Just A Quik Pond Question...

[1234-fishy-freind]

I have also posted this in the pond forum but if no one can help me there then i will ask it here too.

I dont keep a pond and my question isnt really about ornimental ponds but i was thinking about this. How come that fishing ponds that dont have filter and are full of messy fish like carp, how come the ammonia dosnt build up and kill allt he fish?

 

[guppy_man]

Maybe that when it rains, the water drains away, just like a water change.

 

[Bignose]

Just because it is outside, doesn't mean that the ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria don't grow, because they do. They grow just like they do in our tanks. The filter isn't some super magical place for bacteria to grow. Now, if the filter is designed well, the bacteria will concentrate there -- there will be more in the filter because the fluid flow will bring them food and the fluid flow also should mix a good amount of oxygen into the water -- but the bacteria grow everywhere. In the substrate, on the tank walls, on all the decorations. It is the same in the pond. The bacteria will grow on all the surfaces of the pond.

There is another aspect of it that comes into play too, and that is lots of ponds are planted, and most aquatic plants prefer to take up ammonia as their nitrogen source. So, the plants can help eliminate the ammonia, too.