Water change limitations

[smithvillemike]

I live in a pine forest and the pollen has been falling for about 3 weeks and covers everything. It has turned my water such a shade of green that I can't see the fish below about 2 feet.

My question is what is the maximun amount of water that I can change at one time? in one week? without screwing up the parameters or stressing the fish. I was thinking about 25% a day for a week but thought I would get some feedback.

thanks

Mike

[gspotmc]

You can try doing a 10% water change daily. Which I think will be better in the long run.

[MikeM]

What is the pH, GH and temperature of the pond water now, and what are those parameters for the source water you will use for replacement?

[smithvillemike]

I should have posted this in the first one, sorry

Pond
PH - 8.5
GH - 300
Temp - 71


Source Water
PH - 8.4
GH - 300
Temp - 68

Mike

[MikeM]

I don't think you would have any problem doing 25% water changes per day as long as the replacement water was put in over a period of 3 hours or more. The parameters are very close, but having a lower pH for the source water says something is happening either to increase pH in the pond, or release of CO2 from the source water when no longer under pressure, or some of both at the same time? (Or, inexact measurement?)With the pollen breaking down, I'd expect the pond to have the lower pH. So.... I suggest do a 25% water change. Dechlorinate as the replacement water goes in. And, watch for fish flashing in reaction to the change. If there is much flashing, proceed more slowly and with caution. If there is no flashing (or other sign of a bad reaction), continue the daily changes. Raw water can be harsh on koi. So, once you have gotten on top of the crisis, pause and let things settle down. Perhaps increase the frequency of your normal water change routine until you get past the Spring onslaught.

[mstrseed]

Mike,

You may want to tink twards next year and for this time place a tarp over it to limit the ammout of pollen it will collect..............

[Fishbreeder]

Hmmmm....

I change about 4800% daily in my holding facility. About once every thirty minutes.

Of course the source water comes form an 80 million gallon reservoir and is very stable.

If using chlorinated city water you gotta be a lot more careful.

First, know your source water, test it thoroughly for alkalinity, hardness, pH, chlorine, ammonia, nitrate, etc. Write it down. Then fill a pot and let it set ofr 24 hours and retest for everything to see if it stays the same (some source waters will change dramatically with time and off gassing).

Be certain of the chlorine concentration and use enough dechlor to nuetralize. (Some taps give as much as 6 ppm of chlorine, making it necessary to use 6 times as much dechlor as it takes to neutralize 1 ppm)

Then, for a big water change.....fill a seperate container wil the water, dechlor and aerate for half an hour to an hour or so, then pump to the fish pond the already dechlorinated and aerated water.

Brett