I have a 1-mo old pond. Added a koi 1 wk ago after dechlorinating & adding bio. My koi looks like he is trying to climb out of waterfall. So I bought/checked chemicals & high Ammon, nitrate, & phosp. I was wondering the best way to get readings to 0. If a 25-30% water change is best, can I simply add tap water & toss in a de-chlorination tablet? Tx for your help.......
High ammonia nitrate & phosphate
- Thread starter Chip
- Start date
Welcome to thje Forum!
Please post an Introduction...
Please post an Introduction...
How high is high? Also give us some more details about the pond (like size) and filter.
and before doing a waterchange, test your tapwater as well.
High nitrate is not too much of an urgent problem, it points to not having enough plants and will likely cause an algae bloom. Same for high phosphate. Its not dangerous to your fish, but causes algae growth. I suspect the high phosphates, and possibly the nitrates come from your tapwater, Waterchanges wont help there.
HIgh ammonia, is an urgent problem, and depending how high it is, as well as Ph and temperature, may kill your Koi. It points to insufficient (if any?) biofilter and/or overfeeding. Stop feeding, and apply some bacteria to your biofilter. If your tapwater is essentially ammonia free, do a partial water change.
and before doing a waterchange, test your tapwater as well.
High nitrate is not too much of an urgent problem, it points to not having enough plants and will likely cause an algae bloom. Same for high phosphate. Its not dangerous to your fish, but causes algae growth. I suspect the high phosphates, and possibly the nitrates come from your tapwater, Waterchanges wont help there.
HIgh ammonia, is an urgent problem, and depending how high it is, as well as Ph and temperature, may kill your Koi. It points to insufficient (if any?) biofilter and/or overfeeding. Stop feeding, and apply some bacteria to your biofilter. If your tapwater is essentially ammonia free, do a partial water change.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,413
- Reaction score
- 29,198
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
Like vertigo posted, please post your readings and more info. It is hard to help until we have all the information needed to help figure out the problem.
There are a lot of variables.
j.w
I Love my Goldies
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 33,080
- Reaction score
- 20,346
- Location
- Arlington, Washington
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- USDA 8a
- Country
sissy
sissy
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 33,086
- Reaction score
- 15,702
- Location
- Axton virginia
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7A
- Country
If the poor things is jumping at the waterfall he wants oxygen or the the stuff you may have put in is causing him to want to get away .No tap water straight in and you should get him out of there or he may die .You may have put him in to soon water temp may have been to cold also .The need to get used to the change
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2010
- Messages
- 4,069
- Reaction score
- 4,013
- Location
- Chicago Area
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
- Country
Hi Chip, Welcome. I would recommend to read on old posts how to cycle a pond. I also agree to stop feeding, do regular water changes, and add oxygen by adding an air stone. Also adding a waterfall feature is good if you don't have one already. I dechlorinate water for my small pond by taking a 5 gallon bucket of water and adding declor and let it sit for a day before I add it to the pond. I have a collection of orange Home Depot buckets for this!
stroppy
stroppy
i also think that one fish on his own would be rather unhappy ... they like company
sissy
sissy
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2011
- Messages
- 33,086
- Reaction score
- 15,702
- Location
- Axton virginia
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 7A
- Country
all of us that have well water are mostly lucky to not having to add that so it makes it so much simpler to just add the water slowly in the pond and since my son put these filters in my house water is a lot better than it was before he added them .Nice to have to not worry about going down a changing filters or even thinking about it .
I wouldn't say stop feeding, just give him something low protein like cheerios. The guy still needs to eat. 
When things are back to normal, feed as usual and watch out not to overfeed, especially if you aren't adding beneficial microorganisms.
Also, if there's any way to pretreat your water before doing the water change, would be best for your fishy who sounds like he's had enough stress. If not, I would recommend adding some microbes to balance out the water column. In my experience, that will be the quickest way to get rid of excessive ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.
Nitrates/Nitrites/Phosphorus make algae grow. Algae leeches nutrients from the water that fishies and microbes need. High levels indicate not enough biological activity going on, so the pond ought to be supplemented before the fish gets too stressed. Plants, proper aeration, perhaps some pond clay, and bugs. If you need specifics, drop me a PM.
When things are back to normal, feed as usual and watch out not to overfeed, especially if you aren't adding beneficial microorganisms.Also, if there's any way to pretreat your water before doing the water change, would be best for your fishy who sounds like he's had enough stress. If not, I would recommend adding some microbes to balance out the water column. In my experience, that will be the quickest way to get rid of excessive ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.
Nitrates/Nitrites/Phosphorus make algae grow. Algae leeches nutrients from the water that fishies and microbes need. High levels indicate not enough biological activity going on, so the pond ought to be supplemented before the fish gets too stressed. Plants, proper aeration, perhaps some pond clay, and bugs. If you need specifics, drop me a PM.