lost two biggest koi, sad, need advice

[sissy]

The plants in the pond may need divided they may have a lot of rotted stuff down there that has built up over time and one you disturbed the pond it may have stirred the bad stuff up .That is why when I am doing any cleaning or removing of plants I use 2 of the crates with quilt batting it will catch all the bad stuff .Do you happen to know how many gph your pump is ,it may be to small .With your other pipes they said they had problems with could be just clogged and need flushed out .It was just a matter of time with out a filter .Plenty of filter builds on you tube .

 

[Tanya]

I definitely chose the right pond forum to join. Thanks again for the support and advice. I'm feeling encouraged! It is raining today, but I'm going to bundle up and get the large plant cleared out of the pond. Yesterday I could see some of our bright koi moving ever so slowly, so I know most of my fish survived the oxygen crash.

 

[Sunshine]

I don't think moving plants out at this point would be a good idea. Disturbing them will release toxins (that sulfur smell) in to your water. And without any filtration or pumps running, that will just stay in your water.

 

[Tanya]

Thank you Sunshine. I just trimmed the plant back. The pump is running.

 

[sissy]

Need to really over filter the pond water first to clean it and thats why when I trim or take plants out of the pond ,first thing I do is set up my crate with the quilt batting .Remember also to turn off your pump and clean the inlet side of the pump because it will get clogged faster .

 

[Dave's pond Indiana]

I see why you get confused. Everyone is trying to be helpful. It is like the book I read over thirty years ago said, when you get into the hobby of keeping fish find a good source of information on the hobby gather all the information you can. Then make up your own mind. If you do not understand the basic theory of ponding, and I assume you DO, all the equipment in the world will not help you. That is why I think DIY is such a good idea. Stores will sell you everything and that is their answer to everything. With the tests you made and the observations it sound like you are right on with your diagnosis of lack of oxygen. It is my opinion that if you understand the basics you can have a great pond and fish without UV and all the chemicals. This is the 9th year for my pond and all natural. If you add another Koi be careful, I put some new Koi in my pond this year and caused the death of 27 of my Koi due to an internal parasite. My first autopsy. Don't worry ....Be Happy

 

[sissy]

Very true and you can build a filter 10 times
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better than anything you can buy .I used a 60 gallon stock tank and a tote and i have 2 filters and love I did it my self .I never had fish and this was my first time building a pond and a filter and that was just over 10 years ago .My first pond the first winter was a preformed that I realized right away was no good and I had just put it in that summer .That winter I started buying the liner and thinking about where to put it .By Feb.I was already digging a hole and bugging my son to come and run the electric .How could he refuse his mom after all I had an ace in the hole 12 hours of labor and a heart attack just to give birth too you .Guilt is the moms biggest weapon . :cheerful: And boy did i use it .

 

[Sharon Goode]

So sorry for your loss...non fish people think we are insane. We ARE Insanely Crazy about our fish! This is a hobby that really takes dedication and hard work to keep our ponds Perfect! If only the rest of the world cared as much about each other as we do our fish, That would be wonderful don't you think?

So, keep trying and talking to the people on this site. They have helped me through my start up process and every day I have picked up really great tips and gained a little more knowledge and confidence. Just think, in about 5 months, will be watching our fish grow. :claphands:

 

[Tanya]

Hi everyone. Thought I'd update. This isn't the prettiest picture, but it shows my setup. Last night it got down to 16 degrees here. With my pump running (a Little Giant 1400 gph) and the new bubbler cranking, the main pond did not freeze. It is now 20 degrees out. I'm still rather uncertain about what to do, but wanted to keep the pump on to see what would happen overnight. What do you think of this setup? I'm thinking of leaving it this way for now.

I should add, I've bypassed the waterfall and just have the water going straight into the pond so it agitates less. The pump is located at the other end of the pond. Right now, I'm stuck with this setup as the rigid pipe you see is cemented onto the pump (not my choice!) I wish it were flexible tubing. In the spring, I will be changing quite a lot.

 

[j.w]

Sorry you lost your beloved koi. Sounds to me like you have it under control now and w/ the temps down consistently low the fish should be ok. I'm in a bit warmer area than you and I've left my falls and 1 foot geyser spout running all year w/ just a small aquarium air pump running. In Summer I turn on my bigger aerator which bubble's up like a volcano. If your pond is large the fish will find an area underneath that feels comfortable for them to rest. Spring when it's warm enough for you to get out there and work you can add your new filter and let it run and clean it out often at first as if there is tons of gunk down on the bottom it will collect in there quickly. When you turn your falls back on if you can fit a crate or basket full of that white quilt batting under it so the water hits right on it like sissy suggested it will really help clear a lot of the fine dirty material out of your pond. That you will have to either hose the batting often or replace w/ new stuff till it is to the clearness you want. In Spring/Summer the more splashing water hitting the surface of your pond also creates more oxygen. When I top my pond w/ the hose I always hang it up above the water so it splashes down.Lots of suggestions here and you can try some ideas and see how they work for you.

 

[sissy]

Yeh guessing you can use that pump the way it is and get another one so 2 pumps will oxygenate the water more and maybe then you can build another filter or a bigger filter .NMy one pump just runs extar water to agitate the water ontop to oxygenate it .The rest of the water goes to the second filter
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[Tanya]

Well, I just out to check on my fish. It is very cold here, all of 29 degrees. I could see all my bright gold and red koi hovering or very slowly moving. My pond has varying temperatures. On the shallow end, it is 36F, on the end where the pipe is discharging 42F. Everywhere else I tested, the water was 38. We are leaving for five days for the holiday. As it won't get any colder than it has been, I've decided to leave things exactly the way they are while we are gone with the pump running and the aerator bubbling.

My property also came with two cats that have lived here for years. They love to sit on the patio next to the pond. I wish the fish were as easy to catch!

 

[sissy]

hmmm catfish in the net .

 

[Dave 54]

Tanya prior to winter just what maintenance did you do on your pond?
You should prior to winter clean your filters making sure they are ready for the winter .
Next the bottom of your pond when did you last clean it out , this is another thing that should be done prior to the winter all the deritus passed by the fish rotted down plants everything should have been vacuumed from your pond what are all your water perameters at this time i;e Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ph, Kh, Gh ?
just because its winter doesnt mean one should just ignore the pond this is where alott of people make the mistakes they make they have to be prepared carefully for the winter water perameters must still be done on a weekly basis.
We do 30% water changes on a weekly basis all our filters are cleaned prior to winter then in late spring and again in summer they should then be reseeded with live bacteria .
We do a visual check on our fish just to see if there are problems if we find one we act on it

Dave

 

[dieselplower]

I just want to point out that I do not recall seeing the pictures at first, or maybe I did not look at them closely. It looks like there are a lot of big fish in there. Too many, possibly. I believe that when a lot of fish are competing for a small amount of oxygen, the big ones usually lose.