Relining a large garden pond and the problem of fish storage

[jen81]

Hi,
I inherited a large garden pond 28ft x 26ft and have to reline it urgently as I am constantly topping it with tap water which up to now, the fish have tolerated very well. The full pond capacity is 81,000 litres and I am currently keeping around 50 fish of various varieties (I am a complete novice), mainly goldfish, a few Koi and some black ones. Mostly they are about 4 -5 inches long, some bigger, some smaller and also one very large Koi about 1ft. They are surviving in roughly 33,000 litres at the moment. I have purchase a holding tank and intend to drain the existing water into that tank and transfer the fish temporarily.
My main problem is that I understand on relining, the pond has to be completely filled with water which will take time to become suitable. The pool I am using to retain the fish is considerably smaller than 33,000 litres and we were hoping to only be retaining them for 48 hours or so before transferring them back to the freshly relined pond. As you can see this raises several issues and I am wondering if anybody could offer me any shortcuts I could utilise, any bright ideas, information, help or tips. I will just reiterate they have been living quite healthily in a 'tapwater mix' for some months, are feeding very well and are mating vigorously at the moment. I cannot delay this change as the pond is leaking so badly.

 

[bagsmom]

There are products that can make the new pond water safe by getting rid of the chlorine and chloramines in city water. I think if you use the proper amount of that in the new pond water, you could then add some of the treated pond water (slowly and gradually) to the holding tank to allow the fish to acclimate. Then, when you put the fish back in the pond, you can continue that water mixing by pumping the old water from the holding tank back into the new pond. I think the key is proper water treatment as well as a slow and gradual acclimation. I think it is often the stress and shock of a drastic change that is so harmful. I am sure more experienced fish keepers will have additional information!

 

[Mgessert]

That’s a lot of tap water and at my house would take days to fill, not to mention the cost. Could you have a water delivery by truck when you’re ready to refill, at least for part of it?

 

[j.w]

@jen81

 

[poconojoe]

Be careful about sudden water temperature differences too.

Definitely get a dechlorinator before you do the exchange.

I use a cheap water counting device that screws onto my garden hose. It was $20 on Amazon.
It's good to know how much water you are adding so you know how much dechlorinator to add and for future reference.

Now, are you sure your liner is the culprit?
Do you have any external plumbing that could possibly be leaking?
Do you have a waterfall?
Many times either of these can be the culprit.
To check, shut everything down for a while to see if either of them are the cause.

 

[poconojoe]

If you do replace the liner, I would pump some of the old water back into the pond, move the fish back, then pump the rest.
Then gradually add new water so it's not too much of a shock for the fish.

 

[TheFishGuy]

I would definitely check any waterfalls or other external plumbing. If you have to replace it, try to retain some of the gravel and rocks from the old pond in the holding container, those will hold on to some of the benifical bacteria. Still very risky to put a large amount of fish in withought cycling though.