December Pond Conditions
12/04/2011
Water Temp 45-50*, Air Temp range 35-60*, PH 8.3, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0.
Weekly filter cleaning was fairly easy since there was not much debris. Algae still grows in the filter box for some odd reason on the screen below the mats. Water is clear since adding the UV Sterilizer.
I cut back the Iris leaves and other surviving water plants in my plastic container. I have a couple of hyacinth in there also to see if they will make it through the winter. Hyacinth in pond is starting to turn brown on the leaves so may pull it out in next couple of weeks.
12/10/2011
Water temp 50-52*, Air temp 38-62*, PH 8.2
Usual weekly bio filter pad clean out and I removed all the hyacinth because it was turning brown. I also removed a pile of leaves that were accumulating along a crease near the bottom. I found a small tear in the rubber liner in the veggie filter near the waterline with root coming through it. I imagine on rainy days it would be a source of leakage since water level would be slightly higher. Patched that. I am wondering if my Asagi (Blue) is having some issues. His tail area thins the bloats again and is a little red. I added some anti-bacterial medication to the pond today so hopefully that will straighten him out if that is the issue.
12/15/2011
Water Temp 52-56*m, Air temp 48-70*, ph 8.1, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0.
This has been an unusual warm week for December, last year it snowed on Christmas day. I have a stress fracture in my foot so it will be interesting cleaning the filters this week in my plastic boot. I did a partial dump of the filters yesterday to keep things a little cleaner. Leaves are still sneaking into the pond but seem to be breaking down really fast. All leaks seem to have stopped. No change to overall conditions since removing the hyacinth.
12/24/2011 – Christmas eve
Water temp 52*, air temp 40*
Weekly filter cleaning. It is hard to clean those mats while so cold but the needed it. I found two frogs in the leaf basket this week. One lived, one didn’t. Fish are looking very healthy and have put on their best color of the season. The butterfly has changed his head color to darker orange almost red while his body color is a sparkling orange and white. The kujaku’s orange has migrated down his body as he has grown. The Asagi is developing more red on the bottom. The yamabuki ogon is a lovely light yellow. THe Sanke and Showa are sporting their best reds and black against gleaming white skin. Water temp has varied between 50 and 60* with the constantly changing weather this week. Almost no algae growing on the rocks but the sides of the pond have a nice green sheen.
12/28/2011
Water Temp 45*, Airtemp 35*F
Cold wet weather has set in this week. High today will only reach around 50* but is very windy so feels colder. I turned off the pump and have just left the air pump running. I will build a cover this weekend to help hold in ground heat.
12/31/2011
Water temp 49-52*, Air temp 45-60*
Added cover since colder air is expected later this week.
