Over Stocking the Water Garden

Over Stocking the Water Garden

Beginner water gardeners often will overstock fish in the water garden when the use of how much water is in the pond is not compared to how much water a fish really needs to thrive. Water gardeners who stock their pond with fish that are replicating and not removing any additional fish can also find their pond overstocked in just a matter of a few years, causing fish to become sickly, die, water that is ‘yucky’ looking, and water that is hard to clean.

What can you do if you find that your pond is overstocked with fish? Depending on how overstocked your water garden really is there are long term and short term tasks you can perform to control how fast the population in your pond is growing.

If you have too many fish in your water garden, change the water to control how much the nitrates and debris in the water is affecting the fish in the water.

Using your filtration system, with a good filter, is going to help allow the debris in the water to clear so your fish can breathe properly.

Reduce the amount of ammonia in the water by adding plants to your water garden, or adding more plants to absorb some amounts of the ammonia.

Feed your fish less. The less your fish eat, the less debris and waste that is left behind while you seek out another solution to your overpopulation. The more food the fish have, the more ammonia is released in the water with the fish waste.

Moving fish from your pond to another pond is always an option. Seek out those who own ponds, and who needs additional fish. Advertise that you have fish for sale, and new pond owners will seek you out, lessening the numbers of fish in your own water garden.

How can you tell if you have too many fish in the pond?
If your fish are near the top, seeking air, this is a sign of too many fish. Testing the water for ammonia and for high levels of nitrates is another method of finding out if you have too many fish. Write down what the levels are, check again in a week, high levels mean you have too many fish.

If your filtration system is running to capacity and you still find your water is not clear, with additional problems mounting, you may have too many fish.