Accidental fish looker afterer needs HELP PLEASE?

[MisseeLee]

Hi everyone, this morning I became an accidental fish looker afterer.
My brother and his colleague were working in a garden, they were asked to empty the pond. It was full of fish, the owner said they could put a fork through the bottom of the liner and let it drain (killing them) or the owner said she/he was going to pour bleach into the pond (killing them) Obviously my brother and hit mate thought '**** that!' They collected the fish into a large container and put them into my pond.

Not ideal I imagine due to a big change in environment etc, but at short notice it's the best we could do.

They are going around the surface gasping, I believe it's surface breathing.

I'm running water from the hosepipe slowly dropping from a height to oxygenate as much as I can.

I'll post a pic or video of them.

Could anyone tell me what they're actually doing and how I can properly help them?

They came from a grotty neglected pond so may have other problems.

One is practically a megalodon the others are much smaller.

I hope I've not breached any video posting rules, it's not intentional, I'm not video posting savvy.

I have posted this elsewhere but thought I'd post it here too so I can pick your brains too.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @MisseeLee ! No video rules broken - we love pictures and videos are even better!

Tell us - is yours an established pond? Give us any details about your current set up that you can - size, gallons, filtration, other fish, etc. How many fish did you add?

 

[MitchM]

Just a quick emergency suggestion, you need to get that water moving, but not so much that you disturb sediment on the bottom.
An airstone running at half depth or a small aquarium water pump running so it aerates the surface water.

 

[MisseeLee]

My dad built the pond a decade ago. It's inside measurements are 4'x11'x 4'4''deep. The water is 4' deep, I've done the calculations and it's 5000 litres.
I really know very little other than the heron left us about half a dozen fish this year, there are 4 different lily plants, two large white, one large pink, one miniature pinky white. There's an amount of oxygenating plant I believe is called elodea.
The fish added this morning you can see in the video/picture plus about five dark ones that don't show up so well.

I know nothing except it needs cleaning as I recently inherited the pond. It also works as possibly the biggest cat bowl in UK as my two inherited cats prefer pond water to fresh.

I'm sorry I'm so vague about all this. I've added a few pics.

 

[MisseeLee]

Yeah I know they need oxygen I'm running the hosepipe to help. I've turned it up so as to drop water deeper and work better.
The thing is I'm a full time carer and can't leave the house to get a pump until the agency carers come in, even then it only gives me 30 mins to find a pump.
I will get one but at the moment it's a make do situation.

 

[BarbO]

Does the hose water have chlorine in it? If it does you have to add something from the pet store to get rid of it. Then you can turn up that hose to get much more fresh water and oxygen into the pond fast. You need more than a dripping of it. Let it overflow if you need to. Where does it overflow to?

 

[MisseeLee]

This is them 5 minutes ago.

 

[MisseeLee]

Yeah it does contain chlorine, the overflow is straight into the garden. It was only dribbling because I didn't want too much tap water in the pond. The overflowing isn't really much of a problem.

 

[MisseeLee]

To be honest the petshop option is doable when the carers get here.
I can get a proper pump tomorrow morning as I get 90 minutes reprieve when the carers get here.
Does that sound like an ok option?

 

[BarbO]

I think you need to get the powder or liquid to remove chlorine, follow directions on it, and when you get it, add it, then turn up your hose to let more water go into the pond. Aim it onto the big leaves to break the force of the water. You don't want to stir up all the muck on the bottom of the pond right now, just get in lots of clean fresh water that has had chlorine removed. Run the hose for several hours, add plenty of dechlor. to the water. Chlorine would kill the fish. Right now you want to save the fish. Filtering and cleaning the pond can come later. Now you just need good clean new water. Keep asking here for help.

 

[mrsclem]

Is there any pump already in the pond to circulate the water? If so you could redirect the water to add aeration. Is there anywhere close by that you can get to today to either get a small water pump or an air pump, pet store, walmart or what ever you have in your area.

 

[BarbO]

And yes do get an air pump and tubing to add needed oxygen to the pond. Filtering and pond cleanup can come later.

 

[MitchM]

Things are looking better than the first video. With the sun shining, the algae and submerged plants will be contributing to the oxygen level.
Your trickling of tap water is helping. I agree with getting some dechlorinator, but I think the pond will need more water movement by nightfall.

The cat is not helping. As per usual, lol.

.

 

[Rich8888ri]

Chlorine will kill the fish. You cannot run the hose without a de-chlorinator in the water. Even running it for a half hour can cause gill damage.You need to shut off the hose.
You are better off taking a bucket, filling it with pond water, and splashing it back into the pond a few times an hour.
An air pump and air stones are what you need.

 

[MisseeLee]

As I couldn't get out within time of the shops shutting I asked my brother to get the dechlorinator.

He came back with this and a plug. It doesn't seem to have any aeration facility on it.



Any ideas?