i lost a ton of ish

[PS3]

hello all my name is chris and i need help iam from new york long island.
I have a 1000 gallon pond that i have had for over 15 years.
and its an above the ground pond and since this past sept i been losing fish
so i took the water down to the pet store the guy told me that the ammonia was high,
so he gave me ammonia out, made my bio lube i think it is
so fish kept dieing so i went to another pet store so now my ammonia came down some waht
and then my PH was to low this this guy gave me up PH up. and iadded some
and my PH did come up but now my nitrate is up and the fish are still dieing
should i add pond salt and i did order the bio lube for winter thats comeing in the mail.
but i did mange to bring in 4 fish i have in my basemet in a barrel with 2 filters going
and i still have like 4 fish or so in the pond
in the summer all i use is a uv/light and fliter i dont have a bio filter so i think thats
half my proplem so i might wanna get a bead filter so i need help thanks

 

[DrDave]

Hi Chris
Sorry to hear of your loss. After 15 years, I would think you should have known to have a bio filter. Think about it, the fish continue to grow and they are swimming in their own cesspool because there is no way to remove the toxins. Enough lecture.

Now to help you we need to know some things:
1. How many fish did you have to start with?
2. How large were the fish?
3. Were they all Koi?
4. Do you have a pump going 24/7 circulating the water?

So now you have 4 in a container and 4 in your pond.

I think you should stop adding chemicals and start building a good bio filter. A UV is not going to do anything to help you under these circumstances. Some water changes will help for now. make sure you dechlor the water.

Can you provide some photos so we know what you have?

On the forum and my website there are plans and photos to build a good bio filter. I would take some time to research these. Your losses are due to the conditions created by not having a good bio filter. I am surprised the fish you had lasted this long.

 

[koikeepr]

PS3, as Dr. Dave asks--did you ever do any partial water changes? At least 20% of the water has to be changed out and added back in every week during the summer months. As long as you are in season (55 degrees or higher), you need to be doing water changes. Chems won't help.

Think of the pond like a toilet bowl. Fish are eating and pooping in it--every once in a while you've got to flush it and have new water enter otherwise things get very stinky--and, yes, the inhabitants will die.

 

[PS3]

ok all my fish where old i got them when they where small
and i have not added a fish in years i even had baby gold fish.
so when we built the pond all these so called know it alls
never said any thing about a bio filter. the one guy told my dad
all u need a filter to collcect the poop and a uv light.
and i hate saying this but i never messed with testing the water.
all together i gues there was 26.. they where huge koi and huge
gold fish and nancy tail and comets my mom is heart broken
and it was 2 late to do a water change this is going back to nov
i posted this on another pond site but nobody helped me
but i still have 4 or so left so i wanna get this new bio pressue filter
and get my pond back to what it was.

 

[DrDave]

Chris
You will get help here but you need to answer all the questions and provide us enough detail so we can make recommendations.
A photo or 2 will help us a lot.
I'm not a huge fan of pressure filters, especially for those folks who don't take the time to clean them. The upflow bio filter that I, DrCase and Koiguy have are pretty much no maintenance and do an outstanding job.
So I take it you had Koi and goldfish?

 

[PS3]

ok i will post pics when i scan them but i want a pretty much maintenace free
set up. with my old set up i had to stick my hand in the pond 2 times a week
or more to clean the filter i dont wanna do that any more.
my pond is above the ground so i think iam limted on what kind of filter i need.
i do a lot of pond maintenace now i vac the pond 2 times a month
and keep it clean and i wont mind haveing a pressure filter because
i will keep the bottom of the pond clean and the filter in side

 

[koiguy1969]

thats where your wrong Chris ... an above ground pond actually has more filter options.. especially if your retro fitting the plumbing to acomodate things (no digging)..check out the DIY section here... any one of the barrel filter designs in the stickies will work for you.

 

[pebcpa]

Hi Chris,
I have a 200 gal pond in my garage with a filter based on koiguys plans in another thread. It's been running since September and the water quality is excellent. I used a 20 gal brute garbage pail but for a 1,000 gal pond you would need a larger one. I posted photos of the set up somewhere on here. If you need any local (Long Island) help let me know.
PEB

 

[DrDave]

PS3, please go to the UserCP and add your location. This helps us when assisting you.