Unfiltered Tub pond

WH2O

For additional biological filtration you could use porous rocks such as lava rock and maybe pumice.

james7139

well you'd want lava rock more because pumice floats and you prob dont want it to float around.

Ulyaoth

My mom threw some stupid algae killing tabs she got into the pond and now all the leaves of the lily are turning brown and yellow and shrivelling up and the hyacinth is dying too, is there anyway I can save them? I've changed half the water already today and yesterday but it doesn't seem any better.

dylan94

ulyaoth, you could try taking the plants out and putting them in some other water for now and keep them there for a week or so and do a lot of water changes and then maybe you can put them back into the pond. Just so they can survive, while you try to clean their water. Just a suggestion... hope it helps! :)

eileen

To much light and Nitrates causes the algae bloom. My water is clear because of the water plants I have. Not green water. It is still unfiltered. Doing 25% water change will help it not get so much algae also moving is where it does not get as much light or heat will help. If you can not move it put a umbrella near it so get some shade. Once your plants fill in you should not have a problem. I have had hair algae problems . I saved the water in another bucket and cleaned it part way. I also moved it out of the hot sun and the hair algae disappeared. I do the water changes once a week or so and having a small number of fish help. Rehome the excess baby fish. I had a bunch of babies that I found homes for. I only have 2 female Black Bar Endlers and 1 male Royal Endler in that pond now. It's only about 15 gal. so I have to watch how many fish are in there. Craigslist is a good place to rehome them or give them away for free. I hope you pond plants recover. I do not like using those products for my aquariums or pond for that matter. Not good for any snails you may have to keep it clean. I recentley added 1 Assassin Snail to the pond to control the numbers of pond snails.

pumh

i know it's a little late now as i live in Minnesota and falls is coming fast, but so for next year i was wondering do you have to put the tub in the ground? why not leave it above ground? also i know that with that much space and food etc, i am curious what do all of you do with that many fish and fry especially if you have livebearers in the tub in the winter?

kitten_penang

re home them inside =)

eileen

If you look at the beginning of this thread you will see my unfiltered tub pond. It is just a 15 gal. plastic plant pot without a hole on the bottom and is above ground. It is on a rolling coaster on the bottom so that I can move it. The fish I rehome or give them away for free. I just keep 2 females and 1 male livebearer for the next spring and move them indoors to a small indoor tank. The mosquitos don't breed year round in my area only in late spring early summer. In climates like Florida or Hawaii they breed year round so you want Mosquito fish which you can leave in. Mosquito fish are ok to leave in the winter time in milder winters. I just happedn to have Endlers in mine and they will not survive the winter here even thought the weather is milder. If I had Mosquito fish or Platies I heard from a garden shop here in my area said they would be fine to leave in winter in milder climates.

tophat665

I was looking into Gambusia (Mosquitofish) a while ago and it seems they have a temp tolerance of 33 to 100ºF. Long as the tub has a hole in the ice and doesn't freeze solid, you can keep them outside (though Ice can crack the tub.)

eileen

I read that the Mosquito fish is really hardy in ponds also. I read that White cloud minnows are low temp. fish also but I do not know if freezing temps. will be ok for them. You might have to look on-line. Another really pretty fish for ponds are Paradise Fish they sort of look like Betta's. Freezing temps might not be good for them and they would need to come out in the fall or winter I think.