Bio-filter startup time?

Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down
my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump
with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very
well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond.
Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and
stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so?
Thanks for all of your help,
-Pat Rolland

O3raledale wrote:
Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down
my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump
with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very
well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond.
Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and
stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so?
Thanks for all of your help,
-Pat Rolland

The bio bugs don't start until the water warms up. I think
the earliest I started was around mid April. You're a
little south of me and I think early April would be the
earliest you could start. Remember we can still get bad
weather.

--
Bonnie
NJ

"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut
down
my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air
pump
with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked
very
well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the
pond.
Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the
falls and
stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing
so?
Thanks for all of your help,
==============================
I don't turn on the filters until the water reaches 50F and isn't likely to
drop below that again in Spring. Each year it varies and also varies from
pond to pond. We have 3 ponds. A small one at 150 gallons, 750 gallons and
2000 gallons.
--
Carol...
My website:
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
[Insert humorous, clever or profound quote here]
~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@

Bonnie and Carol and all,
Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive.
So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then too,
correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream
running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll just
put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I use
last years rocks or use new ones?
Thanks,
-Pat

Wait to start feeding until you are sure the temperature is going to remain
above 50 degrees. Start with very small amounts of food and watch the
ammonia and nitrites, as the filter will start to work as it starts to be
fed. As the ammonia levels drop, increase the food to satisfy the fish and
increase the growth of the filter.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Bonnie and Carol and all,
Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive.
So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then
too,
correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream
running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll
just
put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I
use
last years rocks or use new ones?
Thanks,
-Pat

Wait to start feeding until you are sure the temperature is going to remain
above 50 degrees. Start with very small amounts of food and watch the
ammonia and nitrites, as the filter will start to work as it starts to be
fed. As the ammonia levels drop, increase the food to satisfy the fish and
increase the growth of the filter.
--

Thanks Rich,
-Pat

"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Bonnie and Carol and all,
Thanks for the info. So the bio-bugs need 50 deg. or higher to survive.

## I'm sure some still do their job in colder water since I never had an
ammonia spike in spring or fall. I don't feed them at all if the water is
below 50 to 52F. I'm more concerned about them not digesting the food if
the water temp' drops overnight.

So I suppose that I should also hold off feeding my goldfish untill then
too,
correct? Would it be ok to just run the pump to get the falls and stream
running now (the air pump with bubblers are currently running) and I'll
just
put the lava rocks in when the weather is 50 deg. and/or over. Should I
use
last years rocks or use new ones?
Thanks,
-Pat

## I don't use lava rocks because they're too hard to clean. If you're
going to turn it on now you may as well add the filtering material of your
choice.
--
Carol...
My website:
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
[Insert humorous, clever or profound quote here]
~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@ ~~~~~~~~~{@

I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that into the
first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend entirely
on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up wastes from
the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop the
temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid

(O3raledale) wrote:

Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut down
my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air pump
with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked very
well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the pond.
Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the falls and
stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing so?
Thanks for all of your help,
-Pat Rolland



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I put some of my media into my bucket filter over winter and then move that
into the
first part of my veggie filter in late spring. that way dont have to depend
entirely
on the veggie filter before they get going and during winter it slurps up
wastes from
the fish. I also dont have to rush getting everything going which might drop
the
temp in the pond too fast. Ingrid

Ingrid,
Thanks for the tips.
-Pat

"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Hello All,
Last winter I took the advice of the wise ones here at Rec ponds and shut
down
my waterfalls and bio-filter. (Phila. Pa. area) I then installed an air
pump
with two airstones blowing air into the pond all winter. Well it worked
very
well and the little fishies are still alive and swimming all around the
pond.
Question is when is it safe to set the bio-filter back up and get the
falls and
stream flowing again? And what other precautions should I take when doing
so?
Thanks for all of your help,

I've been reading all of the responses to this post, and I began to wonder.
Over the next few weeks as things warm up, why not do water changes on my
indoor 55 gallon tank, and dump the water into the pond instead of the
drain? My tank has no disease that I am aware of, so I see this as
relatively safe...and it seems to me, I'd be moving some fresh strong bio
matter to the pond. Any thoughts?

BV.