Doing something wrong; about to fill in the pond.

j.w

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Duane
Once you get the hang of it it will come much easier for you and become a fulfilling hobby.
 
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Welcome ! Please don't get overwhelmed and discouraged. There are some simple steps you can take to turn things around. it was a very harsh winter in your neck of the woods. I noticed a pond de-icer in your pond....did you also use any air stones? I've had success with just a de icer in years past, but this year added air stone because of the harsh winter.

Getting control of your water is excellent advice. A water change is a good first step.
Will do it this weekend.
 
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Welcome ! Please don't get overwhelmed and discouraged. There are some simple steps you can take to turn things around. it was a very harsh winter in your neck of the woods. I noticed a pond de-icer in your pond....did you also use any air stones? I've had success with just a de icer in years past, but this year added air stone because of the harsh winter.

Getting control of your water is excellent advice. A water change is a good first step.
It was very harsh and I didn't us the air stone.
 
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How many fish are in the pond at this time to cause high levels and you say ph was high .If it is around 8 that is not high .First the salt level has to go down .I only add a little salt when my fish slime coat does not look right to me .Usually for my pond I only add a handful and with 3000 gallons that is not much .Is your water city water or well and have you tested the water before you put it in the pond .Do you get a lot of rain or water run off from your yard .I had a neighbor that salted her side walk in the winter and she had a small preformed next to the sidewalk and could not understand why the fish never survived the winters.She kept saying but I don't add salt to my pond water and she did unknowingly .Just like my neighbor Marty big pond and could not understand high nutrient levels in the pond last year .Well he decided last year to move the cows to the upper field and cow poo was getting washed into the pond .He never used the field before that for his cows .Good gosh you have 300 acres
No fish now because they all died. I will do the water exchange this weekend and re-check the salt levels.
 
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It looks like your doing just about everything wrong at the moment :(
What you need to to is to take control of the water :)
You do this by not over feeding regular filter maintenance and regular water changes plus by buying the following test kits Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Ph Kh Gh, you then test on a regular basis :)
You can buy zeolite stones to take up the ammonia and crushed oyster shellto help with the Ph of your water , the rest is down to you and in self educating yourself on our hobby by reading .:cool::)(y)
The book I suggest is the Interpet Manual of Koi Health ..ISBN 1842860992 by Authors Keith Holmes and Tony Pitham, be aware there is now a revised version of this book out which we have yet to buy ourselves .:D
The quickest and easiest way of getting a coply would be on Amazon US cost as little as $4.00 used or $21.00 new :-

http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Koi-He...kmr0_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I promise you if you read this book cover to cover and learn well from it you'll be able to enjoy your fish for the first time .:D:):cool:
By the way do you leave your waterfalls on in the winter ? Dont it can super chill your water and kill your koi.
Did you clean all the dead leaves and detritus out of your pond prior to winter ? Do it it all helps your koi to survive.
Did you clean and prime your filter prior to winter? Do it all helps in your fight against the winter period .
Do you do water changes throughout the winter ? We do using the trickle method which allows the ambient temperature of the water warm the trickle coming in at thats about30-40% of the total water (as a novice I wouldnt recomend you do this until you have learnt how.
Do you remove chlorine from the water prior to it going into the pond ? Do this is a must if you value your koi you can get dechlorinator liquid from your local fish outlet or on line .:)
Do you over feed your fish ? Quite simply dont , it is always better to under feed than to over feed roughly the rule of thumb is as much as they can eat in 5 mins feed up to three times a day , say once in the morning once midday and once about 18:00 pm :LOL:
If your going to buy in fish to add to your pond? Dont not until you have built a smaller Quarentine Pond dedicated to QTing your fish for up to 2 months whist you check for signes of Parasites and infections etc and treat if necessary
Sound confusing dont worry the book covers everything you need to know , this year is our 27th year of koi keeping it mostly started out with two books for us and the koi manual was the second one :cool:(y)

Dave

Dave
I never run the falls in the winter. I will be buying that book ASAP! I run on a well and have a test kit. I never over feed them; sometimes I skip a day or so. I have to read that book and I should be able to get the idea. Thanks Dave
 

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I'm going to post some pictures of my pond so you all can get an idea on what I'm working with. Thanks for all of your help!
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Excuse the pea soup. I added the Spring and Summer clean up. I know I have some work ahead of me. This filter runs the big waterfall and the small one is connected to a submersible pump that is underneath the big waterfall.
 
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I'm going to post some pictures of my pond so you all can get an idea on what I'm working with. Thanks for all of your help!View attachment 69055

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Excuse the pea soup. I added the Spring and Summer clean up. I know I have some work ahead of me. This filter runs the big waterfall and the small one is connected to a submersible pump that is underneath the big waterfall.

That is a very nice looking pond, I especially like how the gazebo hangs over the edge. I wish you luck with it, its really too pretty to give up on it.
 

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that is a nice pond except for the green .I think you can get it back to normal once you get the salt levels down
 
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I ran mine. You're not supposed to put them on the bottom of your pond, as they can super cool the warmest water, which is in the deepest area of the pond. I rested mine on lily baskets.

I was at our local fish hatchery this week end and their manager said running air stones during winter, is key to fish survival, as it keeps the water oxygenated. Of course, if it's very cold, and the pond has little depth to it.....bringing them inside is probably the best course of action.

Just saw the pictures you posted of your pond - it is indeed too beautiful to give up on it!
 
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I ran mine. You're not supposed to put them on the bottom of your pond, as they can super cool the warmest water, which is in the deepest area of the pond. I rested mine on lily baskets.

I was at our local fish hatchery this week end and their manager said running air stones during winter, is key to fish survival, as it keeps the water oxygenated. Of course, if it's very cold, and the pond has little depth to it.....bringing them inside is probably the best course of action.
The pond is very deep; the deepest part is 4 feet. What do you mean by ran mine?
 
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I ran my air pump , with four air stones, throughout the winter. I also used my deicer.

I hadn't seen the pictures of your pond before I posted earlier, obviously you have pond depth.
 

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