Chlorine in pond

[tuculover]

Afternoon all!

I just did a co-op dip strip in my horse trough pond and noticed about 1.5 chlorine. Everything else looked ok but I haven't changed water in this in over a year. Nothing but rain going in and no runoff from a roof or anything. My only guess would be the barley straw I'm using to help the algae bloom, adding something that the strip is picking up.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Dancing Matt]

I would try another strip and/or a different test as the first thing to do.

If those come back the same than some questions would be, what is coating the tub? Are sprinklers over spraying into the tub (though it seems high for a little over spray)? Is someone topping it off? It seems rather full or no water "change" (if it is being topped off, is the water being treated?).

It has a nice green-water tint to it which makes me question if it has chlorine...

Edited April 27, 2022 by Dancing Matt

[Fish Folk]

How are the mosquito larvae and other live wigglers doing?

[tuculover]

Hmm tried another strip and got a similar reading. There is a little overspray from the neighbors garden but really not much, maybe that's it though. No wrigglers yet, still pretty early in Seattle, and the white clouds keep the mosquitoes down. Everybody seems happy and we're great last summer, so I'll keep on keeping on.

Thanks!

[Patrick_G]

I can’t help with the problem so I’ll just bring a good attitude, nice pond and beautiful Hen and Chicks! 😀

I’ve been considering upgrading my wood frame pond to a 200 gal stock tank. I was thinking of coating it with something, did you do that or is it bare metal. 
 

Sorry to hijack the thread 

Edited April 28, 2022 by Patrick_G

[tuculover]

Yeah no worries, thanks for the compliments! I took the big sticker off the side with a heat gun and goof off, real pain in the butt. Sanded it all down with a medium grit and then painted the outside with rustoleum and the inside with plasti-dip. The plasti-dip comes off on the rails but seems to have held up well under water. I let everything cure and off gas for a week but not sure if that's necessary.

[Torrey]

Your rock wall is gorgeous, and where did you source your barley straw from?

We learned from our feed store in Ferndale that straw is sometimes treated to inhibit mold, and there aren't a lot of restrictions since straw is not a feed source. That might be your culprit.

[tuculover]

Thanks! I got the straw from the pond area of a local nursery (Sky in Seattle on Aurora). No clue about fungus treatment but good to know.

[PineSong]

On 4/27/2022 at 8:10 PM, Patrick_G said:

Sorry to hijack the thread 

I'm glad you did--I also wanted to know!

[Bec]

Your pond is beautiful! I ended up finding this thread because I have also set up a mini pond using this resin pot from Home Depot https://www.homedepot.com/p/Classic-Home-Garden-Napa-Barrel-12-in-Kentucky-Walnut-Resin-Planter-HD1403-037R/306580884

I always use dechlorinator (Fritz Complete) when I top up and every time I go to test with my Aquarium Co Op test strips, I get a chlorine reading. It seems to be higher when I don't add water at all which is really confusing to me. Could it be some reaction with the test strips themselves?