Soon I will be going on a week long vacation. This is the first time I have left for a week since adding fish to the pond. Since the pond still loses about 1″ a day and it is mid summer I had to enlist the help of a couple of the neighborhood boys to check and refill the pond every day I am gone.
\nSo I typed up a full list of instructions on how to start\/stop\/prime the pump, empty the leaf basket, dump the prefilter, what to do if a fish ends up in the skimmer (Kimono the Showa likes to hide in there sometimes), and how\/where to add water with chlorine eliminator. I overly stressed the importance of not leaving the hose running. I think they understood everything.<\/p>\n
But still I will worry while I am gone. Also, when did little boys start charging so much? When I was a a teen I assisted with a rabbit farm and took care of it while the owner was away, for far less than kids expect today. <\/p>\n
In other news:
\nThis is the 100th post of this pond journal. I likely need to go back and revise some of my articles with more current thinking. It is amazing what you learn as you gain experience and encounter problems.<\/p>\n
I received my first batch of Koi Clay and added it to the water last night. Must remember to dissolve it first. It tends to sink quickly.<\/p>\n
The veggie filter is acting much like a secondary settlement chamber after the filter. I am getting a layer of debris settling there. Not sure if it is dead algae or stuff being shed by the plants, or debris missed by the main filter. Fortunately there is a drain and I do have a muck vac. But the pond is much clearer than usual. Just need to let things settle down a bit.<\/p>\n
I have been doing some water changes daily before vacation to continue to eliminate bad bacteria. About 200 gallons per day or 1\/10th of my pond volume.<\/p>\n
Thanks for reading. If you want to leave a funny\/scary story about your pond and vacation worries feel free to use the comments. <\/p>\n
UPDATE: the fish survived a week without me and a couple of them even look larger to me. There was at least 6 inches of rain every night so the pond stayed relatively full. The water turned green again so I cleaned the filters when I got back. Will continue with 100 Gallon+ water changes for next few days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Soon I will be going on a week long vacation. This is the first time I have left for a week since adding fish to the pond. Since the pond still loses about 1″ a day and it is mid … Continue reading