water changes for ponds in winter

[Bradford Angler]

according to some books water should be changed

 

30 - 35 % weekly in summer

10 % weekly in winter

 

I occasionally change mine maybe 20% in summer every fortnight / 3 weeks. In winter I may add another 5% between October and March as a once off.

 

I have no natural feed in, only what is collected across the surface area.

 

does anyone else change there water regular . . ?

 

if so does it come straight from the tap or is it stored 1st ??

 

I think too much changing can strip the slime of the fish and in turn cause damage (even when using dechlorinators) . .

[Kimmy]

If the balance of your pond is right, ie, you have the right balance of plants, fish, water, food and filteration, you should only have to top up the pond in the Summer when natural evaporation occurs. Such a minimum amount of water exchange should not need dechlorination, but if you were to strip the whole lot down in the middle of Summer then I would possibly go for a water conditioner or like you say let it stand for 24hrs before re-introducing the fish. I wouldn't do anything in Winter up to the middle of Summer due to stress on the fish in their more dormant stage due to the cold.

 

If its not broke - don't mess!

[Elton]

Phew! I'm glad Kimmy said that, as that's exactly what I do. Never realised that it was suggested that we should replace it

[Bradford Angler]

I can see the sense in the above, but what about preventative maintenance . . with ponds often the first sign of broke is ill fish or dead fish and then the only way to fix it is buy replacements . . or trying to nurse back poorly or suffering fish.

 

most of the koi keeping sites recommend it . . to be honest I have never followed it religously, if at all. However, I have lost carp over the last few years and was grasping at straws.

 

Looks like it's back to what I am feeding them on . .

 

so far have double water circulation and air intake . . also all 4 water tests prove fine too...

[Newt]

One problem with not doing some exchange of water even in a well balanced system is the fact you are introducing treated water which contains a few things rain water doesn't.

 

Add water. Safe concentrations of everything. Evaporate by 1/3 so water is gone but not the other items (salts and such). Top off. Evaporate by 1/3. Top off..............

 

After a time doing this, you wind up with much higher than normal concentrations of any chemical that doesn't leave by evaporation.

 

With a tank you could afford to use distilled water and avoid the problem. But no way for a pond unless you are wealthy.

 

One of the really nice things about having a bottom drain for the pond is when you remove water, you are also removing lots of bottom debris where the heavier stuff will have precipitated out and settled.

 

Also, some plants will absorb and concentrate various chemicals so they are in much lower concentration in the water. Fine until the plant dies or is eaten by one of your fish.

[jerrydog]

Rather than do water changes on a regular basis I rely heavily on water quality tests. If the nitrite and ammonia levels start to rise then I will do a partial water change. If the results of the tests warrant it I will do a partial water change every other day till the results show normal. This applies throughout the year. In my opinion if you do not carry out regular water quality checks one of the first indications you will get of anything going wrong is fish dying. If filtering your water don’t forget the time it took to get the balance of good and bad bacteria in your filter right when you first set up the system, so is there not a chance of weakening that balance if you carry out unnecessary water changes. At the end of the day it is really up to the individual, if whatever you do works for you, albeit change water or not, then surely you should carry on as before.

Regards..

[Nick South East]

As previously posted there are no hard and fast rules about water changes. If the situation at the time dictates, then action should be taken.

 

Natural evaporation in the Summer, will probably equate to about 5-10% a week this can be added direct from the tap just angle the hose in the air slightly to lose some of the chlorine, the heavy metals in this amount are no problem.

 

One little tip if you do your water changes on a tuesday or wednesday the water will have less additives in as water companies may add more leading up to the weekends when demand for water is higher!

 

If in an area that has high metal content then a water purifier can be used to filter this out, a purifier will also take out the heavy metals and chlorine, so only clean water enters the pond.

 

The only time to use a dechlorinater would be if changing more than say 20% of the water, try and find one that nutralises other chemicals as well.

 

I would always use tap water for changes and not use stored rain water.

[Hereford_angler]

I add a bit of water in the summer but appart from that i do nothing.

[Bradford Angler]

quote:

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this can be added direct from the tap just angle the hose in the air slightly to lose some of the chlorine

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now you got me . . . tell me more about this angle hozey thing :confused:

[Newt]

Aim hose-pipe toward the sky. Allow the water to arc up and then tinkle merrily into your pond. Lose some bad stuff during the trip.