Ongoing saga of death

[MitchM]

It's difficult to be of much help without a complete picture of the situation.
Once you know for sure, we can probably help further.

 

[David604]

Understood. I purchased the house in July and that is why I don't know everything 100%. I did eyeball the plumbing under the sink and it does appear to be plumbed in afterwards, but I will pull everything out and take a closer look.
I can also ask the previous owner for clarification.

 

[sissy]

Is it a reverse osmosis system like they use in Florida a lot

 

[David604]

Not sure about FL. The entire house has a water softener/filtration system. Then, under the kitchen sink is a RO system that uses three stages and a 4th membrane. That RO unit has a copper line running to the upper pond for waste water. From reading, it should be no worse than the tap water, but with the chlorine removed.

 

[David604]

1 day later and the PH is stable(same result of previous test). We did have some rain overnight.

 

[David604]

On a somewhat related note, is there an equivalent to live rock for freshwater fish? I had really good success with a saltwater aquarium and embracing nature ecosystem approach. Is there any facts do kind folks would like me to verify 100% to give the picture?

 

[MitchM]

On a somewhat related note, is there an equivalent to live rock for freshwater fish? I had really good success with a saltwater aquarium and embracing nature ecosystem approach. ...

(A sw "nature ecosystem approach" is a little ambiguous.)

To answer your question, no, other than submerged objects that have an established biofilm and receive good water circulation.
SW live rock is calcium carbonate that is porous and has a few mm of depth that nitrifying bacteria and boring worms inhabit that keep sw live rock "active" with a large surface area, as long as the sw live rock does not accumulate detritus.

 

[David604]

I was referring to live rock, live sand and other green filtration(don't recall the name)

 

[MitchM]

Freshwater and saltwater have completely different methods of filtration, except for nitrifying bacteria.
The biggest difference is that freshwater environments have submerged plants and a substrate that absorbs and processes nutrients completely different as to how a saltwater substrate processes nutrients.

 

[David604]

10-4 So far the fish appear to be acting normal and not under any sort of stress. It's a bit on the colder end here now and so they go between hanging out near the bottom and swimming around.

 

[David604]

Okay, I have good news and bad news. The good news is I was able to verify some information from the previous home owner.

"The undersink RO is after the whole house filter softener and when it back washes it goes to pond thru 1/4 tubing.
The black hose comes from the whole house softener during back washing automatically on Monday about 2am is default."

So, the RO is plumbed after the house filter/softener. I think the 1/4 inch tube is copper.
I did not know at all about the hose backwashing from the house filter/softener. The system time is off right now, but it does that once a week, currently Friday morning.

I'm thinking I better get both of those lines diverted elsewhere. I'm not that handy and not sure what to do, so I will probably contact a plumber.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Okay, I have good news and bad news. The good news is I was able to verify some information from the previous home owner.

"The undersink RO is after the whole house filter softener and when it back washes it goes to pond thru 1/4 tubing.
The black hose comes from the whole house softener during back washing automatically on Monday about 2am is default."

So, the RO is plumbed after the house filter/softener. I think the 1/4 inch tube is copper.
I did not know at all about the hose backwashing from the house filter/softener. The system time is off right now, but it does that once a week, currently Friday morning.

I'm thinking I better get both of those lines diverted elsewhere. I'm not that handy and not sure what to do, so I will probably contact a plumber.

It also doesn't help if the tubing is indeed Copper as Copper (and all other Heavy Metals) is extremely toxic to all forms of aquatic life.

 

[David604]

Right, my local Koi crew said the same today. I'm pretty sure it's copper. Well, I think we may have cracked the puzzle and now I just need to address these things. i have no idea how the past owner had Koi for years with only 2 issues. Sigh......

 

[Lisak1]

I'm a little confused about your set up - is your water softener backwashing into the pond?

 

[David604]

I'm a little confused about your set up - is your water softener backwashing into the pond?

Yes it was. The softener unit is in a coset near the pod, that had some white PVC coming out of the closet and under the ground near the pond and then there was a black hose connected the PVC sticking out in-between the rocks surrounding the filter/water feature. I have since taken that line out of the pond and for now have it running to the grass/plants, away from the pond.

Also, of the 2 fish we just put in, it appears one was taken by a predator and the other one is still alive. A bit of good news and bad...