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pond

valadel

By Valadel

United Kingdom Gb

i have a hanging basket overhanging a waterfall into a small pond , sometimes i feed with miraclegrow , do you think this may harm the goldfish in the pond. I might add so far have gone to the trouble to take it down--------------- what a bind !




Answers

 

I'd be careful of feeding a plant with miracle grow if it overhung a pond - could upset the ph balance of the water and thus the fish.

18 Aug, 2009

 

Feeding your goldfish miracle grow won't make them grow into Koi carp.

Seriously though I don't know the answer to this, but personally, I wouldn't allow fertiliser run off to enter the pond.

18 Aug, 2009

 

In general it does not seem to be recommended to add fertiliser to ponds. I have seen a post on an American site saying someone contacted Miracle Gro about whether it could be used in ponds and they did not recommend it.

Someone else reported putting some Miracle Gro in their pond as an experiment and it didn't seem to harm the pond life, but did kill the algae. This was apparently due to the sulphur levels in Miracle Gro. Another type of fertiliser might cause an profusion of algae instead as they feed on nitrates.

Most of the opinion though seems to be that it is not a good idea to add fertiliser to ponds. If the fertiliser contains nitrites then it will be very harmful to the fish if the existing bacteria does not get rid of it very quickly. If the nitrogen is in the form of nitrates it is safer, but in great enough amounts will harm the fish.

One option would be to buy a pond testing kit that covers both nitrites and nitrates and you could feed your basket as normal then test the pond water afterwards, and it will tell you if the levels are safe for fish. If the levels are not safe a partial water change of the pond will rectify this.

19 Aug, 2009

 

I think I'd just move the basket.

19 Aug, 2009

 

Spot on Moon Grower.

19 Aug, 2009

 

;-)

19 Aug, 2009

How do I say thanks?

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