Holes in Lotus Leafs

[Jacob04]

Hello
i am new to this website, so please excuse if i am going the wrong way
I have a specific problem of having holes in my lotus leaves. I have gone through this website and have seen similar post , but my problem seems to be different when i try and analyse the symtoms. Here are a few details about my pond
1> Its an artificially made pond inside my garden
2> The base for sand used was used from river silt
3> It is approximately 2 feet deep
4> It houses 9-10 koi carp and 40-50 guppies
5> It was made 2 years ago
6> was believed to be a natural ecosystem with rarely feeding the fishes and no dosing of any chemical or oxygen
In the monsoon previous year , the pond petals grew so much that they climbed out of the wall of the pond. And were so dense that you could not see the water in the pond
How ever this year it seems to be quite different . All new leaves seem to have a reddish tinge , and all fully grown leaves soon develop holes .
I dont understand what is hindering the growth of the pond leaves, And am worried that soon all will be wiped out.
I am attaching a few photographs of the problem. I hope someone can help me out soon .
Regards,
Jacob

IMAG0270.jpgIMAG0271.jpgIMAG0272.jpgIMAG0273.jpgIMAG0274.jpg

[David]

by the looks of it, it seems that your carp aka kois are eating the leaves. In the past it was fine as the kois were smaller and now, 2 years on, they get bigger. This means that if your feeding did not increase in moderations, they will turn on your plants.

You need to check on your water parameters at all times. As you mention, this is a ecosystem and the main media is the water. You have to check on the PH as well as the KH, Ammonia and Nitrite levels. This is important as your pond is exposed to the weather. With the current pollution in the air plus the haze is not helping as all this pollutants rain into your pond. Since its a close ecosystem, all this does not get washed away.

Plants needs nutrients and condusive environment to grow. My guess was that in the past, your system was able to support the lotus and they flourished. When that happens, an increase in plant population means an increased need for nutrients and they have perhaps exhausted and/or the demand has out stripped the supply.

Fish poop is not all the nutrients plants need and by the looks of the leaves that has gone yellowish, there could be a lack of iron. You need to fertilise the pond.

This is just my opinion based on what I see.

[Jacob04]

I think you are right ..

Could you please guide as to how to check on the parameters mentioned .. and how to balance them out

[felix_fx2]

you can check with the nearest aquarium if they stock test kits.

there is a good chance the ecosystem is off balance & as david mention lack of iron.
Likely over the last 2 years your lotus depleted more or less what was initially sufficient & present in the substrate (for your case river sand), you might want to check if the aquarium store also stock a bucket of pond soil to revitalize your pond.

Maybe this picture could help you too

[Jacob04]

this was very helpful.. thank you so much
i searched ebay and found liquid supplements for some NPK balance .. should i buy that?? some Seachem company .. in bottles of 100ml
also the local aquarium guy says that the tests for aquariums will not hold true for a pond

[David]

Seachem is a good brand and before you going to ebay to start purchasing, I strongly suggest that you visit their website and or other website and read first before dosing your pond. Your pond is exposed to sunlight...this means that if you dose too much, you are most likely to get an algae bloom. I do not have much experience with ponds so I would recommend caution.

As for test kits, it gives an indication as far as I can remember, my uncle has a pond and he takes 3 readings. 1 at the furthest point from the filter, 2 at the mid point of the pond, and within the sump of the pond....Please please read the following sites. I have included the links that is specifically pond care.

Seachem:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/Pond.html

Dennerle:

http://www.dennerle.eu/global/index....id=154&lang=en

Sera:

http://www.sera.de/en/pages/products...-pond-257.html