Please help, ASAP

[KimC]

There have been tons of wasp swarming over my pond this past week. My grandfather came over to try and help....he sprayed wasp spray near the pond even when I told him not too. He sprayed it on the rocks around my pond but Im sure that some flew into the water. To make matters worse he then washed all of the killer off of he rocks because he was spraying the bees in the air. Please what should I do? I don't think the fish will be safe. They are all about 3 month old baby koi/butterfly fish. What do I need to do? I cant really get near it to drain it because of the bees. Plus they are still pretty small I don't know how I'd drain it without sucking the fish out too.

Please help, I just lost all of my older koi fish (11+yrs) a few months back so I'd really like to save the babies.

 

[DOUBBLE TAP]

Sorry to here that. I would get them out asap and put them into a holding container. If you don't have one a big outside garbage can or two with a clean bag will work in a pinch for now until you can figure out how to deal with this. Don't forget to declore the water and acclimate the fish.

good luck

 

[sissy]

You will have toover filter your water get a laundry basket and put layers of quilt batting in it to try and catch as much as the chemical you can also look at the chemical content of what he sprayed and next time use nutria or lemon grass based killers they are harmless to pets and humanes .Best thing is to put water in another spot and bees will head for that as they are thirsty and really mean no harm if you atract them away with a big basin of sugar water they will leave the pond alone

 

[dieselplower]

Good idea w the sugar water.
How big is the pond?

 

[KimC]

Its probably almost 300 gallons.
Also I have two water lily plants should those come out too? How do I declore the water and acclimate the fish?
I am new to having a pond. The pond used to be my moms so now I am taking care of it.

 

[DOUBBLE TAP]

There is a product you can purchase in a pet or pond store called declorinator it removes clorine and cloramines . Add it with the recommended amount for the amount of water you are treating. Acclimating is as simple as floating the bag that you are using to transport the fish until the water temperature equalizes anout 15-20 min and adding a little of the treated water so the fish can become acclimated to the diff in the water chemistry. It sounds like a lot but its really easy. Just remember to follow the directions on the bottle more is NOT better. Being that its a smaller pond personally I would just drain and start over. you will have to cycle the pond again but for me peace of mind is worth it. But then again how much of the chemical do you think got into the pond you may just be able to do what sissy said and over filter the crap out of it and be fine. But those are your options the choice is yours.

Good luck

 

[sissy]

They have stuff you can buy at the pet store if you have city water .

 

[slakker]

I'm not sure if it'll work in a pond, but I use activated carbon in my reef tank to absorb chemicals... If you want to try it, for a 300 gallon pond, I would thow 1 - 3 lbs in a mesh bag in line with the skimmer or water fall. Btw: you can get this at any good saltwater fish store.

Also what sometimes works (not all the time) is to hang a paper bag to look like a wasp nest near the pond. Wasps are territorial and when they can't get rid of the decoy, they will avoid it.

If they are bees, then unless they're Africanized, they should be harmless...

 

[Sunshine]

Good idea on the carbon, make sure you rinse it really good first. Put it in a mesh bag as slakker said and spray it with the hose to get the black dust out.

 

[capewind]

Good idea on the carbon, make sure you rinse it really good first. Put it in a mesh bag as slakker said and spray it with the hose to get the black dust out.

NO!!!! Do not rinse the carbon with the hose ... get a bucket of pond water to rinse the dust off ... rinsing with the hose is like taking a new car for a 1000 mile test ride and still trying to claim it has zero miles on it.

 

[capewind]

I'm not sure if it'll work in a pond, but I use activated carbon in my reef tank to absorb chemicals... If you want to try it, for a 300 gallon pond, I would thow 1 - 3 lbs in a mesh bag in line with the skimmer or water fall. Btw: you can get this at any good saltwater fish store.

I agree. Reading the bag of carbon I have it says 1 TBSP per 10 gallons of water ... if 300 gallon pond, that's 30 TBSP, or 2 1/4 cups for STANDARD USE. I am guessing that would be about one pound ... I would at least triple it and go with 3 lbs, as stated above, and maybe even add a bit extra ...

 

[capewind]

There have been tons of wasp swarming over my pond this past week. My grandfather came over to try and help....he sprayed wasp spray near the pond even when I told him not too. He sprayed it on the rocks around my pond but Im sure that some flew into the water. To make matters worse he then washed all of the killer off of he rocks because he was spraying the bees in the air. Please what should I do? I don't think the fish will be safe. They are all about 3 month old baby koi/butterfly fish. What do I need to do? I cant really get near it to drain it because of the bees. Plus they are still pretty small I don't know how I'd drain it without sucking the fish out too.

Please help, I just lost all of my older koi fish (11+yrs) a few months back so I'd really like to save the babies.

We have a ton of wasps this week too, and have had lots of bees all season ... they leave us alone, as long as we dont bother them ... they seem to adore a flowering weed and my curlie mint plants ... that said, I still get pretty creeped out when they land on my chair ...

If your babies are 3 months old, I am guessing they are well over an inch in size ... easy drain ... take a plastic collander, hold it in the pond, and then place the intake hose of a small pump and place it inside of the collander ... not only will you not discharge any babies by accident into the yard, they should be big enough to want to be away from you holding the collander too ...

 

[Dave 54]

How much did your grandad spray around the pond , being airosol which disapates very quickly so I doubt very much its going to effect your fish or your pond, but you can never be too careful can you ?
The wasps are only coming down for a drink of water so they can be left alone and hopefully your fish will leave them be .
We have wasps visiting ours (as a kid I fell headfirst into a wasps nest I hate the creatures) but not enough to harm them).
It's sort of live and let live.......with me should I want to kill them I'd set wasp traps around the pond rather than spray.
Tell grandad that yes he's a wise old man but when it comes to your fish infuture then you have the final say.
We do have a member who is having problems with crop sprayers but thats 1,000% more harmful than what your grandad did.
Plus he only thought he was doing the best for you (thats what graddads are for).

rgrds

Dave