus, all the marketing for control products really do refer to blanket weed....if you turned up at a water garden place asking for a spirogyra cure they would try to send you to your GP :lol: :lol:

you can help make sure you don't introduce 'nasties' when you add plants buy soaking them in a a potassium permanganate solution for a half hour or so) or 2 mins in a weak bleach solution (1 part bleach:19 parts water)

http://www.pond-doctor.co.uk/longwhatisblanketweed.html It's evil stuff.. it grows at the speed of light! And it smothers everything and wraps itself around plants and their planting baskets and floats up in huge masses like a big seaweed infestation. Very unsightly and a little difficult to get rid of unfortunately!

on online at hydroponics.co.nz email them if you need smaller quantities they will quote you a price

Just pop some stuff into your 'shopping cart' and go to 'checkout' when you're ready. There will be an option for new customers and it will get all the relevant info for you. The menu you want when you get to the home page is down the left bar - 'Aquatic' and that wil open up all the categories

I'd keep an eye on it Caper.. is this the same fish that had red streaks in its tail? Could be a bacterial infection. If the melafix doesn't help you may need some Furan which should be available at your pet shop (or off the net from some nice canadian pet supply place! I think soemone recommended BigAl's or soemthing like that!) Handle the furan with care though (gloves etc!) it's pretty nasty.

And it's a filter :-? Pumps only move the water around. Filters are designed to have some sort of benefit to your water quality.