Dave 54 said:
you say your pond is 3,000- 3.500 gallons that isnt good enough as you have a descrepancy of 500 gallons to effect a treament you have to know prescisely the amount of water you have.
Our own pond is 1,000 gallons imperial we know this because we metered in that exact amount of water , so as treatments go we know exactly the right amount to use (its important to know as overdoses can and do kill)
If I could do it again, I'd fill the pond using a meter. Unfortunately, I didn't have the foresight to do that. Good work on your part doing it right! If I ever empty and refill, I'll follow your lead. In the meantime, my pond is an irregular shape with large rocks around the perimeter. I'm pretty dang proficient with a calculator, but this one would be tough. I'm confident it's close to 3,500 but tend to be conservative with estimates. For the benefit of others, I learned you don't actually have to meter the water as the pond is filled.
Here's a cool little article on how to use salt to do the volume calculation. Maybe I'll take this on next week. Since I haven't undertaken any treatments, I'm not too concerned about overdoses.
Dave 54 said:
you also say your adding warm water to the pond, I explained the trickle method of filling a pond after a waterchange using the ambient temperature of the ponds water to warm any colder water coming into the pond , if done correctly you'll loose .1c of a degree tops.
I didn't catch your explanation of the "trickle method". Did you inadvertantly post it to a different topic? To be more clear, I first drained 10-15% of the water volume (not a precise calculation, I know). Then I ran a hose to the sink in my garage and SLOWLY added WARM water to the pond. The result was a very gradual increase in temperature over the course of several hours. I didn't have a thermometer in the pond before the water change but I do now. The temperature is now hanging around 55F. At no time during the water change did the temperature drop. The water added INCREASED the ambient temperature - sorry if this wasn't clear from the start.
Dave 54 said:
you added 40lb of salt to your pond (yikes) did you mot read the bit about salt dips and a dedicated Qaurentine system , not only have you lowerd the temperature still further through this but you have now buggered yourself when it comes to treating the pond with anything else , some treatmments and salt do not mix one can become toxic to your fish if you have a PH of 8.5.
Did you at least disolve the salt ?
I think you can save the "yikes" - 40 pounds of salt in a 3,500 gallon pond equates to a NEGLIGIBLE increase in salinity. One pound in 100 gallons equates to 0.125% (that's just a little over 1/10th of 1%). The increase in my case is between 0.137% and 0.16% (given my gross volume estimates). Based on
this handy chart, I'm well below the level advised "to maintain a stable salt concentration level in the pond". I understand there was salt content in the water before the addition, and that there are differing opinions on salt treatment, but I'm still confident stating it's negligible.
I did dissolve the salt as it was added. In fact, the bag had handy little holes in the sides and it took a full day for it all to dissolve. I had the two worst fish in a QT and used a higher level of salt, based on advice from another source, to treat them. Unfortunately, they're dead now and as I said previously it isn't realistic to quarantine the rest.
Dave 54 said:
What size filtration is used on your pond please jaydog ? This is important we need to see if the system is man enough for that amount of water what media are you using?
This has been addressed in a previous post. The biological filter that currently isn't in use is 55 gallons. Other than that, it's just the filter pad in the skimmer and approximately 30 gallons worth of scrubbies in the waterfall weir.
Dave 54 said:
Is there a koi dealership near you who could perhaps come out to see you and help you through this as waterbug says he wishes he could just pop round and help you out , so do we this is the only problem with helping online. One thing you havent done which would help us all are photos at least we could then take a look at what is afflicting your koi.
The only dealership in the area doesn't open until next month (they close down during the winter). I have reached out to a local koi club though, and believe they'll be my best resource for in-person assistance. I'll try to take some photos later today. Unfortunately, I'll be traveling for several days after that.
I haven't lost any more of the koi, and the survivors are looking better everyday. It's amazing how fast the recover, whether my ill-advised steps helped or not. I really do appreciate the help you guys provide! It's great to have a resource where knowledgeable people share their expertise just out of kindness.