New pond cycling questions

[kdh]

I think your missing the point. Your concern was large water change with a large difference in ph. Aeration well do the trick but it takes hours in a large water exchange. So your koi are exposed to fluctuations of ph. that is why you add BS to the large water exchange. When you add a bubbler in a bucket of water. That is a huge amount of oxygenation going on in a very small environment. Not gunna happen nearly as quickly with your concerns.

[Neekybog]

I apologize if there is any confusion. My goal is to get through and do whatever I can to cycle my filter and try not to harm the fish. I was dealing with this with water changes and adding ammonia binder but then when the ph in my well dropped so much I stopped doing the water changes.

Now that I can add aeration to the water I can continue with the 10-15% water changes but I am concerned now that the nitrite levels are higher so that is why I asked about whether I should be adding salt.

[coolwon]

Hi,has anybody actually seen, the difference to their fish, with all the water changes they do each day, and week with these fish they keep?

Personally I think it is sacrilege to the worlds stocks of fresh water.

To be rude, just absolute bull$hit!

I can understand the quality show fish been taken care of, but the average hobbyist collection.

It's like 1 of the KOI hobbyists commandments.

Will anybody have noticed a difference?

Yes, those who's water bill has been cut of by the metro, for not paying their sky hi water bill.

[fly4koi]

salt to 0.1% to 0.15% will protect the fish from the nitrate, salt doesn't hurt the bacteria but can hurt the algae in the water. As for water change, you should rely on the nitrate concentration as the primary factor in consideration.
At the cycling stage, keep KH high and use binders to turn ammonia into ammonium so that it's not dangerous to the fish, and with sufficient KH and ammonia it provides food source for the bacteria to quickly replicate and mature the cycle, water exchange at this point is only setting back the cycling speed unless you absolutely have to because the fish is stressing.
With high ammonia and nitrite, yes, emergency water exchange is recommended but you need to make sure your city/well water is augmented with chlorine binders and KH buffer (baking soda) so that you don't hurt the fish at the same time.

[kdh]

You can get a hose nozzle and set it on a wide spray and lock in. Then hang it above pond and add as much as you need to for small water exchange. That is what I was told a long time ago. t would be interesting to do this and then take a ph reading to see how well this works in removing carbon dioxide. As you have the opportunity to do so and Im just curious. lol

Thousands of ponds have cycled and the people did nohing. And all is well.
Your current readings are of little concern based on temps and ph.
I cycled 3 ponds and did nothing and koi were just fine. There are exceptions that create problems due to poor bio filter. overfeeding, overstocked etc.
Unless your koi start acting oddly. I wouldnt worry about it. As they are fine now with the numbers you have.

[Neekybog]

Good morning
Well the cycling battle continues and winter is coming.
I added some bio balls into some bags and inserted them in the pool of my waterfall and skimmer a couple of weeks ago. And been doing water changes every 5 days as the nitrite creeped up to over 1ppm.

I aliso added salt for nitrite as the water conditioner every 2 day was getting pricey and at one point the ammonia was zero for at least a week but now it is has been 0.05 ppm for the last week and at one point was 0.25ppm. Nitrite is 0.50 ppm. Nitrate is 3.6 ppm, ph 8.4, temp 18.8 deg Celsius this morning we have had a bit of a warm spell the last week.

Kh 196.9, gh 107

Getting nervous about winter coming and pond not being cycled. What do I do if that is the case? How long does the salt protect from nitrite? Thank you for your advice!

[richtoybox]

The salt will protect as long as it is in the system, and it does not have to be very high to do it. Many publications suggest 1 pound per 100 gallons which gives a value of 0.12%. This value is low enough it does not harm plants or algae, but high enough that if there were a major water change, it would not dip below a safe value of probably 1/10th of that value. Don't worry about the nitrites, if you have salt. I would more likely recommend no water changes until spring as you don't have many weeks until the fish stop eating and go into stasis, and higher ammonia and nitrite will feed the good bacteria increasing efficiency.

[fly4koi]

Well you are seeing nitrate so your pond is cycling....typically it's about 1-2 months depends on if start fresh or recovery.

[Neekybog]

I want to post a big thank you to everyone that shares their experience and knowlege with others on this site. It has been invaluable to me. We struggled since June trying to get our new pond to cycle.

A week ago the pond was still registering ammonia 0.25 and Nitrite 0.50 and Nitrates dropped. I followed the advice of not doing water changes and keeping eye on Seachem ammonia alert card but in reading the book by Dr. Erik Johnson Vet I gambled and added the product he recommends called Ammodown by EnviroReps International. It does not claim to be nitro bacteria but another kind that builds a film on everything in the pond that the good bacteria grow on (at least that is my understanding). Anyway, in 5 days ammonia was zero and 6 days Nitrite zero. Who knows it seems my pond was trying to cycle so it could have cycled without the ammodown but I am glad it is finally cycled and no fish loss!!

I also found a canadian company called Hanna Instruments that makes digital colour checkers for nitrite, ammonia, nitrate etc. and it sure made it easier doing testing than trying to read color charts!