Fish acting lethargic


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I'm wondering why the chlorine would show up if you used dechlor? And why now if the pond has been filled for a week? Any chlorine in the water should have dissipated? Unless you have chloramines in your water supply?
 
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I was wondering the same thing, I let the water sit for three days before I ever started cycling the pump/filtration.
 

Meyer Jordan

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Under the conditions that you have described.....your fish are stressed. They have been in a completely new environment for only about a week, the pond has yet to cycle. you have unnecessarily added 'snake oil' pond treatments.....and, if I read correct;y the pond is only half filled.
 
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When ever I have a situation where my fish are acting "off" first thing I do is a water change.

Nine times out of ten when fish become ill or start dying it is due to water quality.

Considering you have nitrite showing up and fish acting off/ill I would do a water change.
 
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Pond right now
 

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Meyer Jordan

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When ever I have a situation where my fish are acting "off" first thing I do is a water change.

Nine times out of ten when fish become ill or start dying it is due to water quality.

Considering you have nitrite showing up and fish acting off/ill I would do a water change.
The pond is in the early stage of cycling (one week).
 
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Right, In an earlier post I recommend using Prime (to detox the nitrite) but since she obviously doesn't have Prime the next best thing is to do a water change (or use salt but I didn't want to get in to all that being it's a pond and not a quarantine)
 

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@Jetta , what is the pond volume and how many inches of fish, number and size, do you have in it? I think @Meyer Jordan has it correct , it's basically a new pond except I'd expect to see something other than 0 for ammonia. But let's make sure that you system isn't overloaded because if it is you may need to take a different approach.

Also, I used to use the stress coat declornator with aloe but switched to pure declornators and just recently the cloromine and heavy metal neutralizer.
 
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Oh my! My husband guesses 500 gallons, I have three six inch shybunkins, two three inch shubunkins, one six inch koi. And four one inch babies. I will get a better estimate on volume. (I add water by the bucket so that's how I add dechlor for any questions on that)
 
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According to an estimator online, my husband is off by 1300 gallons! I'm going to go with 1500 gallons, shelves and such. The average length/width is 10 foot, average depth for the three areas is 2 feet.
 
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Yup - first thing you always want to know is the size of your pond. Dosing depends on the volume of water being treated.
 
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Well I only dosed for five hundred, but I'm not adding anything else to the water. I'm just not sure what to do at this point. Wait and see? Do a water change?
 
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It seems if you're trying to get your pond to cycle a water change is just going to put you right back at square one. If it were me, I would take a wait and see approach.

I'm still wondering about that chlorine level - any ideas @Meyer Jordan ?
 

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'm still wondering about that chlorine level - any ideas @Meyer Jordan ?

What is the test method....strips or liquid? In either case. I believe that this is a false reading for Chlorine.
In addition, after only one week, there should definitely be noticeable Ammonia levels and Nitrite should be rising. I attribute the Nitrate reading to the old pond water.
 
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What is the test method....strips or liquid? In either case. I believe that this is a false reading for Chlorine.
In addition, after only one week, there should definitely be noticeable Ammonia levels and Nitrite should be rising. I attribute the Nitrate reading to the old pond water.
Strips. And I'm going to give it time. I'm as stressed as the fish. I feel stupid for only letting the water cycle for a week before adding the fish. I was just so worried about their stock tank making them sick cause it was small. Now I've made them sick. I haven't noticed any physical things like lesions or discoloration, just general lethargy. And I've been sitting by the pond, in the pond, around the pond since the start.
 
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The pond or tank doesn't cycle without a source of ammonia such as fish (or by adding ammonia while doing a fish less cycle)

You could (or should have) moved the filter from the stock tank as well as the fish on the same day/time. If you moved the filter without the fish there would be no source of ammonia to keep it going.
 

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