Discouraged Pond Owner

[Janice7]

I'm new to being a koi owner. Started in June 2018 with a small pond and I loved every bit of it. I grew attached to my fish babies and they brought me so much joy. As the winter progressed it began to become stressful to keep an eye on the water freezing because we had a few issue with the aerator line freezing and one time the water pump tipped over from the ice buildup and kill one koi. So I moved my fish to my basement and this is when it got worse. Thinking i was saving myself stress and keeping my koi safe and warm, i actually lost 5 koi in the last 3 weeks. This is disheartening, i didn't have to do so much to my water and test it as frequently now as when they were outdoors. We didn't have to treat the water much, hardly any water changes needed, water was clear. I wish i would have done more research before bringing them in. They have the same equipment from outdoors as they do now minus the additional waterfall. I'm doing everything i can to save my fish. But the reason for my post is to get motivation, hear other stories of encouragement. I love the feeling my koi give me but I am so sad about the losses that I had. So much so I'm reconsidering adding a larger pond outdoors for more koi. I'm at a point that I just want to keep the fish that survive and not get more so I don't have to be so upset every time I lose a fish.

 

[j.w]

@Janice7 Sorry for your fish loss and hope you can help the rest to survive. I'm not a diagnoser on fish problems but did you do a water test to see if anything is out of balance? They will want to see the numbers (perhaps from both ponds) here from the tests etc. and other questions will be asked of you. Did you move them into the house when it was super cold outside and then into a warm house? Did you acclimate them to the water and was the water from the pond used for the new pond? Just some of the questions that will be asked. Hoping it all turns out well for the fish and you. It can be hard to see them die and you don't know what to do for them

 

[mrsclem]

Welcome Janice7- Sorry you are losing fish. What area are you in? How cold is your weather? Most people do not bring their fish in and just use aerators and heaters to keep a hole open in the ice. I personally use pond breathers as well as heaters. What size tank are you keeping your koi in and how many fish and sizes? A pond is much easier to manage than a small tank. If you don't have a test kit, you need to get one and check water quality. Don't give up! A lot of us started out having no idea what we were doing ( myself included). Love that you are already considering a larger pond already.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Test your water, it is harder to keep fish in a tank then in a pond. Posts your tests when you take them a lot of people here can help you.

 

[Janice7]

Thank you for the feedback! I have test strips and also the ammonia liquid test. I also have several products I've bought after each loss. When I get home from work I'll do another post reply and show the results and what I already have.

 

[Janice7]

So the ammonia in one pool is very high and the other is slightly high. I do have ammonia remover is there anything else that I can do to get it down quickly? The other number is look good. Doing a 25% water change.

 

[mrsclem]

How large is the container you have them in and how many fish? Also, what size are they?

 

[Stephen Noble]

Welcome Janice!
Which pool? The one you took the fish from or the one they are in now? How big is the tank the fish are in at this time?
Again, welcome!
Stephen

 

[sissy]

sorry to hear but it could have been temperature shock and you should really have gotten a pond heater instead .I have koi in 5000= gallons and use a pond heater and aerator

 

[Stephen Noble]

So the ammonia in one pool is very high and the other is slightly high. I do have ammonia remover is there anything else that I can do to get it down quickly? The other number is look good. Doing a 25% water change.

I don't know what you have for ammonia remover but Prime made by Seachem is excellent for emergencies like this.

 

[Janice7]

So the ammonia in one pool is very high and the other is slightly high. I do have ammonia remover is there anything else that I can do to get it down quickly? The other number is look good. Doing a 25% water change.

These are all the products I currently have on hand.

 

[Janice7]

How large is the container you have them in and how many fish? Also, what size are they?

I have 2 kiddie pools about 180 gallons each. I have 5 koi in one and 6 in the other. Divided based on size so there are a couple small 3" koi with 4" and 6".

 

[Janice7]

sorry to hear but it could have been temperature shock and you should really have gotten a pond heater instead .I have koi in 5000= gallons and use a pond heater and aerator

They did great when i moved them into the house. It was a week or so later when some died. Thinking its getting the new water balanced. Not sure. The ammonia is definitely high in one. Got the ph levels down a week ago.

 

[sissy]

You should have used some of the pond water to help the fish .I have had to rebuild my pond and always save as much original pond water as possible .For ph use crushed oyster shells that they use for chickens and for ammonia use zeolite and activated charcoal .They are more natural and set up a crate over a crate and put the pump hose in it with quilt batting it will clean the water of ammonia also .I do that for the baby fish I give away .

 

[sissy]

If you can get a plant and wash all the dirt off the roots and put it in bare root it will clean it also .As long as the plant likes to have wet roots