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First, I ask that this not be moved to Siberia, I mean the Pond folder where no one will read this in weeks, lol.

So, there is a pond now in my backyard, Its about 1200 gallons and will house several Koi and my Pangasius Catfish.

I am aware that Pangasius require more than 1200 gallons but they will have to do there for now. I am moving them from a tank to the pond. Technically they need a body of water about the size of Texas but hey...

So, the Koi have been in there for a couple weeks.

I just tested the water and there is no ammonia, hardly any Nitrites, the pH is sitting exactly at 7, the General Hardness and the Carbonate Hardness are both at 2. When I measured it about 10 days ago, the Gh and Kh were both at 3.

I dont have a Nitrate tester but Ill try to purchase one in the next few days.

based on the info I provided, what can you tell me about the water? I am specially interested in Gh and Kh as I am not familiar with them (I'm about do a search over the internet)

Things that might be of interest:

There are apple snails in there, have already layed 2 egg batches outside the water line.

There are lillies and water lettuce in there.

I am using a home made filter with powerheads and 2 2 liter bottles full of filtering media (will have a bigger filter built shortly).

This one is interesting, there several Great Kiskadees in the backyard which seem to be very interested in the pond, and obviously in the fish. The only line of defense against them right now is Winston, 3 year old Scottish Terrier.

Any idea how I could scare the kiskadees awaY without 'covering' the pond as has been recommended. Winston hates anything that moves so he should defend the pond against the birds but the little guy also has to sleep so I need something more 'around the clock'

* Fishprofiles poster "Red Phantom" is scared of Winston. There, I said it RP.

Ok your general and carbonate hardness has dropped. I would expect that your PH will soon. As hardness drops so too will your PH, it will become less stable. If you have any rotting plant matter in the pond this would explain it. I would watch the ph and hardness closely for any changes. I'm no expert in ponds but Nitrites are bad, as toxic as ammonia/ammonium in fact. For those of us limited to tanks you have not completed your cycle and time and testing are required before adding anymore fish. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0, starting to creap up in nitrates is a completed cycle in the tank world

Hey thanks for the comment, appreciate the information, I bought the Nitrate kit and it doesnt even register a color, I would imagine the Nitrates must be close to 0.

GH and KH impact ph. It is a measure of the minerals in the tank including calcium carbonate which is the main buffer of the ph. Higher kh will equal higher ph. Lower kh levels don't absorb as much acids and allow the ph to change easier. A very low kh such as less than 2-3 degrees may cause rapid drops in ph that will kill the fish. I'm not sure how you buffer a pond. In a tank you can add baking soda, limestone rock, or crushed coral to raise the kh but ponds are considerably larger.

I wouldn't think the kiskadees would be a problem with such large fish aside from being rather annoying birds. If the fish haven't grown much yet you may be best off covering the pond for a little while to avoid losing any to various wildlife. Otherwise there are motion sensitive "scarecrows" that squirt water at anything that moves around your yard or pond to scare it off. I don't know if those work with smaller birds but they are often used on other wildlife that might bother pond fish.

* * In the best Tim The Enchanter's voice * *

"Well, that's no ordinary Terrier. That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered canine you ever set eyes on."

"He's got huge, sharp-- he can leap about-- look at the bones!"


Hahahaha! He really is a cutie but is very protective of his master and has huge sharp pointy teeth, I think larger than my rottweiller's.

So if you are reading this Winston... You are cool, mans best friend. Dont hold it against me little man...Please

In concerns to your pond, its really beautiful and sets a very peaceful tone in your backyard.

All the best wishes!

James

Besides covering the pond (you can use mesh, not that hard to mess with), perhaps getting a plastic replica of a local medium/large bird of prey to keep watch over the pond would help.

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pH is sitting at 7, Ill test the GH and KH again tomorrow.

The birds havent launched any attacks that I can tell of, so far so good.

I have a question, the apple snail eggs, does anything need to happen for them to produce live snails or is it pretty much a given that I'll have plenty of snails now that the egg clusters are there?

Should I try to shade them from the sun? Anything?

Shading might be an idea.

For the predators, if they are more opportunistic than anything, maybe just running a fountain or something to obscure the fish under the surface of the water may well work. It won't do much for determined hunters that are used to fetching prey out of the water, but it could work as a mild deterrent


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hey guys, thanks for the replies, appreciate all the help I can get.

I just tested the pond again.

Came up with.

Ph of about 7.5
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
GH 1
KH 2


Any suggestions, any interpretation you can provide of the information I just displayed.

Thanks

ETT.