My Pond conditions and expenses for 2014 YTD.
Expenses 2014
Water bill – $12 monthly
Food – $50 every 1.5 months
Koi feeder – $60
New filter pads $80
Coral shells for pH stability – $20
Microbelift PL – $20
May 24 2014
Water Temperature 68*, Air Temp 60’s – 85*, pH 7.2, Nitrate 80
Seeing increasing Nitrates now that I have started feeding the fish more. pH seems to be coming down.
Fish look ok. Water is still a bit cloudy since new algae is continually trying to form. There is also still some debris coming from the tree above the pond. I tested for Ammonia and Nitrites but found none so the filtration is working well for those. Weekly filter cleaning and 20% water changes is helping too.
June 14
Water Temperature 68*, Air Temp 60’s – 85*, pH 6.5, Nitrate 80
Summer getting hotter but pond well shaded. Fighting Nitrates now. pH a little lower than I like. Major water change to bring down Nitrates.
June 21
Water Temperature 72*, Air Temp 60’s – 90*, pH 6.5, Nitrate 80
Water change/cleaning + added Microbelift PL. Will check nitrates again in few days. Water is clearer and less waste from trees/debris.
Found fish eggs in filter so may have some babies soon.
June 29
Water Temperature 72*, Air Temp 60’s – 90*, pH 6.5, Nitrate 5
Nitrates nearly gone after adding Microbelift-PL, water seems clearer too.
Water change and filter clean – no fish eggs found.
July 12
Water temperature 74*, Air Temp 70-90’s*, pH 6.5, Nitrate 80
Nitrates are back and pH had dropped to low 6.2 but I added some baking soda to bring it back up.
Filter was fairly clean even though not dumped for 2 weeks.
July 26
Water temperature 72*, Air Temp 70-90’s*, pH 6.5, Nitrate 80+
Clean filters, 15% water change, added more baking soda.
August
Not much change in August. Battling dark algae in the pump basket slowing down water. Need to empty 2-3 times per week.
September
Temperatures getting lower 60’s – 80’s, water temp 74*
pH 6.8, Nitrates 80+
