Help me please...koi are dying

[sweetbeats]

Thanks so much for the encouragement, everybody. We appreciate it.

@MitchM here are pics of the hydrometer I bought and the salt the koi pond store sold us:



Still have three koi this morning.

Did my pond overview video help as far as clarifying the current waterfall head and possible biofilter up there? I really think I could make something work...a long shallow storage bin filled with biofilter media with the water inlet at one end and a slot in the lid at the other for the water to flow out...something like that...what do you all think about that? I mainly need to know how much of what kind of filter media to use and I can start assembling an idea...

 

[Lisak1]

I couldn't open the YouTube links - not sure if they are set to private or what's going on there. I could only see the one with the aerator.

You've got the right idea for a filter - I don't have a standard bio-filter on my pond (we filter with a constructed wetland bog) but people use Matala filters, bio balls, lava rocks, a combination of things... I've even seen people use recycled plastic pop rings (the thing that holds a six pack together) - but that would take some planning. Another member cut up gallon milk jugs into strips for a bio-filtration material.

Others with more DIY filter experience will hopefully chime in here!

 

[Mmathis]

@sweetbeats You might want to add more water to the QT. Sometimes koi will jump out and if that is a concern you can use mesh to cover the top. There are various ways to do this. Let us know if you want advice.

Your fish are gorgeous!

 

[sweetbeats]

I can't edit the Post #85 with the YouTube links so reposting the two that are broken here...hopefully this works.

Here is the overview of the pond:

Here is the video of the quarantine tank after I transferred the five koi:

 

[Tula]

Feel bad none of us remembered to tell you to net the QT tank When I've done this I secure the net with wood working clamps, their jumps can be quite powerful.

IMO the one that was initially struggling looks like it had a bacterial infection......if I'm seeing the video correctly......appears the koi had multiple red streaks throughout it's body. Bacterial infections can result from a number of things, poor water quality, a parasite "opening" etc.......if their immune system is stressed, they succumb to an infection they might ordinarily fend off....hope that makes sense.

I'm a nut for aeration, so would probably have more, but I'm sure @MitchM is correct that it's fine, especially with the loss of the 2 large koi.

 

[sweetbeats]

@sweetbeats You might want to add more water to the QT. Sometimes koi will jump out and if that is a concern you can use mesh to cover the top. There are various ways to do this. Let us know if you want advice.

Your fish are gorgeous!

Thank you.

I covered the QT with what we had...some plywood. I'm hoping that is okay. It feels wrong to keep them in the dark but I can't monitor the tank. I will need to get some mesh or something but that's all I had on-hand last night.

 

[sweetbeats]

You've got the right idea for a filter - I don't have a standard bio-filter on my pond (we filter with a constructed wetland bog) but people use Matala filters, bio balls, lava rocks, a combination of things... I've even seen people use recycled plastic pop rings (the thing that holds a six pack together) - but that would take some planning. Another member cut up gallon milk jugs into strips for a bio-filtration material.

Others with more DIY filter experience will hopefully chime in here!

The Matala media looks like it might be a really good solution...is there any qay to calculate how much of that I would need for an effective biofilter to service the 4,000gal pond and the 10,500gph pump flow?

 

[sissy]

window screening and some clamps to clamp it to the tank

 

[sweetbeats]

window screening and some clamps to clamp it to the tank

Oh wow i didn't even think of that...thank you. I have those things [smacks forehead]

 

[Lisak1]

Probably... but I'm not the one to answer. I am going to guess that you won't be able to push the whole 10,500 GPH through a DIY filter - you may have to divide your line.

 

[Mmathis]

Oh wow i didn't even think of that...thank you. I have those things [smacks forehead]

Or “bird netting” from a home improvement store. A member who is no longer following suggested to me.....put a few screws along the outer edge and stretch bird netting over and hook to the screws. Lots of quick and easy solutions!

Probably... but I'm not the one to answer. I am going to guess that you won't be able to push the whole 10,500 GPH through a DIY filter - you may have to divide your line.

I really wonder about this, as well. Ten thousand gallons is a lot of flow. For my pond, I have a 3600 GPH pump split between a DIY Skippy (I like Matala) and a small bog.

 

[Mmathis]

@sweetbeats THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VIDEO! Your pond is gorgeous, but hard to believe it’s only a foot or so deep! You do have very good aeration with those falls. Not a filtration expert here, so will defer that advice to others. Mine is a 100 gallon stock tank, Skippy. Very DIY, but it does work well for biological filtration.

 

[sweetbeats]

@sweetbeats THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE VIDEO! Your pond is gorgeous, but hard to believe it’s only a foot or so deep! You do have very good aeration with those falls. Not a filtration expert here, so will defer that advice to others. Mine is a 100 gallon stock tank, Skippy. Very DIY, but it does work well for biological filtration.

Thank you. We love hearing the falls...helps to drown out the highway lol, and of course we've enjoyed the koi and the occasional water lily blooms are amazing...and the visiting frogs, salamander and bats.

Maybe I wasn't clear in the video but it is at least knee-deep pretty much everywhere (about 18-20" maybe) and deeper in other areas...at least 24" deep.

 

[MitchM]

Those swing-arm type hydrometers can give varying results because sometimes air bubbles can get trapped on the swing arm and if not rinsed with fresh water right after use, they can give different results next time they are used.
I did some checking and the amount of salt you put in the pond should not have raised the salinity to give you such a high salinity measurement. I wonder if there's a possibility that it was salted in the past. It doesn't matter now, we should still get the salinity down to zero. Ponds are much simpler and cheaper to manage with plants and algae.

The next thing to watch out for is a rise in ammonia in the quarantine tank you have the fish in, and like Tula mentioned, watch for any red streaking on the fish or other signs of stress.
If you can add more aeration, do it.
Keep checking the pond and quarantine water salinity levels every now and then until you're satisfied you have a number you feel is accurate.
Check the water temperature every now and then and let us know if you have any change over 5 F or so.

 

[Mmathis]

Those swing-arm type hydrometers can give varying results because sometimes air bubbles can get trapped on the swing arm and if not rinsed with fresh water right after use, they can give different results next time they are used.

That’s good to know!