Moving a koi to new pond

[warren]

That's gonna be one happy fish!

Ive heard it said that if youre moving from warmer water into cooler water, temp differences aren't such an issue, but if you're going the other way, cool into warm, it can be more of a stress and you should be more cautious. When Ive moved my fish if there was significant difference I would gradually add in the new water over a period of a half an hour to get them acclimated before releasing.

Moving warmer to colder in tropical fish can cause ick I’m not sure about gold fish. I have alway done my fish transfers when the tank temp at the stor is the same as the temperature of my pond. I have never had a loss adding new fish to my pond.

 

[Big Red Comet]

Thanks Warren- good to know! I should be careful about statements like "I heard it said that...."

 

[MitchM]

I’m aware of the effects of the other water quality factors have on the fish. I had many years of tropical fish tanks before building my pond. I am starting with temperatures because the is the only one issue I have total control over. I can pick what temperature to make the move the other concerns are going to require an acclimation process based on the difference in the two ponds . I know when we do compare the environments the water is going to be completely different. My pond is a small closed system with great fluctuations from rain and temperature changes. The pond the fish came from was a micro pond. The pond the fish will be going to is extremely large fed by a natural stream. Thank you for the input I am open to all the advice I can get

KH is another parameter that you have control of and FWIW, I consider it to be just as important as temperature variance.
Too much difference in KH can cause the fish a lot of stress adjusting to ionic regulation.
If possible, exactly match the KH numbers and keep temperature differences to less than 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

[warren]

KH is another parameter that you have control of and FWIW, I consider it to be just as important as temperature variance.
Too much difference in KH can cause the fish a lot of stress adjusting to ionic regulation.
If possible, exactly match the KH numbers and keep temperature differences to less than 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

I understand the importance of kh but changing his pond to the same kh as mine is not an option he would have to acclimate the fish through a quarantine tank / acclimation tank. That is the same as with ph gh kh but I can “control temperature “ by deciding when to make the move as now or wait till the water reaches a pre determined temperature. I have decided to wait until the temperature is closer to 70 degrees but before my 2 lotus start to wake up. So far the koi is not disturbing the lotus or the lily pots so he is fine where “he “is at. If he starts to disturb the lotus I can put up a barrier to protect them . The lilies go from one end of the pond to the other so I could not protect them. Thanks for the input.

 

[MitchM]

Out of interest, why is adjusting KH not an option?

 

[warren]

Out of interest, why is adjusting KH not an option?

Adjusting the kh would be a large project due the the large size of his pond over 60 by 90 feet and 6to 8 feet deep in most of the pond. Plus it is filtered naturally by a stream flow in/out basically acting as a natural pond . It has been stocked for years and working as it’s own little ecosystem since before they bought the property.

 

[MitchM]

My understanding of Maryland water is that it can be fairly acidic.
Is that the case here?

 

[MitchM]

Regardless of the pond size or PH value, as PH will naturally fluctuate, the fish's body will need to acclimate to KH and temperature more that any other healthy water parameters.
Good luck!

 

[warren]

My understanding of Maryland water is that it can be fairly acidic.
Is that the case here?

I have not checked the water in his pond. So I am not sure. My pond fluctuates every time it rains so I gave up trying to control it. I have let it do it’s own thing for years. I realize that it may not be ideal but my fish have always been healthy and spawn every year. I have only had 2 years that I had a major loss of fish. When my pond was new we had a unusual heat spell and I didn’t know what to do and once when we had extreme ice and a surgery had prevented me from proper winter prep. Lessons learned. I don’t count the loss to predators because that is part of nature.

 

[addy1]

My understanding of Maryland water is that it can be fairly acidic.
Is that the case here?

Very acidic and very soft, our well water is 5.3ph. It took me a year to get it stable, up to 7.6 or so and with a hardness around 100, used lots of bags of crushed oyster shells.