New spring pond Fish dying

[lenny jewell]

I appreciate everybodies input and value each piece of advice ... I bought an oxygen pump with oxygen stones ( seems to have helped ) i also put into the pond 2 pelos fish *sic* ( janitor fish , i believe the nickname is )as the climate here in st louis is condusive for them , i also put in 2 plants , i did lose a few more fish , but it has been at least 3 days now with no dead fish .... i tested ph it was high , i lowered it very slowly by adding 2 regular 7.0 ph gallons , then it rained . prior to this we had record breaking heat for about 10 days and so a lot of evaporation occured so i concluded this would aid in my 20% recycle of water , it seems to have worked ... so in conclusion , i have now about 8 fish of which there are 2 fantails , 2 pelos (sic) and 4 regular gold fish .... two very small fountains/waterfalls ... 1 30 -60 gallon filter pump.. 1 air pump with 2 oxy stones .. and 2 new plants.... now i realize this is a lot for a small pond , but the plan is to eventually have a bigger pond connected therefore the equipment is an investment .. thanks everybody for your help .... oh by the way i noticed the last 3 days i have not messed with the pond ( and i am one who can't leave well enough alone ) are the same 3 days of no dead fish !!!!!

 

[lenny jewell]

i hate to say this Addy but heck i have seen 3 goldfish live for a year in a bowl , so i figured 50 gallons must be able to hold more fish , still i am learning as i go , i just hate for it to be at the fish' expense

 

[addy1]

That happens lenny, a learning curve.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Lenny Jewell, I don't want to beat a dead horse to death but because of all the fish you will find it will take a lot of work on your part to keep it clean and not have high concentrates of ammonia, nitrite, and ammonia. It sounds like you are already hooked on ponding so maybe it is time to start planing your bigger pond! My pond is almost 500 gallons with a similar bio-load as yours!

 

[DrDave]

Keith
Just curious, what is the diameter and depth of your pond?

 

[CometKeith]

The shelves are about 18 inches deep and the middle portion which is about 3' x 2.5' is about 4.5 feet deep. The pond measures about 5x6 overall. The middle would be 3x2.5x 3 =169 gallons and the top layer is 5x6x1.5= 337. Obviously it's not an exact science since I have rocks and a liner that likes to float occasionally which reduces capacity. So my guess is 400-500 gallons. Do you think I am wrong with this estimate? I haven't filled it in a long time so I can't figure it out that way.

 

[DrDave]

If your dimensions are correct, then the gallonage is likey to be accurate. The photo does not do justice to it's depth. It looked like a much shallower pond. That is why I asked.
It looks nice BTW.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks, All my fish made it through the winter in perfect health and my test kit readings are all at zero. Also I realized I had excess liner folded up so my pond has been slowly getting larger when my wife hasn't been looking! It may look a little shallow now because I am rebuilding some of the liner walls and haven't filled it all the way.

 

[addy1]

lol cometkeith..............the slowly expanding pond, love it!

 

[lenny jewell]

ok day 5 of no fish dying ...... pond looks cleaner too, a lot of rain probably helped ... i have noticed that i can only find one Plecostamus (sic) but i am sure as its not floating on the surface the other is feeding on the stuff that it feeds on , As they clean the waste i am noticing the pond get clearer and clearer , of course the over cast days may be preventing the algae from blooming , but i am happy , the fish are growing rapidly , so i put oxygen stones with a pump in the pond , "i know the least human help the better" but if i can save a fish by intervening i will , and it seems to have worked , all are eating well , the ones that weren't have all died and left us a week ago , but the rest shoot they fight for the food lol , it is fun to feed them , i have 9 fish that i see regularly maybe 1 more, not sure , but i never put more than 10 pellets in a day and i make sure they all get a bite , the rest of the day they seem to like to feed on the algae ... ohhhhh , how do i tell if a water plant is dying? also and i know this sounds ignorant but does " semi aquatic " mean a plant can live in or out of water or a plant must be near water , or a plant must be in the water i.e totally submerged , or should it have just the roots in the water?

 

[addy1]

O2 stones are fine, that is not a bad thing................you are allowed to help as a human lol you know the pond is your creation.

semi aquatic would be wet roots crown out of water. imho

 

[CometKeith]

Lenny j. 10 fish in 50 gallons? You need to start giving away fish or making plans to go a lot larger. This is a disaster waiting to happen. There is no way you will be able to keep up with their bio-load as they get bigger.

 

[fishin4cars]

10 fish of what size? is that 10 goldfish and at least 1 pleco possibly two?
50 gallons isn't enough space for full grown goldfish that for sure. Maybe 10 babies for a while but they are going to outgrow this at some point. I have seven goldfish in a 30 gallon aquarium with a lot of filtration, None are grown, two are 4-5" 4 are about 3" and 1 about 2" I have to do weekly water changes, I have many years experience and I test water regularly and know what to do if something happens. I'm running a fine line of over stocked. I really can't keep crystal clear pristine looking water in the tank. PH stays stable 7.5, ammonia runs between 0 and 0.4, nitrites run .5 to 1 ppm nitrates below 20ppm. As you can tell, these aren't optimum water conditions. It's overstocked, my point is, what CometKieth is saying. Your going to be pushing the limits at some point too, that's for certain.
In a 50 gallon pond with that much fish load I hope you have some serious bio-filtration. Otherwise your asking for more problems. Do you have another tank or something to put the fish in if the water goes bad? I do, I have mutiple places, I have undergravel filter, a hang on the back filter and a canister filter on my 30 gallon aquarium. Still not enough, Wish I could load it with plants but in a tank with goldfish it just doesn't work, makes more of a mess than without.
Think about what you have going on and decide what's right. want to keep that many fish, plan on a bigger pond, want to stay with that size pond, our advise, lighten the fish load.

 

[lenny jewell]

thanks guys ... i shall lighten load , tho it seems as though the pond is doing that for me , i am down to 7 goldfish and 1 maybe 2 plecos , they all seem to be doing fine, i have a good ( i think) filter/pump has 4 filters in it , 2 are carbon filters and the other 2 are boifilters , the pond is still crystal clear , the ph is at a stable 7.2 the plecos are eating all the junk , removed a lot of rocks , and the 02 rocks are doing great ... i remove 5 gallons of water each week and replace it with ph friendly water , that has been treated , and i add a cap full of melofix each week ... the pond is staying crystal clear , i shall watch the fish closely i have a quarantine tank if i need it , not a great place for any fish but if i need it i can use it whilst cleaning the pond , but guys to be honest the pond keeps getting cleaner and the fish are having a ball, haven't lost a fish in over a week ,This being said , i hear and understand what you're saying and i will watch the overcrowding issue , i may have underestimated the size of the pond , you guys are the experts so i respect your advice and will defer to your judgement , btw Addy thanks for the plant info , i need to adjust one of them , both are still quite green, so not dead (yet) but i noticed it is not growing , which is why i asked ..... thanks again everybody,

 

[lenny jewell]

sizes .. ok 4 at 1.5 inches (goldfish)....... 2 plecos at about 3 ... 2 fantailed goldfish at about 2 inches and 3 inches one big black bought as a goldfish but sure seems different ant about 3 inches and a big goldfish at about 4 inches .. ... so in total 18 inches of fish in a 50-60 gallon pond ......ummmmmm i am thinking bigger pond is in order ... ohhhhhh fun . now to convince my fiance .... help !?