Murky water and fish loss

[cdbankston]

I have a 3,000 gallon pond with plants, waterfall and fountain and recently lost 8 fish that were added about 8 weeks ago. They were doing great and growing. I noticed the water was becoming murky so I tested the water and the only issue I saw was the ammonia was just barely registering. I bought ammo lock and dosed the pond. The water is still murky and I’m unsure what’s causing that and the fish to die. Any help would be great. Thanks

current water condition

these fish died two days after they gathered at the waterfall and didn’t move from there. Two days after that the water became murky like the picture above.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Lots of questions for you to answer.

You said your pond is 3000 gallons. I’m not trying to dispute that, but the pond in the pic doesn’t appear to be 3000 gallons. What are the actual dimension? What kind of filtration do you have? It looks like the edge of the pond is at or close to ground level — is it possible that lawn chemicals or pesticides got into the water?

And “just barely registering,” for ammonia is not a bad thing for a new, cycling pond. That is the beginning stage of the nitrogen cycle. “Murky” is also pretty normal for a new pond. What were the rest of your test results? What was the pH? Do you add anything else to the water…..any other chemicals or additives?

I am assuming these are goldfish? How many did you start out with and how many do you have left? Did you quarantine the new fish before you added them?

Do you have any local predators, such as raccoons or other hunting-type mammals, birds or other animals that might have gotten after the fish?

 

[Lisak1]

All good questions from @Mmathis .

 

[cdbankston]

Hello and welcome! Lots of questions for you to answer.

You said your pond is 3000 gallons. I’m not trying to dispute that, but the pond in the pic doesn’t appear to be 3000 gallons. What are the actual dimension? 12x18 2.5 ft in the shallow and 4 ft in the deep. What kind of filtration do you have? 2,700 gph pump running to a canister type filter with bio balls and two different filter pads and Uv then to the waterfall then I have a 800 gph running from the skimmer through a filter pad and out the fountain. looks like the edge of the pond is at or close to ground level — is it possible that lawn chemicals or pesticides got into the water? Not likely because it is surrounded by concrete except the back half and it slopes away from the pond.

And “just barely registering,” for ammonia is not a bad thing for a new, cycling pond. That is the beginning stage of the nitrogen cycle. “Murky” is also pretty normal for a new pond. What were the rest of your test results? What was the pH? Do you add anything else to the water…..any other chemicals or additives? Just barely straw the rest of the results were in range according to the api kit.

I am assuming these are goldfish? Yes How many did you start out with and how many do you have left? Started with 20 feeder fish about a year ago. My friend gave me the 8 that died about 8 weeks ago. Did you quarantine the new fish before you added them? No

Do you have any local predators, such as raccoons or other hunting-type mammals, birds or other animals that might have gotten after the fish? Frogs seem to have taken a liking to the pond but nothing else as I have 2 dogs back there as well.

 

[cdbankston]

This is what I used for the calculation but it drops deeper in the deep end so it may be closer to 4,000 gallons or so.When I purchased this home the Pond was a mess so I’m trying to figure it out as I go. Thanks for the help.

 

[cdbankston]

All good questions from @Mmathis .

have you had fish gather at a waterfall and then die a day or two later? Seems like an oxygen thing but I added the fountain so I didn’t think that would be the case.

 

[cdbankston]

I feel like I have came a long way from where it started

 

[j.w]

@cdbankston
You wanna hide that liner? If so make a short step down around the edge and put rocks on it and then rocks over the edge of them and liner will be hidden underwater.

 

[cdbankston]

How

View attachment 140869@cdbankston
You wanna hide that liner? If so make a short step down around the edge and put rocks on it and then rocks over the edge of them and liner will be hidden underwater.

how do I do that? This was a concrete pond before I put the liner in it.

 

[poconojoe]

Wow! You were not kidding about the condition before you cleaned it up!
You did a great job!

 

[j.w]

How


how do I do that? This was a concrete pond before I put the liner in it.

Oh darn, then the only way would be to break the concrete around the edge and that might not be a good idea at all as then you have sharp edges to deal with. Guess you have to figure something else out to hide it if you want to. They do have this stuff call rock on a roll but I've never used it so can't tell ya how to do that one. https://www.rock-on-a-roll.com/

 

[poconojoe]

How


how do I do that? This was a concrete pond before I put the liner in it.

If you have enough liner, lay the liner flat on the cement wall, sit your stones on that (these stones will be partially submerged when you are done), then turn the liner up and place more stones and/or soil on the bare ground. Now lay the liner over those stones/soil. Cover it all with more stones.
Now add water to the pond up to the level where the first stones are partially submerged.
The liner is now gone!
Hope this makes sense!

It will also increase the water capacity of the pond.

This will only work if you have enough liner and you are able to raise the pond water level without affecting anything else, such as a skimmer.

 

[Lisak1]

Fish hanging under a waterfall can mean a few things - there's something good to eat under there, they're hiding from something that scares them, or they're trying to get more oxygen. When a lot of fish all die at once you would usually suspect either oxygen or contamination, and since goldfish can live in a pond with no aeration at all, I'd suspect something in the water. Could be ammonia, could be run-off.

Your pond doesn't look 2 feet deep all around, so make sure you take that into consideration when you calculate volume. 2 feet in the middle but one foot deep at the shallows can mean a great reduction in actual volume, which comes into play when you are using any kind of chemicals in the pond. Murky water won't bother fish one bit, but if you register ammonia that is obviously a concern.

What else happened prior to them dying? Extra hot weather, rain, new fish, some kind of additive you used in the pond?