pond leak--down to 1/2 volume

[kc]

Well, I just went outside to discover my poor little goldfish swimming
around in 12" of water instead of 2 feet or more--as it is there are too
many goldfish (had babies) for my 1,000 gallon pond--probably about 24....I
inherited this pvc or rubber lined pond with my house and don't even know
where to start to find the leak, but in the meantime, I need to replace the
water--can I safely add it back in if I use appropriate declorinator?
Thanks for your help.
Kirsten

[Sean Dinh]

In most cases, adding declor is not a requirement. Aerating the new water take
higher priority. I recently added 75% of tap water to my old pond without any
declor. However, I did add a bit of Potassium Chloride to reduce chloramine
effect.

kc wrote:

> Well, I just went outside to discover my poor little goldfish swimming
> around in 12" of water instead of 2 feet or more--as it is there are too
> many goldfish (had babies) for my 1,000 gallon pond--probably about 24....I
> inherited this pvc or rubber lined pond with my house and don't even know
> where to start to find the leak, but in the meantime, I need to replace the
> water--can I safely add it back in if I use appropriate declorinator?
> Thanks for your help.
> Kirsten

[Derek Broughton]

kc wrote:

> Well, I just went outside to discover my poor little goldfish swimming
> around in 12" of water instead of 2 feet or more--as it is there are too
> many goldfish (had babies) for my 1,000 gallon pond--probably about
> 24....I inherited this pvc or rubber lined pond with my house and don't
> even know where to start to find the leak, but in the meantime, I need to
> replace the water--can I safely add it back in if I use appropriate
> declorinator? Thanks for your help.

Note that "volume" is not nearly as important as surface area, and 24
goldfish in 500 gallons is not at all unreasonable, anyway, so you may be
well-advised not to refill right now, anyway. The surface area probably
hasn't shrunk that much.

Turn off any pumps/water falls - that's your most likely leakage. Note
exactly the level it has stopped at (if, in fact it has stopped). That way
you know at what level it's leaking if it's actually the liner. Add just a
couple of inches of water and see if you can spot where it's leaking (milk
is supposed to work for showing you where). If it doesn't lost any water,
then you can reasonably expect it's the plumbing/waterfall. Fill it up,
then check the plumbing.
--
derek

[kc]

Thanks everyone--there was a big crack in the rubber tubing leading to my
fountain/spitter--I fixed it and I'm hoping for the best--I did a
declor/heavy metal remover and filled it back while running the fountain for
aeration....thanks again!
Kirsten
"Derek Broughton" > wrote in message
...
> kc wrote:
>
>> Well, I just went outside to discover my poor little goldfish swimming
>> around in 12" of water instead of 2 feet or more--as it is there are too
>> many goldfish (had babies) for my 1,000 gallon pond--probably about
>> 24....I inherited this pvc or rubber lined pond with my house and don't
>> even know where to start to find the leak, but in the meantime, I need to
>> replace the water--can I safely add it back in if I use appropriate
>> declorinator? Thanks for your help.
>
> Note that "volume" is not nearly as important as surface area, and 24
> goldfish in 500 gallons is not at all unreasonable, anyway, so you may be
> well-advised not to refill right now, anyway. The surface area probably
> hasn't shrunk that much.
>
> Turn off any pumps/water falls - that's your most likely leakage. Note
> exactly the level it has stopped at (if, in fact it has stopped). That
> way
> you know at what level it's leaking if it's actually the liner. Add just
> a
> couple of inches of water and see if you can spot where it's leaking (milk
> is supposed to work for showing you where). If it doesn't lost any water,
> then you can reasonably expect it's the plumbing/waterfall. Fill it up,
> then check the plumbing.
> --
> derek