Discouraged Pond Owner

[sissy]

 

[sissy]

I keep a crate in my waterfall pond all year it is worth trhe extra work to wash it out and replace it .Those chemicals are that chemicals

 

[Stephen Noble]

Well Janice, I think you have done a commendable job with your fish. Most of us have been down the same path. I know I walked it many times until I learned the 'rhythm' of fish keeping. You've done partial water exchanges and used ammonia block and bacteria supplement. For now, I would concentrate on just getting the biological cycle moving forward. It takes a few weeks. Also, I wouldn't use any pH altering additives or medications unless there is a specific reason such as Ich (white spot). I vote to let nature take its course tonight. You can step back and know you have done your best. Tomorrow, test the water again and let's go from there. It's okay, it will all work out!
Stephen

 

[mrsclem]

Janice- where are you located and what is your weather like right now? Keeping koi in small pools is going to be very difficult if not impossible. Is it at all possible to move the fish back to the pond? Not sure what your weather is like right now.

 

[Janice7]

St Louis Missouri. We just had about 14 inches of snow and more to come this weekend. The pond is currently frozen over since I don't have any fish in there so everything is off. My plan was to bring them in for 2 months and build a bigger pond for them. The current one I have is too small for the number of koi I have.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Sounds like frequent water changes and Prime are going to be what your fish need. Prime will make the ammonia safe for the fish. You can add it every 24-48 hours. Please don't mess around with ph level trying to lower it. It's very stressful for the fish and can kill them. Also don't feed while your having water quality issues. It just adds to them.

 

[Stephen Noble]

One suggestion before I log off is to contact the Saint Louis Pond Society and see if any of the members are able or know if anyone in the area is able to temporarily house some of your fish. They are a first class organization with meetings at the Missouri Botanical Garden which is a world class facility. I love visiting there...especially in winter. Stepping out of the 'snow tundra' into a tropical rainforest is heavenly in January. Anyway, I am sure someone with the pond society can help you. Just a suggestion.

 

[Gemma]

Hi @Janice7, welcome to the forum and I'm sorry you're going through this.
as @Stephen Noble said most of us started out just like you, making mistakes and making some more trying to correct those mistakes.
I haven't read the size of your fish, but 180gls is too small for keeping koi!
Don't give up just yet, members here can help you learn all the basics so you can go back enjoying your pond

 

[Janice7]

Hi @Janice7, welcome to the forum and I'm sorry you're going through this.
as @Stephen Noble said most of us started out just like you, making mistakes and making some more trying to correct those mistakes.
I haven't read the size of your fish, but 180gls is too small for keeping koi!
Don't give up just yet, members here can help you learn all the basics so you can go back enjoying your pond

My goal was to bring them in for the winter and care for them without worrying about the pond freezing because the aerator hoes kept freezing. But I want to and still making plans for a bigger pond in the backyard and upgrade my small pond in the front. But my discouragement came from putting everything into making them happy and some still died. Definitely from my mistakes and I'm nervous now. So hopefully I can get my confidence back with having a great group of support like this. Thanks!

 

[Gemma]

My goal was to bring them in for the winter and care for them without worrying about the pond freezing because the aerator hoes kept freezing. But I want to and still making plans for a bigger pond in the backyard and upgrade my small pond in the front. But my discouragement came from putting everything into making them happy and some still died. Definitely from my mistakes and I'm nervous now. So hopefully I can get my confidence back with having a great group of support like this. Thanks!

I'm proud of you for not giving up! See ya around the forum!

 

[Stephen Noble]

Hi Janice, just checking in to see how things are going.
Stephen

 

[Janice7]

Hi Janice, just checking in to see how things are going.
Stephen

Thanks for checking. I did another water change last night. The ammonia levels are done but not at zero. Now I'm almost out of conditoner and ammonia solution.

 

[addy1]

You are doing a great job for your fish!

 

[CometKeith]

St Louis Missouri. We just had about 14 inches of snow and more to come this weekend. The pond is currently frozen over since I don't have any fish in there so everything is off. My plan was to bring them in for 2 months and build a bigger pond for them. The current one I have is too small for the number of koi I have.

Hi Janice. I'm sorry about you losing some of your Koi. I started 10 years ago and lost most of my fish in the beginning and I think this is a pretty common experience for a newbie. I think you probably know this, but ammonia always needs to be at zero. The only way to keep it at that level is to have your pond cycled. I think it's probably really hard to do this with an indoor pond and that is causing your problems. Adding chemicals except adding declor to remove chlorine etc is pretty much a total waste of time. At this point I would make two recommendations. 1) Do not buy or add any new fish until the pond they are going into has very good readings with your test strips.
2) Read as much as you can about the nitrogen cycle through old GPF posts so you understand it and you have it properly implemented in all current and future ponds. Good luck!

 

[sissy]

my koi are over 2 feet long and koi need lots of filtering and aeration of the pond