Fish are staying on the bottom not eatting?

[alice]

Help! My fish are not eatting and this is a new pond. The water is cloudy - i cleaned the filter because it was disgusting. How come they are all staying on the bottom? Should I start over and change the water?

 

[MitchM]

You should really do some water quality tests, Alice.
Ammonia, PH, Nitrate
Like I said in the other thread, a water change would be a good idea.

 

[MitchM]

The cloudiness is being caused by a bacterial bloom because your bacteria population has not yet been established.
You added fish after 2 days but you need at least 3 weeks to establish a bacterial population that is able to process the waste that your fish produce and provide an environment that is safe for your fish.

 

[alice]

Okay thank you! How do you do a proper water change? Do I take all the water out. I know I should leave some in.

 

[MitchM]

Are you on a well or city water?

 

[alice]

Im not sure if an aquarium test strip will work but this is all I have atm, this is what it looks like

 

[alice]

City

 

[MitchM]

I'm afraid that test strips are not very useful because they are very time sensitive. Between the time that you dipped the strip and took the picture, the colours could have changed. The ammonia measurement is what is important now, and I don't see that on the strip.
API liquid test kits are much better.
What do the instructions on your water treatment bottle say for how to treat tap water?

 

[MitchM]

I have to go, but the basic water change procedure is to first remove the existing water (about 50%) then add in the new water after is has been treated.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The cloudiness is being caused by a bacterial bloom because your bacteria population has not yet been established.
You added fish after 2 days but you need at least 3 weeks to establish a bacterial population that is able to process the waste that your fish produce and provide an environment that is safe for your fish.

I disagree here. This is not a bacterial bloom. This just suspended organic matter.
The fish are likely staying at the bottom because they are 'spooked' by all of the recent activity around this water feature.
121 gallons is a awfully small, confining size for 3 fish. This may be adding to their stress.

 

[MitchM]

It's not 121 gallons, Meyer, 121 litres. 31 gallons.
With it only being 1 week old, I wouldn't think there would be any bacterial population stability.
The cloudiness looks fairly even to me, that's why I think it's a bloom.
You could be right, of course.
Either way, it's too much too soon for a small container like that.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

It's not 121 gallons, Meyer, 121 litres. 31 gallons.
With it only being 1 week old, I wouldn't think there would be any bacterial population stability.
The cloudiness looks fairly even to me, that's why I think it's a bloom.
You could be right, of course.
Either way, it's too much too soon for a small container like that.

Yikes! That is entirely too small for 3 fish.

 

[MitchM]

Yes, that's why I recommended earlier returning the koi.

 

[MitchM]

I would really like to see an ammonia reading on this water.
A suspended bag of zeolite or zeocarb may be useful here.

 

[MitchM]

I disagree here. This is not a bacterial bloom. This just suspended organic matter.
..

Why do you think the cloudiness is suspended organic matter and not a heterotrophic bacterial bloom?