Novice looking for info

[tigerduck]

Hello! We recently moved into a house with a small patio pond that is home to a koi. Previous owners left some koi food and a couple of products, which we have used, but otherwise we’re flying blind. The water has become murky, and in the past week the water level has been dropping by about an inch a day. Husband has been replenishing it using hose water mixed with Stress Coat (apparently removes chlorine etc), but we are wondering if we have a leak and, if so, how to keep the koi safe while we address it. We are in Northern VA, in case anyone can recommend resources in this area…I did try contacting a few pond businesses that I found through a Google search, but they seem only to deal with larger-scale ponds. Any advice would be greatly appreciated…thank you in advance!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Lisak1]

Here I am with the bad news... your pond is no place for a koi. The first thing I'd do is look for a new home for the fish. A few goldfish would be perfect in your pond!

Small ponds can be far more challenging than the big ones to manage - tiny changes can have a big impact. Losing water when it's hot is perfectly normal, but if you're concerned that it's a leak, the first thing to check is the plumbing. Best way to do that is to shut the pond down for 24 hours and see what the water level does. (HOWEVER - don't do this while you still have the koi in the pond... that would be incredibly stressful and maybe even fatal for a big fish.) If the water level stays basically the same, then you know it's in your plumbing. Next step is to check for low edges - look for wet areas. The chance of a true liner leak are slim, but they do happen. If it's not the plumbing or a low edge, then you may need to investigate further.

Welcome to the GPF!

 

[tigerduck]

Thanks for the welcome, mmathis! Lisak1, thanks so much for your response. I’m sad to hear that the koi might need a new home, but we have been concerned about his well-being, so it’s a relief to finally have some information. What would you recommend we do to protect his health while we look for a new home for him? I imagine it is safer to continue adding treated water little by little as needed than to do anything more disruptive…are there other dangers that we need to be aware of?

 

[GBBUDD]

koi might need a new home

Sorry there's no might about it a koi can get bigger than your Garden decoration. IMO its perfect as a minnow pool . chemicals being added for algae, oxygen looks like its only the waterfall doing that job which is fine.

 

[tigerduck]

Thanks, GBBUDD… we’ll definitely take the advice to move the koi to a new home. We’ve been worrying about him since we moved in, and I’ve had the feeling our little patio pond was not the best place for him. I may be back with other questions once we have an empty pond and are able to start from square one.

 

[j.w]

@tigerduck
I don't know how many gallons that pond will hold but if it's big enough you might want to put some Shubunkin goldfish in there. Not many tho. They look kinda like a small koi in coloring.

 

[tigerduck]

Thanks for the recommendation, j.w. - those are beautiful!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

I would get shubunkin colored fantails, or minnows. I have fantails in my 300 gallon hot tub pond, they stay small, breed slowly and are great for a small pond. Even shubbies breed a lot and get bigger than I think your pond can handle.

 

[tigerduck]

Oh, those are beautiful too - thank you, @addy1!

 

[j.w]

If I ever get more fish I think I might also like to add those little fantails!

 

[GBBUDD]

Welcome to the forum!

I would get shubunkin colored fantails, or minnows. I have fantails in my 300 gallon hot tub pond, they stay small, breed slowly and are great for a small pond. Even shubbies breed a lot and get bigger than I think your pond can handle. View attachment 151961View attachment 151962

@addy1 look into those crazy new geneticly altered danios. The ones made for elementary kids with the neon color. They don't stick out and look fake in the pond but you can certainly see them e en at an inch long in the pond darting around. And they devour the fry or bugs etc

 

[addy1]

Don't think they would like it when the pond freezes over. But nice idea.

@addy1 look into those crazy new geneticly altered danios. The ones made for elementary kids with the neon color. They don't stick out and look fake in the pond but you can certainly see them e en at an inch long in the pond darting around. And they devour the fry or bugs etc

 

[poconojoe]

Thanks for the welcome, mmathis! Lisak1, thanks so much for your response. I’m sad to hear that the koi might need a new home, but we have been concerned about his well-being, so it’s a relief to finally have some information. What would you recommend we do to protect his health while we look for a new home for him? I imagine it is safer to continue adding treated water little by little as needed than to do anything more disruptive…are there other dangers that we need to be aware of?

Do you have room or interest in building a larger pond?

 

[Mmathis]

@poconojoe makes a great point! Once we get into the hobby….we almost always wish for a bigger pond.