Helping a friend

[MemoryShock]

I am helping out a pal with his business and he bought his son a butterfly koi a few months ago. Apparently, the guy grew faster than he anticipated and he had to switch out of the modest ten gallon tank. So he decided to line a half wooden barrel with plastic and create the new environment. My question is this...since I helped prepare the barrel I have some vested interest in the survival of the koi...what kind of filtration system is necessary, if any, to insure proper water quality?

There are plants in there that were just purchased and plans to pick up a few aquatic snails, the water was treated and is running through a fountain like set-up for aeration but I was wondering if any further steps should be taken...

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated...

 

[j.w]

MemoryShock

Seems as this will be a never ending grow from container to container for your friend. The koi will continue to grow and will soon outgrow the half barrel too. For now you will need a filter. How big is this barrel gallon wise? You could make your own. There are DIY ideas on this forum. Just seems a shame to go to the trouble for such a short time tho. Soon this fish will need a bigger place to live like a real pond. Any chance that there could be one in the near future? A goldfish or 2 would be much more appropriate for the size of container. I'm sure more will chime in here to give you some advice in the morning.

 

[sissy]

JW is right and it will happen fast as my koi are over 2 ft. long after 8 years and they were only a couple of inches long .If you got that liner and did not cut it .I would make a pond and koi produce a lot of waste also .You will need a decent filter and can make your own easy out of a tote .Koi are very social creatures also and seem to need that interaction with people or other fish .I notice since I was gone this week and neglected my fish aggie and bert my biggest koi are mad at me and refuse to come near me .But food solves that problem .

 

[MemoryShock]

Thanks guys. The filter was my biggest question...is there a link someone could forward me as I really am a novice at this (would like to learn though as I have always wanted a koi pond myself. The barrell is a temp solution; they are moving to Colorado in several months to buy a house and creating a bigger more aesthetic environment is one of his plans when he has a bigger yard. But for now, I suppose the interest is survival. The barrel is probably something like 30-35 gallons and contains two koi...one two inches long and the other about half a foot. There will be more tinkering in the coming days regarding the ecosystem but the biggest concern I have, despite following a how to guide, is the filtration. They said changing 5% of the water weekly would suffice but I had doubts about that when I read it so some clarification would be very much appreciated.

And thanks for the welcome!!

 

[j.w]

Here is a veggie filter post that might help since you are just dealing w/ a half barrel pond.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/7002-bucket-planter-veggie-filter-questions/

 

[Waterbug]

Impossible to tell if or how big a filter is needed, assuming we're talking about keeping the fish alive and not about clear water. You can tell a filter is needed by measuring ammonia levels (this is produced by fish pee). Healthy is 0 level. If you see a higher level you know you need more filter, whether you already have a filter or not. The test kits are pretty cheap and easy to use.

As the short term water changes can lower the ammonia level. But again, just saying a 5% weekly change is enough would just be a guess. Could be no water change is needed, I doubt that, or 30% a day is needed, I doubt that too but have no way of knowing. Water changes can produce changes in pH but a general test kit would tell you KH which controls pH. Adding something as simple as baking soda can fix KH.

You might also be concerned about the fish jumping out of the tub. In a small container fish sometimes jump after a water change.

A new setup will have little ammonia converting bacteria. After a week or two there will be a lot. So you could measure ammonia at first, do water change to lower, and then after a week or two not measure any.

A big factor is the amount of food fed. Feeding 5 times a day vs once a week makes a big difference in waste production and filter needs.

I assume you already know about chlorine and water changes.