Topic: Amonia

[Chloe]

Does the amonia in the pond have anything to do with fish wee and pooh?

[Roy Bham UK]

Hi Chloe, quick answer yes and it’s a killer, I’m no expert but I believe it’s down to over feeding, to get the correct balance you either need a good filtration system to break down the ammonia or plenty of plant life that will use the waste as fertiliser and in return repay the fish by putting back the goodness in the form of plant protein thus completing the cycle.

Cut back on the feeding and do a 25% water change if things look serious.
Hope this helps till someone with more expertise comes along.

Roy.

[Chloe]

Hello Roy,

Thank you for your replies.  The problem I have is that my pond is on my allotment plot, so cannot have a filter.  My pond has been magic, with no problems until about 2 months ago when the water started to become murky.  The top couple of inches was still crystal clear but underneath it was looking heavy and the whole pond looked brown.  None of the products in the shops said anything about brown water it was all for green water.  As the pond seemed far too full of plants I removed loads of them.  As you can imagine it made it worse as I had stirred up all the mud from the bottom.  Then I thought I might have too many fish.  A plot holder on Thursday said my brown water was dead algea and I also did a PH test the PH was reading 9.0, so I have started treating the pond for that.  I then took a sample of the water to the garden centre and he said it was perfect and to leave well alone and it would sort itself out in the winter.  My concern is for my fish and wildlife and not what the water looks like.

It's just a question of wanting to do the right thing and garden centres do tell you all different things, so I wanted to know if anyone else had had these problems.  And was leaving it alone the right thing?  I to tend to fiddle with it though.

Thanks again Roy, for replying.

[Roy Bham UK]

Hello again Chloe, algae blooms thrive because the plant life at the turn of spring are not yet growing strongly and if the pond is in a sunny spot with little or no shade then this will add to the rapid growth of the algae. Maybe if you could put shade or partly cover your pond (depending on how big it is) this may help. Some chemicals used to combat this put a harmless cloudy milky substance in the pond water to act as a sun blocker, another idea would be to place a sheet of polystyrene to cover a third of the pond surface a little unsightly but may do the trick on a short term basis.

Hope this helps, Roy

[Margaret]

Hi Chloe.Oh dear you do seem to be going through it at the moment.How big/deep is your pond and how many fish do you have? You can have quite a lot of plants in a pond,my nature pond is crammed full and i get no algae problems.but if you have fish then of course they do need room to swim.

Green and brown water is not at all detrimental to fish or wildlife.But,as Roy says,ammonia and the nitrite/nitrate that follows is very toxic,and is caused by overfeeding.Without a filter,the fewer fish you have the better.

You asked how to get rid of the dead algae.As you say,netting is is not simple.i would do a 25% water change with either stored rainwater,or treat the tap water with a dechlorinator.i do my water changes on the fish ponds with a gravel cleaner i use on my tropical fish tank.This gets up the fine algae.

Your PH is not excessive.we have very hard water round here and the fish have adapted.However,the product from interpet that balances the ph is very good and thus helps keep the algae in check.As long as your fish and amphibians are looking healthy then do not worry too much.It will all settle in time.i would check there are no dead leaves at the bottom though.They can prove detrimental to the water quality as they rot.

[Chloe]

Hi Roy,

What I don't understand is that my plants never really died off in the winter and there was really quite a lot of cover all spring and before that.  Even the lily leaves just stayed dormant and a flower on the lily, so I have had plenty of coverage all year, until I thought it was too full and yanked loads of plants out and the water had already gone like it had.

Thank you for replying though, as I look at so many web sites trying to solve the problem, and never seem to find any answers, and of course it worries me that I might kill the fish and wildlife, which I couldn't stand as my pond and everything in it gives me so much pleasure.

[Chloe]

Hi Margeret,

My pond is 6'6 x 5' and 24" deep.  I know this as I had to get the correct gallonage for the PH treatment.  I think I have about 16 fish in it.  Sunny is very big and has grown again this year.  Romeo and Tara aren't anywhere near as big and the others were babies last year so vary in size.

All look very healthy even the baby newt I saw last week.  I still have damsel flys emerging, so everyone says I have a healthy pond.  It's just the murky heavy water that concerned me.  When I had the water tested the guy said the amonia levels were perfect and the nitrates too and couldn't understand why I was worrying so.  I do know I have rotten leaves on the bottom of the pond, haven't gone trying to clean them out as thought I would just stir up more mud, so do you think I should do that still?  Also I have always put the water in butts before I put it into the pond after leaving it for 3/4 days, but I tested the PH this morning in the butts and it was 9 and yet the water in the butt, that I get it from was about 8, which I didn't really understand why.  So should I leave it to stand as I used to do or put it directly in from the main tank?

Many thanks

[Roy Bham UK]

Whoa Chloe slow down you are begging to confuse me you have started two threads one Ammonia and one on Algae on the ammonia you say you did a PH test and the water is brown and cloudy, an ammonia test would be more accurate which prompts me to ask how you new there was ammonia in the pond?

On the Algae thread plants don’t die in winter they just don’t grow, so whatever it is in the plants  (like I say I’m no expert) that helps keep the algae at bay isn’t doing it as well in winter (how am I doing so far?) but add spring sunshine to the equation while the plants are still resting algae can grow in quantity.

The best way to gain sound advice is through fish and pond books as it is difficult to grasp the full picture of the problem in cyber space but we will persevere.

Roy

[Chloe]

Sorry Roy, I am a confusing person  for real not just in cyberspace.  Right, I started the algea thread, as I had been told it was dead algea.  Then I thought about it and wondered about my fish and thought maybe I had too many fish and did they cause the ammonia in the water.

It isn't true about the plants not growing in the winter because this year my plants actually did grow, very slowly but they didn't die off like previous years.  I actually was pulling out blanket weed in the winter and Jan/Feb this year.

I do read pond books but am none the wiser.  I read a very interesting article on how water works in the pond but I couldn't tell you anything about it, it was very clever and I understood it when I was reading it but also a lot to take in.  I just thought if someone had experienced my problems they could just 'say':)))))))))

[Margaret]

Chloe.The rotting leaves are a big no no.Get them out asap.but the biggest problem here,and one i am always advising people on is that amphibians and fish do not mix.You are trying to keep both happy ,and while you have mud in the bottom,and have no filtration/aeration,that is fine for the former,but not the latter.Fish ponds should have all their plants in pots with gravel on the top,as the fish will try and get to the roots of the plants.I reckon this is what is happening with you now.better if the pond had always stayed natural.It is difficult to maintain a balance now,as you are finding out.

Is there any way you can have a fish pond at home,so that you can rehouse the fish? i fear as they get bigger,your problems will continue.Sorry to be blunt  !!  

[Chloe]

Hi Margret,

I don't mind you being blunt it is better to know.  I never intended to have fish they just happened.  I really was happy with just the tadpoles but fell in love with the fish when they arrived, especially Sunny who just appeared as a tiny fish no bigger than my tadpoles. I live in a flat so no chance of having them at home.

I suppose I will just have to do the best I can for them all.  At least the fish have had some kind of life living in my pond.

Thanks for your help.