Free fish from acidic environment.

[nebtnarg]

I have a golf course down the road from me that has several koi ponds as decorations. I am friendly with the grounds keeper and he said that he was asked to pair down the number of fish from the ponds. They are beautiful large fish (15-24" long) but are living in a 6.4 ph pond. The pond is spring fed and they all look quite healthy. My pond at home has a PH of 8.1, quite a huge difference. I brought one home, placed it in a side tank and slowly introduced my water (over 24 hours) then placed it in the pond. I found him on the side of the pond dead the following morning, haven jumped out. I have 5 koi ranging from 4" to 11" in the pond currently and test my water thoroughly several times a week. the other possible water difference is that my pond runs about 2200 ppm of salt, and the spring fed water was almost nothing. Obviously the 24 hours was not sufficient, any thoughts on how I can do this without making the fish die?

I test for: GH, KH, PH, NaCl, dissolved O2, ammonia, nitrates, phos, temp. All in healthy ranges every test.

 

[j.w]

and welcome @nebtnarg
I am not familiar on how to fix this issue and make the new coming fish able to withstand the big change. Hopefully some more experienced w/this will be able to help you.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! We do have some chemistry geniuses on here, so maybe they can help. I know that the pH has to be adjusted slowly, but keep in mind that if you were bringing “foreign” fish into your pond, there could be more going on than just the pH difference. How big is your pond and what kind of filtration do you have? Most here don’t use salt in our ponds. Koi are freshwater fish.

 

[WaterGardener]

Definitely not a chemistry genius, but I think you moved too quickly. PH should be raised very gradually when fish are involved, increasing the KH no more than 20 ppm at a time, an increase of about 1 drop with the liquid test.

I think it would be better to slowly increase the pH over several days. But I would also quarantine any new fish for at least a few weeks before introducing them to the pond. Then add one fish from your pond to the quarantine tank to see if they react negatively.

I tend to be overly cautious and quarantine for at least 6 months.

 

[nebtnarg]

Hello and welcome! We do have some chemistry geniuses on here, so maybe they can help. I know that the pH has to be adjusted slowly, but keep in mind that if you were bringing “foreign” fish into your pond, there could be more going on than just the pH difference. How big is your pond and what kind of filtration do you have? Most here don’t use salt in our ponds. Koi are freshwater fish.

Hi there, pond is 2k gallons, filtration is skimmer with mechanical filter + UV to sand filter for fine mechanical, then to waterfall for biological. Pond is clear, and I have never seen my ammonia creep up even once. Amphibians are in abundance and in good health. I understand folks stance on salt, at .2% it should not be a cause for a fish to leap from the pond in terror. My guess is this is soundly a PH issue.

 

[brokensword]

WaterGardener has it right; you need a LONG time to SLOWLY raise the parameters. Doesn't surprise me the fish couldn't handle it. You could get a kiddie pool and take in the fish with water they're used to already, then slowly raise the pH. You're dealing with almost a 100x differential. Imagine you having to go from (1F) to over 100F in less than 24 hours. You'd lean over and float belly up, too. And that's just a simile for temp; imagine all the osmotic functions the internal organs are going through to adjust.

 

[GBBUDD]

Where are these fish ?

 

[nebtnarg]

Where are these fish ?

In a country club.

 

[GBBUDD]

yes i caught that . But what state

 

[Jhn]

yes i caught that . But what state

Lol….You angling to get some free koi and hoping for a road trip on the Harley. Wonder if you can transport koi on your side compartments on your bike, I am sure you could figure it out.

 

[Jhn]

In a country club.

Haha this response just made me laugh for some reason.
No wonder it jumped out of your pond, it is a country club koi it has standards. Joking aside, as everyone advised take the ph adjustment much slower and the fish should be fine.

 

[mrsclem]

.2 % salt is a litter higher than the old normal level. It's possible that between the ph difference and the salt, that's why the fish jumped.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have hauled a koi across three states on the bike . yes the employees gave me a look at the store . I'M SURE THATS SUREPRISES NO ONE . Bought it in Jersey and HAULED through ny and ct

 

[brokensword]

I have hauled a koi across three states on the bike . yes the employees gave me a look at the store . I'M SURE THATS SUREPRISES NO ONE . Bought it in Jersey and HAULED through ny and ct

HRP

 

[nebtnarg]

yes i caught that . But what state

CT