new koi and goldfish laying on side

[akabu]

Hey everyone! I have a pond that was passed down to me by a previous homeowner, we've had that pond for almost two years and we decided to expand it and make it deeper, our pond is 10ft in length and 6ft in width and 2ft deep, our pond is equipped with two air stones, two plants (one mature Lilly and one arrowhead) and two floaters (water hyacinth) we decided to make our own filter (with bio balls) with advice and help from our local koi breeder. We finished the pond and filled it with hose water then added dechlorinator and beneficial bacteria to start up the pond and let it circulate overnight. The next day we went to buy 10 fish from our breeder but in a matter of hours they started hanging around the bottom acting sluggish and then eventually laying on their side, 5 out of 10 and the other 5 just hanging around on their side, at first we thought it was stress so we added in stress coat but that seemed to do nothing, we went to go get our water quality checked at Petco and they said everything was fine and they had no idea why our fish were acting that way, so then we assumed parasites and gave them a salt bath, which did nothing, we then decided to take a water sample to our breeder and she said our ph was a bit off and she gave us a ph buffer and three new koi fish, relieved, we added the buffer then took our new fish and floated them for 15-30min, within an hour they were also sluggish and eventually laid on their side, this has been stressing me out to the point of a mental breakdown and I have no idea what to do, I do water quality tests frequently and currently our parameters are:
nitrate No3- 0ppm, Nitrate No2- 0ppm, GH-75ppm, total chlorine- 0ppm, KH-80ppm, PH-7.8ppm, I'm new to the koi keeping hobby and everything I research online is confusing and overwhelming, I don't know what's happening, I've attached some videos, the smaller ones in the video have been surviving since last Sunday, so almost a week, if anyone could please share some knowledge and advice on what to do, I would really really appreciate it!!

 

[j.w]

@akabu I think you added the fish before your pond had a nice long several weeks to cycle and get good bacteria growing in there. Fish can get shocked w/new water w/no good bacteria in there. Once it is cycled then only add one or two fish and wait awhile before adding one or two more and so on.

 

[Tula]

I see you've posted your situation on Koiphen and Rich is helping you. He is extremely knowledgeable , so I'd listen to him. As another poster asked, what about your ammonia level?

 

[Ray G]

Hi there. I can imagine how stressed you must be feeling. The videos you posted are definitely distressing to see. Because they started lying on their side so quickly it is definitely something to do with your water. If you have a kiddie pool or some big container put them in that with new water and see if they recover. Dont add any water from your pond to the container. If they pick up a bit then it is definitely something to do with the pond water. Remember to dechlorinate the new water in the container. It is definitely not parasites as they all appear to be distressed the same and none are flashing or flicking.
Let us know how they go in the new container.
Ray

 

[Olenka]

What was the PH in the breeder's tank? If it was much different from your pond's PH, it would make your fish sick. Sudden PH change could be deadly for fish. Floating fish before releasing into a new pond would be enough if their "native" PH was equal to that in your pond. If not, you should slowly add in water from your pond to the container the fish came in. Something like a cup every 30 minutes. Well, it depends on the volume of water in that container you transported your new fish in. Any breeder can tell you how much, how often, and how many times to add water from your pond before releasing.

 

[mrsclem]

Post is from 2019

 

[Mmathis]

Yes, @Olenka, this thread is 2 years old. This OP never followed up with any information, so it’s doubtful that he/she is still around.

 

[Olenka]

Ooops...

 

[Mmathis]

Ooops...

It’s OK — happens all the time.