bubbles

[why me]

pond is 18 months old. 4600 gallons. 6ft 6 deep at bottom drain spindrifter.my problem is the bubbles do not desperse.i've tested water quality everything is fine.any suggestions pleeeeeeze its driving me mad

041 (800x596) (640x477).jpg (166.02 KiB) Viewed 16834 times

[ageinghippy]

Hi Why Me,

Welcome to Koiquest.

You aren`t very clear in your question, are you? To my mind anyway.

When you say that your bubbles do not disperse, are you talking about the air bubbles from the spindrifter, OR, are you talking about possibly bigger foamy type bubbles???

I`ve got this picture in my mind now, of millions and millions of non-bursting air bubbles piling up on your pond water surface !!

Chris (another one)

[why me]

thanks for your time i will TRY and post a picture of my bubble problem tomorrow . i dont think its a protien problem but who knows

[vimes]

hi m8
are they small bubbles sticking to the sides of the pond under the water line and to your arms when you put it in the water
regards
lee

[why me]

no they are coming up from the spindrifter all sizes and forming bubbles but they dont POP

[GERRY5]

why me.....sounds like to much protein , forming glutenous bubbles if theyre not bursting readily .......

good question lee , never seen it myself ...seen piccys though

[ageinghippy]

Why me,
Thanks for posting the picture, it makes life so much easier to actually SEE what you are talking about.

I agree with Gerry, a bit too much protein in the water. Try cutting the amount of food you are giving them a bit, I think you`ll find it amazing the difference it`ll make.

Thats the trouble with a lot of the koi foods nowadays, the amount of protein in them. Its a fine line between what the fish can absorb and utilise, and what passes straight through and into the water, giving us the foam.


Chris (another one)

[why me]

aginghippy
thanks for advice will give it a try. What food do you recomend, i know everybody is different. I am feeding Hikari staple at the moment.
do you suggest a partial water change?

[brother of feeeshpond]

Some sort of protein skimmer would also cure the problem---either homemade or new.
Just in case you didn't know--can also be caused by females dropping eggs, having it off (fish that is. Not you, unless you like it in the pond) etc:
In my experience, most pond keepers have to deal with this from time to time--protein skimmers do work, and it is worth investing in one or making one.
P.S Protein also imparts a yellowish tinge to the water, which is also removed when you remove the protein.

[ageinghippy]

Why me,

You don`t say what your usual maintainance regime is, but most of us do at least a 10% water change a week. If something crops up. like your foam, a water change will always help, in conjunction with a cut in the amount of food you are giving the fish.
As to what food to use, that`s a big question, there are just so many types and brands. To a large extent it must depend on your fish, for example, if you have show quality koi you might want to use a top of the range food with extra colour enhancers, Personally I like to keep it simple, and favour using wheatgerm. It works for me, and has kept my fish going for around 20 years.

B O F raises a good point though about the possibility that your foam might have been caused by the breeding process. I would not have thought that breeding was the cause in your pond though, because there were nowhere near enough bubbles in your photo, and you would also have wondered where on earth the eye watering smell was coming from!!

Chris (another one)

[benyiii]

Hi

Yeah looks like DOC's for which the solution is increased maintenace including more water changes. How much percentage wise to you change at the moment. Generally absolute minimum in summer is 10%/week. Could look at a protein skimmmer as well.

Regards food I did not like Hikari Staple at all. Two best options would be Hikari Wheatgerm mixed with Saki at a 25% rate if you can afford, if not wheatgerm alone is great. Persoanlly though I like the JPD range of foods which I think are incredibly reasonably priced. I feed Nobori which is £74/10kg. However a lot of people feed Yamo which is only £44/10kg and have found it to be absolutely fine.

Ben

[GERRY5]

food and fitration , the two biggest talked about points you will ever find on any forum, in this case food.....but what makes a good food protein ,aminos lipids ,carbohydrates .ash etc etc etc ....remaining with the post ...protein , certainly causing the glutenous bubbles , most foods contain anything from say 25%to as high as 51% protein ....but its not the protein ,its what the protein is made of\from...in most off the shelf high street food ..the protein is made up of no more than anaglyzed chicken feathers ....surprised ....fact im afraid ..rubbish in other words , youll know if your feeding rubbish your pond floor will be littered with waste which your koi cant use , ash content , got more than 12% ash koi cant use that either 6% would be better..sorry ....soya .used as a binding agent no real value ....aminos , vitamins, lipids , all essential for koi health of course , wheatgerm ...the only part of wheatgerm that is any good im afraid is the oil that is contained in the ear ,the rest is stodge, so whos now reading the labels on there packets of koi grub not gonna knock any bodys food as we all have our own choices to make ,not gonna promote any either , but all foods are not the same and the more waste your koi reject thro there bodies ,i.e.waste from the rear end will give you some idea of what you are feeding, rubbish in rubbish out , protein waste,docs go up ,water colours up(yellows)= crap grub or to much of it = more maintenance ....good food, right amount ,easier life ....as for show fish i think youll find that the show.ers feed till two weeks before a show , use carbohydrates such as pearl barley to bulk out the fish and alledgedly improve the whites , bed over clays and stop feeding altogether , andyb or sukoi might let you into one or two things they do for show fish (maybe) .
ben...water changes ,essential maintenance at least 10%per week to maintain water quality , the waters ability to retains its quality of gh,kh, ph. and enhance its ability to retain o2 levels ,absolutely agree......

controversial post ....yep ....but it will get you talking

[gary richards]

in the short term , just to get rid the bubbles you could use a product called anti foam from nt labs.
gary

[Russ Little Pond]

I to have the same problem with protein bubbles on the pond and moving K1 surface, I stopprd feeding for three days, changed 1/3 the pond volume every day for those three days, changed food and amount fed is now once a day then twice a day altering between the two amounts, I pull botton drain then hoover the pond botton every three days, water tests taken before cleaning, all good though TDS went up from 187 to 201 in one day, and I still have lots of foam.

What length of 4" pipe is used to make a protein skimmer or doesn`t it matter ?
When made does it need to sit on the pond bottom ?
Can they be placed in the filter ?

[ageinghippy]

Russ,

If you scroll down the page, you`ll find there are 10 pages of past posts. Then if you go to page 10, there are a couple of good posts listed, `DIY Protein Skimmer` and `Protein Skimmer` which I think you`ll find tell you all you want to know about building your own.

Chris (another one)