Now I have another question. I just checked the water quality of my outdoor pond (I live in WI, and its too shallow for my fish in winter). The numbers are great compared to my kiddie pool that they have been in all winter. pH-7.0, ammonia-0,

Nitrite-0, Nitrate-0, totol hardness-300, total alkalinity-180. Now, my pond water is pH-8.4, ammonia-0.25, Nitrite-0,

Nitrate-20, total hardness-300, total alkalinity-300. I'm leaving for a 2 1/2 week vacation in 3 weeks. I'm wondering if I should put my 3 fish in the pond now or wait until I get back. To my knowledge, a pond will cycle if you add fish, but I'm wondering if maybe it already has all the "good bacteria" in it since it has been sitting since last fall and the quality numbers look so good. Maybe then it won't go through the big change in quality (cycling) after I add them??

I don't want my husband to have to worry a lot about checking water and doing water changes if he doesn't have to. Also, I will be putting my new pump with mech, bio, and UV filtration into it. Should I be concerned that the outdoor pond pH is only 7.0? Could that drop further if I put the fish in? If I put them in I would have to slowly acclimate them to the new water. Should a also wait because of those spots on his gill covers (from previous post)? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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