My pond smells like something died in it, which a few days ago I removed a dead goldfish. I have to stone aerators and a little waterfall. Pond is 8 foot round and about 16 inches deep .
Check your water hardness levels. GH and KH. If it is too low in combination with a lot of organic matter it can cause a severe PH crash during the night with dying fish as a result. Especially when you have oxygen plants in your pond. Remove the mud, and start with adding GH plus until the value is between 8 and 12, then do nothing for at least two weeks. Then after two weeks measure the KH and add KH buffer if it is less than 8, but be very careful and read and follow the instructions from the product that you buy exactly. Do not raise the KH with more than 1 point per week, and do not raise the KH more than 8. Never ever use GH plus and KH plus at the same time. Some plants might be sensitive to the minerals but they will revive. Measure at least once per month and keep the water hardness at level all year around, if you do that your pond will be healthy. As soon as the levels are good you might want to consider Mearl for GH balance, and also cleaned sea shells in your filter for KH balance. Yhese are slow working products but much better and safer to use. It requires some experience to get it all right. Do not raise the GH and KH levels too fast. Maximum 1 point per week. Especially important if you get a lot of rain. And I recommend you to learn more about water hardness levels and how important that is. Especially if you live in a country with a lot of rain and when you have a lot of oxygen plants. 👍
Also, do not aerate during the day when you have oxygen plants in your pond. However, when you have oxygen plants you do have to aerate during the hours that it is dark. But not too much, because too much air will cause the KH to drop. Again, I recommend you to learn about the importance of water hardness. It took me a while before I learned about it, but now that I understand the importance of the water hardness levels, and what it does to the pond, my pond and my fish and my microbes are doing very well.
My pond smells like something died in it, which a few days ago I removed a dead goldfish. I have to stone aerators and a little waterfall. Pond is 8 foot round and about 16 inches deep .
The aerator should help with the odors over time...if things hang on, try some beneficial pond bacteria...that will help with odors too.
Check your water hardness levels. GH and KH. If it is too low in combination with a lot of organic matter it can cause a severe PH crash during the night with dying fish as a result. Especially when you have oxygen plants in your pond. Remove the mud, and start with adding GH plus until the value is between 8 and 12, then do nothing for at least two weeks. Then after two weeks measure the KH and add KH buffer if it is less than 8, but be very careful and read and follow the instructions from the product that you buy exactly. Do not raise the KH with more than 1 point per week, and do not raise the KH more than 8. Never ever use GH plus and KH plus at the same time. Some plants might be sensitive to the minerals but they will revive. Measure at least once per month and keep the water hardness at level all year around, if you do that your pond will be healthy. As soon as the levels are good you might want to consider Mearl for GH balance, and also cleaned sea shells in your filter for KH balance. Yhese are slow working products but much better and safer to use. It requires some experience to get it all right. Do not raise the GH and KH levels too fast. Maximum 1 point per week. Especially important if you get a lot of rain. And I recommend you to learn more about water hardness levels and how important that is. Especially if you live in a country with a lot of rain and when you have a lot of oxygen plants. 👍
Also, do not aerate during the day when you have oxygen plants in your pond. However, when you have oxygen plants you do have to aerate during the hours that it is dark. But not too much, because too much air will cause the KH to drop. Again, I recommend you to learn about the importance of water hardness. It took me a while before I learned about it, but now that I understand the importance of the water hardness levels, and what it does to the pond, my pond and my fish and my microbes are doing very well.