Need help

[Ted]

Hi Jhn,
Thank you very much for your input and advise.
This is my first experience to have a pond.
When the fish arrived, i open the box right away, i immideatly saw some already floating. And some are even not on water! They are on top of the dry ice package ! So my first impression is that the water is too little and the air is not fully inflated like a ballon.
I thought having 20 dead on arrival is normal.

So i rush to the store to get a small air pump, just in case some can be rescued in a kiddy aquarium. So over all i let them sit in the plastic bag floating in the pond for about 2 hours.

Today i end up replacing about 1/3 of the water. And wash the filter. Put a little venegar to reduce the PH in the filter area.

Since yesterday i reduce the current on the water by lifting up the pipe above the water level.

So far so good, and today is the least casualty with only 4 dead.

Lets hope for the best anf see tomorrow.

Thank you all again for being so helpful. Will learn a lot in this forum

Btw, PH is 7.2 now

 

[addy1]

Call the company they did not ship them correctly. I would ask for money back, no new fish at this time.

When the fish arrived, i open the box right away, i immideatly saw some already floating. And some are even not on water! They are on top of the dry ice package ! So my first impression is that the water is too little and the air is not fully inflated like a ballon.
I thought having 20 dead on arrival is normal.

 

[Sparky]

I might have missed this, but have you kept fish before? Sorry about the issues you’re facing.

 

[Ted]

Hi Sparky,

This is the first time I put on a big pond like this one. I used to keep aquarium fish.

 

[Ted]

Please advise how to reduce the PH safely and maintain it in a good range

 

[Ted]

Current update.

Only 2 died today and the remining looks good. I will check again tomorrow morning. Ph is 7.8.

 

[Ted]

Addy, i did text the guy but I am not really expecting to hear from them.
I leave more than 10 times to ask them.if they accept walk in as their location is local here in S.Cal. after a week later he text me and said the fish would be ship from Indiana, so no wak in.

Ted

 

[Ray G]

Current update.

Only 2 died today and the remining looks good. I will check again tomorrow morning. Ph is 7.8.

That is great news Ted. So it is likely the fish that were the problem and nothing to do with how you handled them or the pond water. So I do hope that the rest of the fish recover as they are the toughest of the batch and should live a long life. So how many do you have that are alive now and looking good? you will need to think about feeding them if they are active but be careful if you start doing that. Koi can survive without food for quite a long time but the younger ones need small amounts of food if they are active. (only if they are active and looking for food though).
Ray

 

[Ted]

Good mornimg Ray,

I am estimating about 50 left that are healthy.
I have been feeding them with small pellet koi food that sink down since day one. They are eating well. Made by Purina

 

[addy1]

If you want to go after the company, how did you pay? If by CC or paypal, contact them tell them the issue you had. They back me well when there is a issue. They go after the company contacting them etc. Most of the time I get my funds back.

 

[Ted]

Hi Addy
I paid wirh credit card.
Thank you very much for the idea.
Do you buy your fishes on line?

Ted

 

[Ray G]

Good mornimg Ray,

I am estimating about 50 left that are healthy.
I have been feeding them with small pellet koi food that sink down since day one. They are eating well. Made by Purina

Good job Ted. Stay involved in this forum and you will get a lot of ideas to help you on your pond keeping journey! By the way I feed my koi floating pellets as I can see if anything is not eaten that way. Also your pond is not big enough to support 50 koi when they get bigger. Mine are about 18 inches long and it didn't take many years to get that big. Your pond can support them for a couple of years but you should start looking around at people that would like some and give away the least attractive ones when you can. ALso you will notice that your Koi have personalities and some will be greedy and some will be shyer. The greedy ones grow quickest.
Ray

 

[Ray G]

The big lesson to learn from this I think is buying Koi on line is risky at best. Seeing what you are buying at a real fish breeders place is the best IMO.
Ray

 

[Jhn]

Buying fish online isn’t that big of a deal. Buying fish online in mass, which I did once years ago, isn’t necessarily the best idea. I can’t remember how many survived, but only about 5-10 of the 50 little koi I got made it for a few years. Then heron started picking them off. One is still in there today and is about 16” or so.

Most of the fish I buy are online whether it be koi or saltwater fish. Especially buying wysiwyg, you can get fish in excellent condition. I’ve been buying fish online for roughly 20 years, the fish I buy as a whole have been healthier than the ones I see at local reputable stores. Just my experiences though.....

 

[Ted]

Thank you Ray and Jhn for your input

I will measure the exact size of my pond today and post it here. I thought my pond should be able to fit 100 koi