I've had the same 11 goldfish fish in a 100 gallon stock tank for 4 summers / 3 winters. They were free from craigslist so besides the bubblers, filter, heaters for winter, and food, spent almost no $$ on them. Surprised every spring when they were alive and active after the ice melted; I wasn't a very good fish parent, as I didn't do regular water changes except in the early summer.
This summer my we dug a 1200 gallon inground pond (retaining wall blocks as walls, rubber pond liner to keep water in, field and river rocks for the bottom and up the sides a bit). We rinsed the rocks so they weren't completely dirty when we added them. We filled with water and let set for a few days. I had the new pond water and the water from the stock tank tested at the same time at the same pet store and they tested almost identical (no numbers, only color indicators of chemical make up).
I put the old fish in the new pond and they were happy, swam, ate, acted normal. Added a packaged water lily and a few water hycinths. About 4 days later we added 4 small koi from the pet store. About another 3 days later I noticed one of the goldfish began looking fuzzy. We removed the koi; they are in a stock tank and still seem healthy. We couldn't get the recommended water treatment product quickly so relied on stuff from the pet store. Over a few days the goldfish all got fuzzy (slime coming off and got lethargic). It seemed to slow the health decline rate of the goldfish but over 6 days they all, perished, one at a time.
We have now treated the pond with Crystal Clear Knockout Plus for 3 days (1 day without any fish).
What are my next steps... is it something physical in my pond that caused this?
Do I do a water change and add the koi?
How long do fish illnesses remain in the pond after all fish have perished (been removed from water)?
Any direction is greatly appreciated -- and a side note... I love the pond and keeping fish - but I am not really into huge maintenance and I will stick with my remaining 4 little koi. I'm a simple kind of person.
This summer my we dug a 1200 gallon inground pond (retaining wall blocks as walls, rubber pond liner to keep water in, field and river rocks for the bottom and up the sides a bit). We rinsed the rocks so they weren't completely dirty when we added them. We filled with water and let set for a few days. I had the new pond water and the water from the stock tank tested at the same time at the same pet store and they tested almost identical (no numbers, only color indicators of chemical make up).
I put the old fish in the new pond and they were happy, swam, ate, acted normal. Added a packaged water lily and a few water hycinths. About 4 days later we added 4 small koi from the pet store. About another 3 days later I noticed one of the goldfish began looking fuzzy. We removed the koi; they are in a stock tank and still seem healthy. We couldn't get the recommended water treatment product quickly so relied on stuff from the pet store. Over a few days the goldfish all got fuzzy (slime coming off and got lethargic). It seemed to slow the health decline rate of the goldfish but over 6 days they all, perished, one at a time.
We have now treated the pond with Crystal Clear Knockout Plus for 3 days (1 day without any fish).
What are my next steps... is it something physical in my pond that caused this?
Do I do a water change and add the koi?
How long do fish illnesses remain in the pond after all fish have perished (been removed from water)?
Any direction is greatly appreciated -- and a side note... I love the pond and keeping fish - but I am not really into huge maintenance and I will stick with my remaining 4 little koi. I'm a simple kind of person.