Please help! I think my fish may be sick but I'm new at this and not sure!

[j.w]

No bottom drain here!

 

[Mayank]

Thanks for your responses. I'm thinking of getting another pump, leaving it in the deepest part and having it release into the skimmer box and occasionally just stirring up the bottom so it can go through my bioballs/filter sheets that feed into my waterfall. Should that suffice? I'll post more pics.

 

[Lisak1]

Why not just skip the extra pump and stir things up from time to time? Maybe I missed what your concern is.

A bottom drain is a standard recommendation in a dedicated koi pond, but definitely not "a must". Be aware of the different types of ponds when you are reading recommendations - if you have a garden pond or an eco-style pond, reading about DKPs will only confuse the issue. We don't have a bottom drain and have no issue with debris collecting in the bottom of the pond. I do get in from time to time and stir up the bottom with my feet - gets things moving and the fish LOVE it. They find all kinds of tasty bits down there to munch on!

 

[Mayank]

So this is how we add water. Always worried about not adding enough api tap water conditioner. It's so concentrated. I always add a little more. That doesn't hurt right?
DO I NEED more plants???

 

[Mayank]

Also have another question. Would it hurt anything if I added more bio balls to the system? I'm planning to add more plants. Am I accurate in thinking that adding more plants to such up nutrients and adding more biological filtration would help clean my green water? Also, can you overdose the pond when you add nitrifying bacteria? So if a little is good, more is better?

 

[Lisak1]

More bioballs would never hurt anything. More plants are always good, but it does look like you have a good amount going right now. Your pond is new, right? Green water in a brand new pond isn't unusual, nor is it unusual in a newer pond in the early summer months. Your plants are all in pots, which does limit them somewhat, but yes - the idea is the plants are up the nutrients that the fish produce. Just consider that green water a symptom - it's telling you that you have an overabundance of nutrients. Too many fish, too large of fish, overfeeding or an excess of decaying organic material are all reasons why that happens. It's not hurting anything - and in fact it's actually helping keep your pond healthy for your fish - so don't be too concerned about eliminating it until your pond gets well established.

Why are you adding water - water changes or just topping off? Honesty, when we top off our pond I don't even bother with conditioner anymore. A few hundred gallons in a 2000 gallon pond isn't really going to be an issue. Now if you're doing big water changes that's another story.

 

[Mmathis]

Also, if you choose to put a pump on the bottom, at the deepest spot, consider placing it on top of [something like] a crate to keep it elevated. If it’s on the very bottom, and you have a major leak, it can empty your pond. If it’s elevated off the bottom, there could be enough water for the fish to survive until you discover the leak.

 

[Mayank]

More bioballs would never hurt anything. More plants are always good, but it does look like you have a good amount going right now. Your pond is new, right? Green water in a brand new pond isn't unusual, nor is it unusual in a newer pond in the early summer months. Your plants are all in pots, which does limit them somewhat, but yes - the idea is the plants are up the nutrients that the fish produce. Just consider that green water a symptom - it's telling you that you have an overabundance of nutrients. Too many fish, too large of fish, overfeeding or an excess of decaying organic material are all reasons why that happens. It's not hurting anything - and in fact it's actually helping keep your pond healthy for your fish - so don't be too concerned about eliminating it until your pond gets well established.

Why are you adding water - water changes or just topping off? Honesty, when we top off our pond I don't even bother with conditioner anymore. A few hundred gallons in a 2000 gallon pond isn't really going to be an issue. Now if you're doing big water changes that's another story.

Well, I'm sure we have a bigger fish load than optimal but more than that, we've Definitely been overfeeding. Part of it is a vicious cycle because that is the only way we can see our fish is if they come up to eat So we feed them more which makes him poop more which makes the water greener which makes us be able to see them even less!!!
Anyway, we did all the tests this morning and ammonia nitrite and nitrate are 0 ph is 8.2 and hardness and alkalinity are on the high side. So that would hopefully mean things are OK?
We had some evaporation losses and we were putting the water back in for that. Also we did a 10% water change so the water was to compensate for that. Put the extra pump on the bottom of the deep side stirred things up and removed about 10% since we don't have a bottom drain.

 

[Mayank]

Also, if you choose to put a pump on the bottom, at the deepest spot, consider placing it on top of [something like] a crate to keep it elevated. If it’s on the very bottom, and you have a major leak, it can empty your pond. If it’s elevated off the bottom, there could be enough water for the fish to survive until you discover the leak.

The only reason we put it on the bottom is so that it can suck things up because we don't have a bottom drain. This is only when we are there observing

 

[IPA]

I don’t remember if it was mentioned here but you can use quilt batting in a milk crate or similar container to filter the temporary pump return.

 

[Mayank]

I don’t remember if it was mentioned here but you can use quilt batting in a milk crate or similar container to filter the temporary pump return.

We tried that. It didn't really do anything. Got a portable bathtub, put batting in bottom third and routed water through and it didn't make a perceptible difference. Used for almost two weeks and then gave up