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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Goldfish / February 2004dirt in pond
Question - and sorry for sounding clueless. That's because when it comes to fish, I am. However - I am wondering whether dirt that has escaped from my potted aqautic plants onto the sand floor of the pond, can be harmful to the fish, and can it raise nitrite levels? I don't have a clue how the dirt got out, the fish must have done it somehow. Originally I potted the plants in potting mix and then covered the top with 1/2 inch of sand before immersing. Now there seem to be bits of dirt everywhere. Thanks all Nicola why is there a sand floor to the pond? aquatic plants are generally potted into clean soil, pesticide free and usually has some fish friendly fertilizer. Is that what you used to repot? if you put some of that dirt into water does some of it float? check your water parameters and dont worry. yes, of course the fish are rooting around in the dirt. that is what they do for food. I use big hand sized flat rocks on my water lilies and then large pea gravel. they usually leave that alone (my koi). Ingrid >Question - and sorry for sounding clueless. That's because when it comes to >fish, I am. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >Thanks all >Nicola ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. I was told by the people who sold me the aquatic plants, that there should be river sand at the bottom of the tub/pond. They also told me regular potting mix would be fine to pot the plants in. I read elsewhere to top the soil with sand to stop the soil getting into the water which is why I did that. So, I have about an inch of sand on the floor of the pond. Then the 3 little pots with plants in them - soil for the roots and topped with sand. Clueless again - what do you mean by checking the water parameters? I know my nitrite levels are too high, 1.0, so I am doing frequent water changes at the moment. I also bought some new oxygenating plants today and planted them straight in the sand floor - man at pet shop said that would be fine - because I discovered the fish had eaten *all* the ones I had originally put in there, in pots. So do you recommend I put rocks on top of the plants' sand layer? I can do that, if you say so! You seem to be the lists' resident helpful expert Ingrid :) Thanks Nicola > why is there a sand floor to the pond? aquatic plants are generally potted into > clean soil, pesticide free and usually has some fish friendly fertilizer. Is that [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the > endorsements or recommendations I make. > So do you recommend I put rocks on top of the plants' sand layer? Two good sites... http://www.vnwg.com/index.jsp http://watergarden.com/tub/index.html -D  Signature"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." -Herm Albright how big is this tub pond? yeah, gravel will stop most GF from flinging the sand around while they look for food. But get large gravel so it doesnt get stuck in their mouth. that is why I got the large flat stones. do you have any other kind of filter in there? what about aeration? you may want to post to rec.ponds .... place is loaded with pond experts. Ingrid >I was told by the people who sold me the aquatic plants, that there should >be river sand at the bottom of the tub/pond. They also told me regular [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >Thanks >Nicola ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. Nicola, On top of the soil that I plant my lilies in I use pea gravel to keep the fish from pulling out the dirt. The other thing that you have to remember that contributes to the dirt accumulation is the dirt in the rain and the dirt in the air and settles in the pond. The bottoms of my ponds are white and sometimes I have no lilies potted in a pond and the bottom still gets a layer of dirt on it. It is in the air and ends up in your pond especially during times when the wind is blowing things around. HTH Tom L.L. ---------------------------- > I was told by the people who sold me the aquatic plants, that there should > be river sand at the bottom of the tub/pond. They also told me regular [quoted text clipped - 55 lines] > > compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the > > endorsements or recommendations I make. ok thanks Tom, that helps. - but what I'm not sure about is, does all that dirt bother the fish? does it raise the level of nitrates or nitrites? > Nicola, > [quoted text clipped - 78 lines] > > > compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the > > > endorsements or recommendations I make. Some potting mixes have fertilizer in them when they are sold. That could raise the nitrate level, also ammonia, depending on what they used. I use regular dirt to plant my water plants. >ok thanks Tom, that helps. - but what I'm not sure about is, does all that >dirt bother the fish? does it raise the level of nitrates or nitrites? [quoted text clipped - 91 lines] >> > > compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the >> > > endorsements or recommendations I make. Signature- Charles - -does not play well with others Nicola, Some potting soils do have fertilizers in them, I have used them before myself when I was first starting out. They are really too light, so I added clay to them from my yard. I live in Oklahoma and that is what most of my soil is, clay. When I repot my lilies I save the potting mix and use it over and over. I put fertilizer tabs into the potting mix below the root system and fertilize the plants every month. The dirt it self doesn't bother the fish it just becomes part of their environment. The nitrate levels are not affected by the dirt and the dirt does not affect the nitrate levels. HTH Tom L.L. ========================== > ok thanks Tom, that helps. - but what I'm not sure about is, does all that > dirt bother the fish? does it raise the level of nitrates or nitrites? Ok Tom that's really helpful. Thanks for telling me that about the nitrates, I can relax now! > Nicola, > [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > ok thanks Tom, that helps. - but what I'm not sure about is, does all that > > dirt bother the fish? does it raise the level of nitrates or nitrites? > I was told by the people who sold me the aquatic plants, that there should > be river sand at the bottom of the tub/pond. They also told me regular [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > little pots with plants in them - soil for the roots and topped with sand. > Nicola Regular potting soil? I would have thought it was too light weight for pond use. Usually one uses regular garden dirt as it floats less, and a *little* harder for the fish to dig up. ] SignatureLaurie, Dark Phoenix dark_phoenix@netw.com Here I am! Now, what were your other two wishes? my friend the Pond Lady uses "good garden loam". it is not bagged dirt. no additives. she fills the pot and then lets it sit in water until it is completely soft and just push the plant down into the "mud". she plants thousands of water lilies and other plants every year this way. Ingrid >> I was told by the people who sold me the aquatic plants, that there should >> be river sand at the bottom of the tub/pond. They also told me regular [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >use. Usually one uses regular garden dirt as it floats less, and a *little* >harder for the fish to dig up. ] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
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