How to keep my koi alive after extreme shocking stressor

[Dmarkwick]

Need help saving my fish. On Sun. May 25th, pond was getting a 10% water change. Major distractions caused forgetting that the pump was pumping out water. Went out for something else and discovered a completely emptied pond. WHAT HAVE I DONE!!!!! Started filling pond with tap water hose ans spray, after fish had enough water to move continued with spray against the side of the pond. Went to store got declorinator, we only have chlorine in our tap water, added at the waterfall, continued to add water to get the pond up to at least 1/2 + full. Have not been feeding fish, leaving them alone.

Pond approx 700 gallons with a center deep area for safety and quiet, waterfall, large pump and filtering system, Lily pad plant, covers 1/2 surface when fully grown out, currently 24" round, good sized plant at the back that shades the pond and gives cover for the fish/pond.
We have 6 koi @ 18"-20", 1 @ 8", 1@ 5", 15 @ 2", 3 other pond fish at 6Pond.
Fish come up to top to ask for food, not giving them any til Thursday.
They stay at the bottom grouping, but will venture out some. Looks like sometimes they have to make some effort, a little, to stay upright, fins are out, not tucked in, have seen them come to the surface for a gulp and dip back down. They do not come in for touching that is normal.
Any help for my babies, I am sick about it!!!!! How long can it take for them to recover or die? At this point haven't lost any.

 

[Dmarkwick]

Also too add to pond conditions, well established pond 8 years at least, sides and bottom was not cleaned or cleared of algae and other stuff.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry to hear about this! I guess, just keep an eye on them. At this point, I would actually be more concerned with the fact that you have like 23+ koi and other fish in a 700 gal pond. And I don’t understand what you mean by, “3 other fish at 6Pond.”

 

[j.w]

@Dmarkwick
The good thing is you have a lot of leftover good bacteria in your pond. Hopefully they will make it but they are in shock. All you can do for now is watch and wait. It's a good sign that you haven't lost any. Like @Mmathis said tho it sounds like your pond is in need of getting bigger to be able to keep all those koi happy unless you have one heck of a superior filter! I wouldn't feed them for awhile and when you do only feed a little at a time.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Dmarkwick]

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry to hear about this! I guess, just keep an eye on them. At this point, I would actually be more concerned with the fact that you have like 23+ koi and other fish in a 700 gal pond. And I don’t understand what you mean by, “3 other fish at 6Pond.”

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry to hear about this! I guess, just keep an eye on them. At this point, I would actually be more concerned with the fact that you have like 23+ koi and other fish in a 700 gal pond. And I don’t understand what you mean by, “3 other fish at 6Pond.”

Hi, thanks for responding. "@ 6pond" auto spell. The other 3 are about 6". Anyway, the 15 little ones need to be re-homed. That was an unintended. We had less fish until a friend asked us to take her 2 large fish a one small goldfish. We clean the filter as needed, usually everyday when it is on full swing. I am betting we need to re-home a couple of the bigger ones if they survive. How many large fish can we keep?

 

[Dmarkwick]

View attachment 138347@Dmarkwick
The good thing is you have a lot of leftover good bacteria in your pond. Hopefully they will make it but they are in shock. All you can do for now is watch and wait. It's a good sign that you haven't lost any. Like @Mmathis said tho it sounds like your pond is in need of getting bigger to be able to keep all those koi happy unless you have one heck of a superior filter! I wouldn't feed them for awhile and when you do only feed a little at a time.

Ok, thanks. We are leaving them alone, other than to check the water content. This morning I was near the pond, inside the house by the glass slider. They noticed me and started coming towards me waiting for food. I didn't give them any but was hoping that is a good sign.

 

[mrsclem]

Sounds like they may be ok. I set a timer anytime I'm adding water or pumping down. If your pump is in the pond, set it up on a milk crate so you still have water if this happens again. Always keep dechlor on hand, you never know when you may need it. As far as how many koi, 700 is considered too small for one koi. 1000 gallons for 1st, 500 for each other one. If you have a good filter system, which it sounds like you do, I would say3 adult koi and just keep an eye on your water parameters

 

[GBBUDD]

I would give them a little food just for strength. Very little for now and watch them if they want more I'd go for it. Watch them for a couple days if swimming normal you should be OK. One other thing I'd do is add stress coat from the aquarium trade that can help calm them down and rebuild there slime coating. Which is critical to healthy fish

 

[Dmarkwick]

Sounds like they may be ok. I set a timer anytime I'm adding water or pumping down. If your pump is in the pond, set it up on a milk crate so you still have water if this happens again. Always keep dechlor on hand, you never know when you may need it. As far as how many koi, 700 is considered too small for one koi. 1000 gallons for 1st, 500 for each other one. If you have a good filter system, which it sounds like you do, I would say3 adult koi and just keep an eye on your water parameters

Wow! Ok. Yeah, didn't want to throw anyone under the bus, but I always use timers. I know that I get distracted way too often. It wasn't done this time. We will discuss downsizing. I am always afraid of how we are going to get the fish out of the pond without hurting them. I am going out of town for a bit and will let the fish have a solid month of recovery time before we rehome some of them. We have had all these fish in this pond for years w/o problems. A lot of upkeep but they are worth it. I love them.

 

[Dmarkwick]

I would give them a little food just for strength. Very little for now and watch them if they want more I'd go for it. Watch them for a couple days if swimming normal you should be OK. One other thing I'd do is add stress coat from the aquarium trade that can help calm them down and rebuild there slime coating. Which is critical to healthy fish

Ok I will try that. Thank you!

 

[Dmarkwick]

Ok I will try that. Thank you!

Just 1 thing, I have added a decholorinator already. Is it ok to add stress coat also? Dosage ?

 

[GBBUDD]

Yes

 

[Mayank]

Just 1 thing, I have added a decholorinator already. Is it ok to add stress coat also? Dosage ?

How are the fish doing?

 

[Dmarkwick]

Really well. I gave them a small amount if food yesterday morning and they became more active. My husband went out this morning and they came over immediately and they were ravenous (sp?). He fed them more, but not as much as usual. They are so beautiful and I was just sick about the thought of losing them. The white one is Harlow and she was 4" when we got her. I think most of the big ones were that size. Long time since then. Thanks for asking. ThT leaf is 7-8" across.

How are the fish doing?