Didn’t know it was a Koi pond!

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So, we bought this house 4 months ago and no one told us there were Koi in the pond. It looks gross in there! I just happened to see two moving around yesterday! we tried to feed them food from PetCo but they haven’t eaten it and they just sit at the bottom and don’t move much. What should we do to get them healthy and happy? I’m afraid of chemicals.
 

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addy1

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Welcome to the forum!

Nice looking pond1

Are you sure they are koi? Not gold fish?
You need to get a test kit and see how the water tests out at this point.
 
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Make all your moves slowly don't make any drastic changes over night. Like @addy1 said test your water sometimes your better off brining some of your water to the local pet store and have them do the test. I believe your pond is full of frog bit i light yellow flower . the surface usually looks more crowded then it actually is under water.
 

Jhn

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? I’m afraid of chemicals
As you should be… nothing good ever comes from dumping chemicals into a pond with aquatic life in it. New acronym we belong to the AOC group @somebody …..

Agree with what has already been said, nice looking pond and take it slow. Also, like @addy1 said are you sure they are koi and not goldfish, most koi love to root around in the pond bottom, disturbing plants and reducing water clarity. One thing you could do is add an aerator which would clear an open area and add oxygen, just keep,it off the pond bottom in case the bottom has a layer of muck ( might not want to disturb that layer if it is deep).
 
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Sorry @Jhn while i agree fully against the chemical route. With the exception to when parasites have run amuck, for once I have to say nope not for me. The title AOC IS TAKEN and it's one club i'd NOT get any where near.
 
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Sorry @Jhn while i agree fully against the chemical route. With the exception to when parasites have run amuck, for once I have to say nope not for me. The title AOC IS TAKEN and it's one club i'd NOT get any where near.
I thought the same as GB when I saw your @Jhn suggestion; it's already been poisoned as anything useful, imo.

Now, we COULD try FOC; fearful of chemicals! Btw, jhn, glad to see you're joining in all the acro fun! We're going to strongarm GB, just wait!

:cool:
 

cas

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Pretty pond. When you say it looks gross, what exactly do you mean?
 
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Welcome! What a pretty pond - I'm surprised the previous owners weren't more forthcoming with information about their pond and fish they were leaving behind.

It appears to be overgrown - I'd slowly start removing some of the plants in the pond to figure out what's underneath. If you're able, I'd get right in the pond and poke around, see what's happening at the bottom.
 
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Welcome! What a pretty pond - I'm surprised the previous owners weren't more forthcoming with information about their pond and fish they were leaving behind.

It appears to be overgrown - I'd slowly start removing some of the plants in the pond to figure out what's underneath. If you're able, I'd get right in the pond and poke around, see what's happening at the bottom.
The previous owners didn’t maintain anything for over 5 years. This place was a mess. We are slowly getting it cleaned up and the pond was going to be filled in…then my husband got the waterfall working and all of a sudden I spotted the fish! The bottom has big rocks and lots of slime brown stuff. We got a net and fished out some tiny green floating things that my dog then ate and got sick! Im wondering if I should bring in a professional or can we do this ourselves.
 
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Pretty pond. When you say it looks gross, what exactly do you mean?
The bottom has a lot of brown slimy stuff. And the water is mostly murky and you can’t see into it. Should it be more clear?
 
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Welcome to the forum!

Nice looking pond1

Are you sure they are koi? Not gold fish?
You need to get a test kit and see how the water tests out at this point.
Not sure they are Koi. They are mostly white with a bit of orange. Longer bodies. They don’t move much. I will get a test kit asap! Thanks!
 
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As you should be… nothing good ever comes from dumping chemicals into a pond with aquatic life in it. New acronym we belong to the AOC group @somebody …..

Agree with what has already been said, nice looking pond and take it slow. Also, like @addy1 said are you sure they are koi and not goldfish, most koi love to root around in the pond bottom, disturbing plants and reducing water clarity. One thing you could do is add an aerator which would clear an open area and add oxygen, just keep,it off the pond bottom in case the bottom has a layer of muck ( might not want to disturb that layer if it is deep).
We did buy an aerator and that side of the pond is a little clearer. Should we put on on the other side? This pond is fairly shallow…deeper than my knee high boots I found out!
 

j.w

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@CrystalB
That is gonna be such a nice pond once you get it all cleaned up and working properly. You can do this yourselves. Just make sure you have or get a good filter going and you can clean out the thick stuff w/a big net. It will take awhile but you will get there.
 

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