New rubbermaid container pond! Help

[alice]

Hello, I got my mom a pond for mothers day. It is a 121L rubbermaid container, it has a filter, 2 baby goldfish, and a baby Koi. It has small amount of duck weed, 3 floating hysithns plants (spelling?) the water has been starting to become cloudy. I did add some rocks for a hidding spot- it became cloudy after that. I also feel like I could of added to much food. Will my water clear up eventually? It is about a week old. This is what it looked like before. This is our first pond aswell. We have a 2 in 1 filter and fountain system. I know it rained the other day aswell. We have a maple tree and leave are growing so the seeds kept falling in, I cut a hole in the lid and put a screen to Stop things from falling in the pond.

 

[MitchM]

Hi Alice,
The cloudiness certainly could have been caused from overfeeding.
Did you condition the water before you added the fish?
The koi will outgrow that container, and I would recommend that you return it to the store you bought it from.
The goldfish should be fine.
If that is a completely new set-up, you probably have a build-up of ammonia which is harmful to the fish.
Do you have any prior experience with keeping fish?
A 50% water change should be done soon, but the condition of the water is very important.
Do you have any water quality test kits?

 

[Mmathis]

Hello, welcome, and I think you have a very lucky mother!

 

[CountryEscape]

If you put the water in straight from your faucet, then added the fish without dechlorinating it, that could be an issue, too. Most fish will die if they are put into water that has not had a chance to breathe, or is the original water to start a pond. In other words, once water has cycled, created beneficial bacteria and some algae, it could be deadly for the fish. Maybe you are using well water, that has no chlorine in it, not sure.
I see another possible problem. Your fountain appears to be spraying onto the brick wall. If it is, or even if it normally isn't but with a slight breeze it is, there may be some grit washing into the pond from that wall.
You had rain, so I wonder if there are gutters above that wall, or did the water wash off the roof into the pond? Another reason for possible cloudy water.
With 3 total fish, you need very little food. If the fish don't come up to eat, don't feed them hardly any. YOu might turn off the fountain when you feed, so the water is still and the fish would be more likely to come to the surface to feed. Only feed what they will readily eat in just a few minutes. Anything they don't eat will rot and cause water condition problems.
Good luck!

 

[alice]

The water was from the tap + treated and I let it sit for 2 days. The water was fine until I added the new 3 rocks for a hiding spot- they were rinsed with just water. I've had fish before but not an outside pond. The fountain got lowered- this was when it was first set up. i will take a photo tomorrow. No gutters for the roof- I was starting to think it could have been from the roof aswell, as for the feeding- thank you!! I was wondering why they wouldn't come up to eat!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Welcome to the forum.Your mother most love you for giving her such a nice mothers gift. It was really thoughtful of you. Any residue from the rocks will settle eventually. There is a lot to learn about pond keeping and thankfully you found the right place! Good luck.

 

[sissy]

Welcome and yes a nice gift .But I would protect it more from the tank bowing out and splitting by putting it inside another tote .It will make it much sturdier ,you don't want your mom to come out to a split open tote

 

[Matthew leo sweeney Sr.]

Reminds me of my first pond..15 yrs ago. The 1 1/2" calico koi I started out with is now 15 inches and much bigger home. Koi are hardier than many say .Good luck . Mad Dog

 

[sissy]

koi are hardy but they are bigger waste producers and in my case plant and snail destroyers .They are a little fussier about water quality but then goldfish produce lots more babies

 

[alice]

Okay I took a few photo's! My filter was disgusting! I cleaned that out and lowered the pressure. I am still not sully sure how to use this pump. The filter was green!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

View attachment 81046 View attachment 81047 View attachment 81048 View attachment 81049 View attachment 81050 View attachment 81051 Okay I took a few photo's! My filter was disgusting! I cleaned that out and lowered the pressure. I am still not sully sure how to use this pump. The filter was green!

What do you mean "lowered the pressure"?
The filter is suppose to look nasty.That indicates that it is doing its job....filtering.

 

[MitchM]

What do you mean "lowered the pressure"?
The filter is suppose to look nasty.That indicates that it is doing its job....filtering.

I'm thinking there's a dial on the pump that can be turned down to reduce the water flow.
In case the cloudiness is a bacterial bloom, there's a risk of oxygen depletion, so I would recommend keeping the pump running on high.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Bacterial bloom or no, the water flow should not be reduced

 

[CountryEscape]

She has a fountain on it, and probably doesn't want the fountain shooting 5' in the air. Wonder if she should have the pump flowing without the fountain head for a while, and see if the water clears up. It would cause a vortex (is that the right word?) swirling around the tub, so the filter would grab anything and everything in there.
Alice, be sure when you rinse the filter, that you don't rinse it in chlorinated city water. You don't want to rinse off all the good bacteria that is accumulating on the filter, just the dirt particles.

 

[Dave 54]

Hi Alice welcome from the UK may we say a very thoughtful present for you Mum on ~Mothers but sadly day however I feel that a koi will be the wrong fish for this pond.
Why well you see Koi can grow very ;large and can do at a rapid rate, so it wouldnt really be fair to keep one in such a nice but small pond nor would it be fair on the Goldfish, which would we feel suit one or two goldfish quite hansomely

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

It may well be an idea your Mum buy a book on fish health so that your Mum better understands how to look after her fish as there is lots to learn about keeping them alive nd well .
Did you know that if properly looked after goldfish can live up to 40 years , koi can and do live in excess of 80 years we have one koi 24" who is this year 28 years old .
The book I suggest you buy is this The Manual of Fish Health ISBN 0861013869. Dr Chris Andrews Adrian Exell, Dr Neville Carrington.
This is a very good starting out book that teaches you everything you need t know about keeping your fish healthy you can get them for next to nothing on Amazon
We hope this helps you both grow into the hobby

Dave

 

[alice]

Yeah i ment for lowering the fountain pressure not the actual pump it's self. Should we get a bigger container? I know the water temp is chilly which is why they are hiding under the rock + everything that is going on. I got my mom a pond book, I think she has gone out to shop for a bigger container for the fish.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Yeah i ment for lowering the fountain pressure not the actual pump it's self. Should we get a bigger container? I know the water temp is chilly which is why they are hiding under the rock + everything that is going on. I got my mom a pond book, I think she has gone out to shop for a bigger container for the fish.

If you reduced the flow from the fountain you have reduced the overall circulation in this water feature and as a result have reduced the rate of filtration. Restore the flow through the fountain and observe for a day or two, the problem may rectify itself.
A larger volume of water is always better!

 

[alice]

But if i lower the water from the fountain it goes out of the container :/

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Then get a larger container or remove the fountain head.