Ponds, water lilies and nitrates

    I've had my pond running for a month and it is a joy. It's lightly
planted with a water lily, some parrots feather and some other margin
plants. And 5 goldfish.

The nitrogen cycle in the pond converts fish and other waste to
nitrates. This powers the pond plants.

   So, with the coming (finally) rains, I'll have excess water. I have
some memory (can't find a reference now though) of using pond water in
the garden. Any suggestions on using this nitrated water?

Also, I never thought water lilies could be so beautiful. Any way to
help them to last more than a few days?

Jeff

 
In a  large scale aquaponic system there maybe some concerns on waste
that need to be addressed but as described there is really no problem
with using your enriched pond water on your land garden, It is just a
weak fertilizer with that few fish. Use normal caution in applying
nitrogen late in the season to some plants.  I would recommend getting
a good EC or PPM meter to periodically check levels to ensure that are
in balance.

 j wrote:


  how many gallons of water?  i love the
sound of a small fountain or water fall.



  5 goldfish are probably not really producing much
waste as you'd think.  are they large fish?  overfeeding
is a potential trouble spot for nutrient build up
in the water.

  pretty much the major trouble is if the fish
have some of the diseases that fish can have
and if that water splashes onto food plants
which then can transmit the disease to a human.

  never siphon fish water using suction via
your lungs on the hose.  there are small siphon
starters that are useful for this kind of thing
or just fill the hose up and keep each end
capped until it's in place and then it will
flow if the hose is intact and the one end is
below the other.



  maybe cooler weather, but i cannot say for
sure.  i believe that is the life cycle of
the flower.  some flowers don't last more than
a few hours or days others will go longer...


  songbird

 On 9/3/2011 8:58 PM, songbird wrote:

About 500 gallons.

   i love the

http://keepsakewatches.com/misc/rainbow_small.jpg

That is a small pump running about 600 gpm and kill-a-watt says 48 W.
The fountain is about 5 1/2 feet tall by ~ 4'. Sounds just like rain.
About 11 AM the sun is at about the right angle for rainbows behind the
fountain.



http://keepsakewatches.com/misc/fish_lily_small.jpg

Small fish. But goldfish are prolific waste producers, they have no
stomach...

   Thanks,
Jeff

 

600 gpm is no small pump... send a couple to NOLA.  And what you have
is a pool, not a pond.