Fish are staying on the bottom not eatting?

[Meyer Jordan]

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

For a bacterial bloom to occur, two (2) conditions must be met.
1) a high organic load (which this water feature obviously has).
2) a high level of Dissolved Oxygen to support the respiration requirements of a bacterial bloom usually obtained through appropriate aeration (which this water feature does not have).

 

[alice]

Should I get a bigger container and start over?

 

[MitchM]

It depends on what you or your mom want long term.
2 goldfish in the present container can work. You will need to bring the fish in for the winter though.
You will also need an external filter that can do better job of cleaning the water.
If you want koi, you'll need a larger setup overall but that will also need more equipment and work.

 

[alice]

Okay, i know my mom will be bringing them in over winter. I will see if we can pick up a test kit.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Alice. I think your gift was very innovtive and I really liked the lights. Now that being said you are getting very good advice from some of the posters and you will start to see why people don't typically put their fish in a container like that. For the residue from the rocks you can try holding up some quilt batting where the water flows into the container to filter some of the water. My pond has 800 gallons and it is too small for a koi so you may want to rethink the koi in your container. Its very typical for new "ponds" to develop algae and then it will clear up when it "cycles" so it is unlikely your water will ever be totally clear again. If you are not familiar with how a pond cycles you can do research using old threads on the forum. I think once you read up on it you will see the problem with having too much bioload for the size container you have. Basically when one has a pond you are attempting to replicate the natural cycle of converting wastes to inert byproducts. If you can not do this successfuly you will always have problems with your water quality and this will have adverse affects on the health of your fish.

 

[alice]

Hi Alice. I think your gift was very innovtive and I really liked the lights. Now that being said you are getting very good advice from some of the posters and you will start to see why people don't typically put their fish in a container like that. For the residue from the rocks you can try holding up some quilt batting where the water flows into the container to filter some of the water. My pond has 800 gallons and it is too small for a koi so you may want to rethink the koi in your container. Its very typical for new "ponds" to develop algae and then it will clear up when it "cycles" so it is unlikely your water will ever be totally clear again. If you are not familiar with how a pond cycles you can do research using old threads on the forum. I think once you read up on it you will see the problem with having too much bioload for the size container you have. Basically when one has a pond you are attempting to replicate the natural cycle of converting wastes to inert byproducts. If you can not do this successfuly you will always have problems with your water quality and this will have adverse affects on the health of your fish.

Thank you! Since we my mom and I are beginners at ponds not fish indoors, you guys have been really helpful. It gets alot of shade. But how big should we get? I know she wants to get a corner one. Any tips are totally welcomed! Is there to many plants aswell? Should I switch the koi to a different pond? And another filter?

 

[addy1]

To keep the koi, think a pond in the 1000 gallon range. Imagine a fish over 2 feet in length, that is what a koi can grow to if not longer.

The goldfish stay in the 10 inch plus minus range.

Welcome to our group! Koi need a lot of room, goldfish can do fine in smaller ponds.

 

[MitchM]

Alice, a pond can be a fairly basic construction project, built above ground using landscape ties and a liner.
Once that is together, you can have fun dressing it up with rocks, logs and plants.
Another member here, Callingcolleen1, has just added another section to her existing pond setup doing just that.
Here is her thread: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/ponds-in-canada.9124/page-102
That link should bring you to the start of her addition.