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I hope not! My mastiff is constantly in there and drinking it. Then again, she's nearly as big as a horse.
3 year old large pond, fish gulping for air...
- Thread starter erkme73
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Ok, so the latest details on my struggle to save my pond/fish...
After some pretty heroic efforts to aerate the water using untold gallons of gas to power a 200GPM trash pump, 100' of 2" fire hose, and a fire nozzle, along with various other pumps and spray nozzles, the fish that were swimming at the surface started to disappear into the murky water depths.
In all, we've lost 10 fish, 3 of the >20", 3 of the 10" and 4 of the smaller ones. What is particularly creepy is that two of the small ones were disfigured. One was all bent like it had scoliosis. The other was missing an eye... not like it was removed, but it was born without one. Mutant level kind of stuff on both.
Maybe the gene pool is just a bit too shallow?
Anyway, today the test strips came in and this is the result:
It appears to these rookie eyes that everything is in the ideal range. So I presume the gulping distress the fish displayed was likely due to a genuine lack of O2 in the water.
One thing I did notice is that the "slimy" white/clear foam on the surface turned green as soon as the sun hit it. In just a couple of hours, the surface was almost entirely covered by these tiny little green circles. Perhaps this is what is consuming the O2? Blasting it with water from the firehose made the green vanish. So I kept the pump running during daylight hours.
Hopefully the Lilly pad transplants and the pending filter installs will reduce the chances of this happening again.
All the pointers were much appreciated!
After some pretty heroic efforts to aerate the water using untold gallons of gas to power a 200GPM trash pump, 100' of 2" fire hose, and a fire nozzle, along with various other pumps and spray nozzles, the fish that were swimming at the surface started to disappear into the murky water depths.
In all, we've lost 10 fish, 3 of the >20", 3 of the 10" and 4 of the smaller ones. What is particularly creepy is that two of the small ones were disfigured. One was all bent like it had scoliosis. The other was missing an eye... not like it was removed, but it was born without one. Mutant level kind of stuff on both.
Maybe the gene pool is just a bit too shallow?
Anyway, today the test strips came in and this is the result:
It appears to these rookie eyes that everything is in the ideal range. So I presume the gulping distress the fish displayed was likely due to a genuine lack of O2 in the water.
One thing I did notice is that the "slimy" white/clear foam on the surface turned green as soon as the sun hit it. In just a couple of hours, the surface was almost entirely covered by these tiny little green circles. Perhaps this is what is consuming the O2? Blasting it with water from the firehose made the green vanish. So I kept the pump running during daylight hours.
Hopefully the Lilly pad transplants and the pending filter installs will reduce the chances of this happening again.
All the pointers were much appreciated!
Wow. Weird! Bent spine in a. fish can mean defect, disease OR possibly an electrical event like a lightning strike.
Hopefully you've landed on the issue and the die off is over!
Hopefully you've landed on the issue and the die off is over!
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Yes, no fish died in the last 24 hours that I could find so I think we made it past the hump.
The deformaties are a little unsettling. Not sure the cause. If the water ever clears up I may be able to see to what extent that is among the population.
The deformaties are a little unsettling. Not sure the cause. If the water ever clears up I may be able to see to what extent that is among the population.
j.w
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Hope you are right and things are on the mend! I thought maybe pollen but doesn't look like it.
Maybe it's just regular algae and just too much of it? https://www.backyardpondideas.com/why-is-my-ponds-water-green/
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It does look like a heavy dusting of pollen, but it goes from clear to green as soon as the sunlight hits it in the AM. Agitating it with the hoses makes it clear again but only for a few minutes. It's definitely sun-powered. At night it all disappears completely. Reading the link you provided sure makes it sound like I've an excess of nitrates due to the large number of fish (and probably all the duck waste up until now). Yet, it showed in normal levels on the test kit.
The article recommends aquatic vegetation/plants. I added about 15 heads of floating pond lettuce today - along with the previous 8 or so lilly pad clusters from a larger pond in the neighborhood. Since they compete for the same nitrates that the algae needs, hopefully that will help minimize these flare ups.
I've also ordered more aeration stones.
The article recommends aquatic vegetation/plants. I added about 15 heads of floating pond lettuce today - along with the previous 8 or so lilly pad clusters from a larger pond in the neighborhood. Since they compete for the same nitrates that the algae needs, hopefully that will help minimize these flare ups.
I've also ordered more aeration stones.
Bent spine in fish can happen easily from picking a fish up out of the water . they have mush for bones as they are always wet. and they can't handle their own weight . thus the koi sock it nets the fish in water within the net
True, but if you found one dead with a crooked spine, what would you assume? Disease? Injury?
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75x50
80k
Yes, one, 800gph pump on an 8" air stone
Yes, 2700 gph
Nothing. Yet.
It's ok. I know my first post was tldr, but all of those stats were in it.
probably spooked by a preditor or even a person jumping in and the fish darting off and swimming right into something. they warn you when you bring home large koi not to have the bag pointing front to back as breaking can even do this to a fish.
A skimmer is what is needed here and really only needed for a month. The issue is getting all that surface area to the skimmer. a DYI floating skimmer box that takes solely from the surface. that pumps to a barrel or two that has filter floss Cotton that will strain out the pollen. but your batting will need replacing regularly .
There's generally one type of tree that's the main culprit like pines. Cut it down.
You can go the Cadillac and build a bog
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/some-very-impressive-pond-builds.26353/page-5
There's generally one type of tree that's the main culprit like pines. Cut it down.
You can go the Cadillac and build a bog
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/some-very-impressive-pond-builds.26353/page-5
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I would be careful about which water plants you introduce. You can check your state’s websites for lists of invasive species. They can end up being as bad as what you’re trying to prevent.
j.w
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A skimmer would really help but boy that is a huge amount of water and the batting will clog up and you will be taking the stuff out and hosing it off a lot I would think! Wonder if there is any kind of a net that would have such small holes that you could paddle around in a boat and skim it off?
Wonder if this has tiny enough holes to capture that stuff?
https://weedersdigest.com/lake-and-pond-algae-net-skimmer/
Wonder if this has tiny enough holes to capture that stuff?
https://weedersdigest.com/lake-and-pond-algae-net-skimmer/