Parasites?

[toripillar]

My pond is only 4 months old. 5 Shabunkin goldfish, 3 koi & several minnow. Had a koi thrash & then lie so still I could pick him up in my hands. Then a 2nd stopped eating. Took those 2 in the house & treated them. Treated the pond w/ malachite green & formalin. Now, week & a half later found my favorite butterfly koi in skimmer. Haven't seen him for 2 days, but already emaciated & spine bent up. Couldn't move tail fins. I euthanized him. Devastated. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Tula]

toripillar, I'm so sorry you lost your butterfly If you can share more information with us about your pond, members could better help you . Can you post some pictures?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

How big is your pond, how many gallons, what kind of filtration, all of that would help us help you

Love your av! almost looks like our white yorkie's face

 

[toripillar]

Yes. It's 1,200 gal. I have a waterfall w/ bioballs, aquascape skimmer, pump & filter medium. I have been adding beneficial bacteria, but stipped algaecide after almost killing my fish teice. So i just installed a copper iongen system about a month ago for string algae. I have several new lily pads I'm trying to get going cuz pond gets a lot of sun.

 

[toripillar]

I hope that worked. Thanks, addy. He's a Coton...the reason I built the pond. He's in it about 10 times a day! Is there an app for thus website

 

[toripillar]

Griffin is hot...

 

[addy1]

Nice looking pond! My little girl won't go into the water.

 

[Tula]

Your pooch is precious

I believe @Meyer Jordan has posted articles before on copper ionizers, so hopefully he can elaborate on why he doesn't recommend them.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Yes. It's 1,200 gal. I have a waterfall w/ bioballs, aquascape skimmer, pump & filter medium. I have been adding beneficial bacteria, but stipped algaecide after almost killing my fish teice. So i just installed a copper iongen system about a month ago for string algae. I have several new lily pads I'm trying to get going cuz pond gets a lot of sun.

What is the present setting of your iongen?
It really appears that what you have done is severely stressed your fish with the algaecide treatments, then added to this stress by treating for parasites without really being certain that you have a problem. Now you have added a copper/zinc ionizer. Copper (and zinc) are extremely toxic to fish and all other aquatic life. If the levels are not precisely controlled, multi-specie fatalities may occur.
It should also be taken into account the relative infancy of your pond. If all of your fish were added within a short period of time, an Ammonia spike would have been likely (explaining the behavior of the Koi that you could easily pick up). This likely Ammonia spike, sadly, was only the first of several actions that only further weakened your fish as explained above.
Cease tossing quick remedies and 'snake oil' into your pond. Give it a chance to mature on its own. Nature knows what it is doing.

 

[haver79]

Beautiful pond and pup! Sorry you are loosing your fish.

 

[sissy]

Time like said and those quick fixes are never quick fixes .I would never use algaecide it is suicide in a bottle and should never be sold

 

[toripillar]

Thank you so much, everyone, for all of ur input & responses. Yes, never again w/ algaecide. It was terrible. My iongen was @ 4- I turned it down to 3 today. I'll take my water in to have all the levels tested this afternoon. I think in trying to do something, I did too much. I had a huge koi pond abt 10 yrs ago & never had these issues. Had big happy fish. Hopefully this will all turn around soon.
(Man, that's 1 cute little dog!)

 

[sissy]

liquid barley or liquid barley with peat or koi clay which is also good for the fish clarify the water .If it smells good enough for you to drink it is good for the fish .Don't drink it but a clue to what is good and what is not .Barley should always be in a dark colored bottle or cloudy bottle design to keep it good and if it is sold in a clear bottle then I would not buy it .Also should not be kept in warm spot .I keep it in the basement .Koi clay should be put in ponds with the pump off and will turn the water cloudy to bind fine algae and then turn back on your pumps

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Any continuous setting other than zero for the Iongen may cause problems over time.
Aquascape presently states the the Iongen is-
"Compatible with water containing fish and plants"
Five (5) years ago this statement was-
"Safe for fish and plants"

Notice the difference. They no longer claim that this device is safe. Wording means a lot if you are attempting to avoid any future litigation.

 

[toripillar]

It's hot here already, and the pond is only shaded part of the day. I had a huge string algae problem (hence the horrible algaecide). The iongen is doing a great job combating the algae, but I will not use it if there's a chance it's harmful. I'm at a loss as to how to kill the algae, then. Sissy, does the barley knock down the algae? I heard clay does, but there are different types? What's best & where on earth do u get it? Does it leave any silt deposits in the pond?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If you don't already have a Water Quality test kit, then I recommend that you purchase one. I also recommend that you purchase a separate kit for testing Phosphorus (phosphates).
The presence of filamentous algae is an indication of a high phosphorous level. A phosphorus binder is the best and completely benign method of correcting this problem, but you must know what the level is before applying the binder. Without Phosphorus, filamentous algae will not thrive.
The test kit should include the means for testing Nitrate which is the prime nutrient for other algae species.
Always try to determine the source of a problem and treat this accordingly. Treating symptoms is just that. The source remains and the problem will re-occur.

 

[cas]

Very pretty pond @toripillar . Try adding more plants to your pond. Right now I have a lot of string algae too. I am removing it by hand. As my plants take off, the string algae starts to decrease.