October 2012 Pond Conditions Calendar
10/3/2012
Water Temp 68*, Air temp 54-78*, pH 7.5, Nitrate 10
lots of rain on 10/1 but pond is clear and stable. leaves are beginning to fall from the bradford pear tree but it has not yet turned its reddish fall tones. Fish colors are starting to brighten with the cooler night temps below 60*.
10/7/2012
Water Temp 68*, Air temp 54-72*, pH 7.5, Nitrate 10
Weekly water change + replaced two pads in the filter. Left old pads in to help migrate bacteria. Visited Wet Pets but didn’t buy any fish.
10/13/2912
Water Temp 66*, Air temp 50-75*, pH 7.5, Nitrate 10
One midweek water change, and usual weekend filter cleaning. not much to clean. The leaves are starting to fall so I expect there will be more frequent dumps of the leaf basket and skimmer. removing older pads since they are falling apart. may see spike in Nitrates and maybe even nitrites.
10/20/2912
Water Temp 62*, Air temp 50-72*, pH 7.5, Nitrate 5
One mid-week water change, ususal filter clean, and extra cleaning from bottom of skimmer. Filter pads were relatively clean. Stirred up skimmer and pumped out the dirty water to waste, and scooped out a good bit of muck. Feeding only about once a day and the fish are not eating as voraciously. Suspect lower Nitrate is due to less feeding.
10/27/2912
Water Temp 66*, Air temp 50-72*, pH 7.4, Nitrate 5-10
Unusually warm week for october. Normal weekly clean and one mid-week water change. Added the winter cover framework in case it gets cold soon.
Expenses:
water bill $14.82 1,580 gallons
Filter pads(2) – $63.00
