Hey - Houston calling

[Andy41]

Hi Javid,

Welcome, and sorry to here of your problems.

It looks like you found the solution though.... I hope the rest of the fish survive.

cheers,

Andy.

 

[addy1]

I control algae with plants, my pond has been green water and string algae free since it was built. I do have a huge bog, but even a small filter full of plants the water runs through will help

 

[jmajid]

update on my pond today... the ambient air temp is close to 70F...
i see two of the 3 fish out - third has been hiding for the past 2 days i think... one of the fish is looking for algae it seems and the second , a white/red koi about 9 inches or more in length, seems to be just hanging about midway in height in the pond then turns slowly in a circle and then hangs then turns... repeating this.

i got my master kit late last night and performing a test just now - around midday, got the ph at 7.2, nitrite =0ppm , ammonia=0.25ppm and phosphate at 10ppm/l

from what i can tell the phosphate level is nothing to worry about - it might affect the way my algae grows but otherwise nothing to worry about.
the ph level and ammonia are taken together, nothing to worry about either.

 

[jmajid]

addy1: yes i am already planning to add plants to the pond - soon as i can figure out what to add - have watercress on my list and perhaps planting them in a floater ring.

 

[sissy]

welcome but baking soda raises the ph and to buffer it we use crushed oyster shells

 

[addy1]

addy1: yes i am already planning to add plants to the pond - soon as i can figure out what to add - have watercress on my list and perhaps planting them in a floater ring.

I was thinking try a outside of the pond plant filter, I think they really help. A few here have used planters, run water in, through plants then back into the pond. I am going to try it on my deck pond which fights algae, it really has minimal filtering, only gets fresh water when the water runs through it on a timer and down the stream. It does end up with fish, I think eggs somehow get sucked up via the pump and end up living in the pond. I move them out for the winter, it is a shallow pond that can totally freeze up

 

[sissy]

[sharedmedia=core:attachments:60556]I use plants in both my filters and it does help .Do you know if there is build up on the bottom of the pond .I use grasses they really filter the water .Colleen in Canada told me about grasses and stuff and was amazed at the job they do .I also use an extra basket in my filter with quilt batting in it soaked in peroxide and water and keep cleaning it to pick up the fine algae cells plus I only feed my fish 3 or 4 times a week
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[jmajid]

mine is a simple concrete pond, nothng on the bottom except algae growth and the dead leaves i havnt picked up yet... been trying to not distrurb or stress the survivors too much.
i read that snails are good for dead material etc too - so thinking about those too.
I was glad to see my 3rd fish today - hadnt seen it in a few days so was getting worried - they have a nice hideout - but the large koi that died earlier this week had found thiis hiding spot too and i hoped this 3rd didnt do the same.
I have also seen my resident toad again today - he's sunning himself today i think as the water temps are going up.
Tried to feed the fish for the first time today - the water temps have been above 50 for 3 days, but they werent interested - saw one of them eating algae yesterday so thought the food might be worth a try... might be too early still.

yes, grasses on my list too - and watercress and now some snails possibly.
I do so want to get some more fish - the pond looks so empty now - how long should i wait?

 

[sissy]

I bought snails but did not know koi eat them . :cheerful: So none left

 

[mtpond]

Welcome. Sorry to hear about the loss of your fish. Do you have pictures of your pond? We like pictures.

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

WELCOME and sorry to hear about your losses. I do not mean to be critical . There is no such thing as a GOOD quick fix in this hobby if it is quick it will just add to your problems and take away from your wallet. First you need to do your homework and understand the theory behind everything involved in this hobby. The owner of a fish store took me into the back room of his store to show me his DIY filter system. He told me if you do not understand the theory of how things work you can buy the most expensive items on the market and you will still have trouble. I built and maintain a 19000 gal. Koi and Goldfish pond, other than my pumps, nothing is store bought all DIY and a lot of my info. came from the people at GP. Do not slip into panic mode and run and try everything that is suggested as we ALL have done. Especially if the info. is coming from a retail store they are in the business to SELL. Make sure you study and find out the dangers of all chemicals, barley straw ( it will decay and add to your problems ) and forget about the use of a UV filter it will kill everything ( good and bad ). You are at very good web site that can start you in the right direction.

 

[jmajid]

thanks everyone - slow but sure is the key.
As of yesterday, two of the survivors were swimming and looking for algae to eat it seemed, one of them more skittish that the other.
I have not seen my white/red koi in a few days - hopefully he/she is doing ok and just going through the same hiding phase the other two went through.
I'll post pics when i can...
SO, assuming my pond is back to normal - have tested a few times over the past several days, should i continue to wait for more stable temperatures before trying to introduce new fish or is it OK to introduce fish during January with its up/down temperatures (remember i am in Houston and its only 8am right now as i write this and its almost 20c/68F)?

 

[jmajid]

Update on my 3 survivors:
As of last night, i finally saw all three of them "schooling" - swimming together... i was very happy to see that.
i saw that 2 of them were looking like they were foraging for food so i fed them some food - the water temp was above 60 as the air temp was about 72... they seemed disinterested at first... just sitting there...
so i gave in and walked away - i am able to see the pond from my kitchen so i was able to see them begin to eat after about 5 minutes - then we took a seat close to the pond - ducking down as we reached the pond so as not to scare them
they were definitely hungry - they had finished off the food and were still looking... i wanted to feed them again but decided enough for one day... i'll feed them again tomorrow.
I am so glad that all three were out and about and seemed to be swimming quite well - i think i have a couple of comets and a koi - the comets seem to be more energetic but the koi was still swimming with them, just at its own pace...
probably need to identify them at some point - but for now i am just happy to see them again after almost 3 weeks of uncertainty.

 

[Dave 54]

adavisus, tula and dieselpower:
thanks for taking the time to reply.
i have learnt this lesson the very hard way... no more algaefix or other chemicals in this pond.
i since learnt that barley straw is a safer method to control the algae... and also that i need to make small changes...
one more fish died yesterday - my largest koi - yellow black spots -
thats why i wasnt around last night to respond to everyone.
i have 3 left now - checked on them earlier and they were swimming - which is good.

Chemicals in our pond do have a place and that is for the benefit of our fishes health algae is both good and bad for our fish but there is no way I would attempt to remove it from a pond not by chemical means anyway.
A lesson learned there , barley straw also comes as an exract you can buy ir in either Liquid form or straw bail form .
Much kinder on the pond .

Dave

 

[jmajid]

update on my pond
Yesterday when i came home from work - i did my ritual clearing of leaves again - surface and bottom.
I had noticed the day before that after i had swirled the water a little the fish came out to see what was happening...
so since the fish were hiding again before i began cleaning, i did my cleaning, then swirled the water a little and saw the fish come out to see what was happening...
i decided to feed them - they waited a couple of minutes - then started eating... good news
i was able to sit and watch them and later when i tried to take some photos of the frog in the pond, i was even able to stand around the perimeter of the pond without them being scared off.
Progress
In case you hadnt noticed i did post some pics of the pond the other day in the newbies section:
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/topic/13437-help-on-how-my-pond-operates/#entry201342