Power Outage

[mjlw50]

hey there everyone, my name is MJ. I have a 600 gallon oval shape pond with about 12 fish, 3 Koi and the rest are goldfish. I had a power outage about an hour ago and im worried about the fish. The power should be back on tomorrow morning by 10am.

Question is, will the fish be okay until then?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

They may or they may not. Do you have an emergency generator or any way to get battery powered equipment (such as a battery powered air pump)? Do you have any way to do emergency water changes with dechlorinator (if you are on city water), or any chemicals that will neutralize ammonia (I think Prime is one)? Even just exchanging a little bit of treated water by hand every once in a while might help.

What about a water test kit? How big are your goldfish and koi?

Your ammonia level is going to rise pretty quickly.

Sorry I cannot be more helpful! Just trying to think what I might do in that situation.

 

[Giovanni]

hey there everyone, my name is MJ. I have a 600 gallon oval shape pond with about 12 fish, 3 Koi and the rest are goldfish. I had a power outage about an hour ago and im worried about the fish. The power should be back on tomorrow morning by 10am.

Question is, will the fish be okay until then?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Hello MJ, during last week's hurricane we lost power here in Virginia. I have a 1800 gallon rectangular pond With about 25 Koi and 40 goldfish, plus several Mollies, Minnows, etc. My pond is 75% covered over with floating plants. After 1 day I could see the fish surface swallowing air and I knew I was in for trouble. After about 2days without power (waterfall and bubbler aeration, and filter system) I lost 3 of my biggest Koi. On the 3rd day the power was back on and everything was okay. I thought they died due to lack of oxygen since the plants should be able to handle the ammonia load. To help with emergency aeration I bought a small solar pool floating fountain.

 

[mrsclem]

Small water changes will help, treat with dechlor if needed. Walmart carries battery operated aerators in the sporting goods department. We bought our 1st generator for the koi ponds, years later we got one for the house!

 

[Lisak1]

@mjlw50 - oh boy! That's something we all hope never happens. I hope your power comes back on quickly!

If you had said goldfish, I would have thought "no problem". But koi are a different story and honestly, at 600 gallons your pond is too small for koi. Once you get this issue settled, I would give serious consideration to finding new homes for the koi... or, better yet, build a bigger pond!

 

[mjlw50]

@mjlw50 - oh boy! That's something we all hope never happens. I hope your power comes back on quickly!

If you had said goldfish, I would have thought "no problem". But koi are a different story and honestly, at 600 gallons your pond is too small for koi. Once you get this issue settled, I would give serious consideration to finding new homes for the koi... or, better yet, build a bigger pond!

Wow, never knew it was to small.for Koi. Thanks for the information

 

[Lisak1]

Wow, never knew it was to small.for Koi.

Unfortunately it's an issue that comes up here far too often. In a dream world, the people who sell koi would make sure the buyer is informed about the needs of these particular fish. They start out nice and small but grow fast and large!

 

[Mmathis]

@Giovanni Your pond is 1800 gallons and you have 25 koi, 40 GF, and mollies! And, your pond is 75% covered with floating plants! And after a 2-day power outage, you only lost 3 koi!

I have to know the brand of and where you found a solar fountain that was able to function, not only at night, but during the aftermath of a hurricane! That’s amazing!

 

[j.w]

@mjlw50

 

[Mmathis]

@mjlw50 Just thought I would follow up. Did your power come back up? How are your fish?