Thursday, March 28, 2024
Fishery

Concrete Pond Management: Steps to take before introducing the Fish in the Water

On my last article, we discussed about the steps to take before putting the fish into the water after constructing your earthen pond. Here we will discuss about the steps to be taken before introducing the fish in water in a concrete pond also.

After constructing your concrete pond, the first step is to wash the pond thoroughly with detergent and a lot of water. This is to make the concrete pond free of toxins from the cement used in plastering the walls. After washing, you can pump in water into the concrete pond to an appreciable level and then leave it for a week to test for water leakage from any part of the concrete pond.

During this time, some zooplankton would have grown in the water, if the zooplankton survive, it is sure that your fish will also survive in the concrete pond. After leaving it for a week, it is advisable to clean the pond with the water and then flush it out. You can then pump in fresh water, allow it for few hours for oxygen to dissolve in it and then introduce the fish into the concrete pond by allowing them to swim from the basin into the concrete pond by themselves.

Changing Concrete Pond Water – The Amount

Now, how often you change your concrete pond water does depend on the size of the pond itself. When it comes to smaller ponds, which here are classified as being under 5,000 gallons, you will want to change the water every single week, changing roughly 15% of the water each time. Larger ponds over 5,000 gallons in size require a weekly water change of 10%.

Now, if you have a super heavy bio-load in the tank, or in other words, lots of fish, you definitely want to stick to these numbers, but if you have a light bio-load, for smaller ponds, a 10% weekly change should do, and for larger ponds, a 5% weekly change should be adequate. Either way, performing weekly water changes is essential.

Read Also: The Ideal depth of an Earthen Fish Pond

How To Change Concrete Pond Water

There are a few different methods of changing pond water, so let’s go over each of them, as one might work better for you than another. Keep in mind that the first method mentioned here is the least recommended one, but for smaller ponds it does work alright.

Method 1: For Smaller Pond

You can use a pump or siphon to drain the desired amount of water out of the pond. You can then use a hose to refill the pond to the ideal level. What you need to keep in mind here is that public water is usually full of chlorine and chloramines, which absolutely need to be removed from the water. This means that you need to use water conditioner and treatment options in order to remove the chlorine and other contaminants.

Please folks, if you choose to do it this way, the water conditioner absolutely needs to be added to the pond before you add new water, not after. If you do it this way, you also run the risk of flooding the pond if you happen to forget the hose in there for too long. This method is not recommended.

Method 2

One of the easiest methods to use still involves a pump or siphon, but you will be treating the new water before it enters the pond. Either way, drain the desired amount of water out of the pond with a siphon pump.

The difference between this method and the first one we went over is that here you will be preparing the water first, which in all reality is easier and safer for the fish.

Measure how much water you will need to add back into the pond and put it in some kind of pool or container, or whatever else you have that can hold the necessary amount of water. Letting it stand will help chlorine and other chemicals dissipate, plus you have a safe place to add water conditioners and treatment options.

After the water has stood for about 12 to 24 hours, you can then slowly pour it back into the pond. Remember guys, do not drain out the old water before the new water is ready to go.

Read Also: How to determine if the Oxygen Level of the water in your Fish Pond is enough

Method 3

The third method tends to be the easiest for the long term, but it does take time to set up, plus is costly too. First off, you will need an overflow drain, which is a device that allows water to escape the pond when it reaches past a certain level.

You will then need a permanent water line installed that always has new water coming into the tank. You will need some kind of drip mechanism or trickle filter in order to slow down the water flow.

The aim here is to change from 5 to 15% of the water per week, but you are doing so constantly, with a teeny bit of new water always coming in and a little bit always going out. Like we said, this method is best for larger ponds as it will cost a good deal of money and take a lot of work to set this water changing method up.

However, once it is set up, you will never really have to do much work again in terms of water changes.

Related: Methods of Livestock Breeding in the Tropical Environment

Agric4Profits

Benadine Nonye is an agricultural consultant and a writer with over 12 years of professional experience in the agriculture industry. - National Diploma in Agricultural Technology - Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science - Master's Degree in Science Education... Visit My Websites On: 1. Agric4Profits.com - Your Comprehensive Practical Agricultural Knowledge and Farmer’s Guide Website! 2. WealthinWastes.com - For Effective Environmental Management through Proper Waste Management and Recycling Practices! Join Me On: Twitter: @benadinenonye - Instagram: benadinenonye - LinkedIn: benadinenonye - YouTube: Agric4Profits TV and WealthInWastes TV - Pinterest: BenadineNonye4u - Facebook: BenadineNonye

One thought on “Concrete Pond Management: Steps to take before introducing the Fish in the Water

  • Osei Michael

    Nice coming across Benadine Nonye on this fish pond project.
    I am a Ghanaian leaving in Bono East Region of Ghana who is interested in running fish business and I have built 16 separate tanks and wish if I can be sponsored to run the project and make I reality. so I need your help and support in this regard.
    thanks very much for your concern.

    Reply

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