Moving a koi hybrid from aquarium to pond

[csdude55]

I have my fun cool koi hybrid in a 36G tank. He's my buddy and eats out of my hand, but he's WAY too big for the tank now!

I have a 1000G pond (3' deep) with 6 goldfish and some plants, but it's not gorgeous; it stays green from algae, and there are leaves and sticks in the bottom that I just can't get out. I was in the middle of clearing off land last year to build a 5000G pond, but then the guy dropped a tree on my house so everything else went to the back burner :-/

But now I'm at a point where I'm having to do a 10% water change about every other day! I'm going to be going on a trip at the end of the month and I can't expect the pet sitter to do a good water change, so I'm running out of options. I really need to go ahead and get him in the 1000G pond and just hope for the best.

This is where I need your advice.

First off, I'm in zone 7A so I'm already worried about another cold snap that he's not prepared for. Nothing I can do about that, I guess.

But how do you suggest I acclimate him with the least problems?

I don't even have a net that's big enough to catch him, so I'm not sure how to get it out of the aquarium. Maybe buy a 3G bucket from Lowes, run it through the dishwasher without soap, then sink it into the aquarium? Wait for him to be in just the right place, then scoop him up...

 

[poconojoe]

I suggest you buy yourself a net and scoop out as much debris as possible from the bottom of the pond. I use a tight weave pool net and it works great for leaves, small stones, sticks and even heavy muck.

You didn't mention if you had any filtration.
Adequate filtration might help clear up that green water.

A lot of times people have green water (algae) caused by an over abundance of fish waste, but you only have 6 goldfish, so something else is going on.

I would wait for warm weather if you want to move your fish out there. It might be too much of a shock if there is a significant difference in the water temperatures.

 

[csdude55]

I suggest you buy yourself a net and scoop out as much debris as possible from the bottom of the pond. I use a tight weave pool net and it works great for leaves, small stones, sticks and even heavy muck.

I have a net (two, actually), but I made an unfortunate mistake in the beginning of laying down river rock on the bottom for substrate. That now makes it almost impossible to get things out! I guess that I could pump out half of the water and then buy some hip waders to climb in and scoop it out by hand, but that's all I can think of.

You didn't mention if you had any filtration.
Adequate filtration might help clear up that green water.

Filtration, yes. Adequate filtration? Unlikely. I have a 2100 GPH pump:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VKMKTSU/

and a canister filter that says it's good for up to 1200 gallons:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DL0Y4E/

but it's clearly not enough. My original goal was to build a second, larger pond, then move the fish and plants over, then add a bog filter for both of the ponds. But, you know... money :-/

A lot of times people have green water (algae) caused by an over abundance of fish waste, but you only have 6 goldfish, so something else is going on.

I thought that the issue was the presence of so many wild trees nearby, but all but one were removed last March and the last one was removed at the end of September. Everything looked good over the winter, but we're having a warm period right now and algae went crazy! Which I guess is technically a good thing in the sense that it means the water is healthy, but visibility beneath the surface is near 0.

I would wait for warm weather if you want to move your fish out there. It might be too much of a shock if there is a significant difference in the water temperatures.

Mmm, great point, I didn't think about that :-(

I guess I'll make another thread on suggestions to stabilize the aquarium until May or June...

 

[Lisak1]

See my answer on your other post - I'm all for moving that fish now. How cold is it where you are? What's the temp of the pond water? A not crystal clear pond with 1000 gallons of water or a 36 gallon tank? Guess which the fish would choose.

 

[csdude55]

It's cold and rainy today so I can't measure the temperature of the pond, but we've been having an unseasonably warm few days so that might be misleading anyway.

It's currently 46F outside, though, and it's not uncommon to have a snow in March, even April! Our last frost is usually on or near May 15, so I have to assume that colder temperatures are coming.

I'm not AS concerned with the algae, as long as that's all it is. The goldfish seem OK in it, but of course they've been there for a long time so they've had time to get used to whatever's in it. I haven't seen any fry in awhile, but there's also a bullfrog in the neighborhood so I don't know if it's an issue of them not surviving the water or being eaten :-(

But yeah, the immediate concern would be the temperature. The koi has never seen outside temperatures (or other fish, even, since he was a baby), so I'm not sure how he'll react if the surface freezes.

 

[csdude55]

It stopped raining so I just now measured. The pond is 58 degrees right now, the aquarium is 69.4. But again, that pond temperature might be misleading since we just had an unusually warm week.

 

[Tish]

Another good question that I also am wondering about. I moved 2 of my goldfish into an aquarium for the winter but want to return them to the pond as soon as I can. My plan is to place a large plastic tub on my deck and fill it with aquarium water and the small sponge filter from the tank. Then put the fish in and leave them until the following day. This should allow the water time to slowly reach the outside temperature of the pond. I did the same thing in reverse when I brought them inside. Filled the aquarium with cold pond water and by the next day it had warmed to room temperature. At that time there was likely a 15-20 degree difference in temperature. Any thoughts? When going from warm to colder perhaps I shouldn't feed them for a couple of days beforehand?
I know that the temperature in the pond can naturally fluctuate 5-10 degrees over the day and night.

 

[GBBUDD]

That more than likely will be to fast. Fish are cold blooded Every once of there being has to change and acclimate to the temp. As you are describing it sounds like the water will chill within a couple hours. drooping to winter temps from 70 you need to do that over a couple days

 

[Lisak1]

But again, that pond temperature might be misleading since we just had an unusually warm week.

Water temps rise and fall very slowly. An in ground pond has the added benefit of insulation and heat from the earth. If you can acclimate your koi to the water temperature he will know exactly what to do if it gets cold or the pond ices over - head for the warmer water at the bottom. They really are much hardier than people give them credit for.