Stupid mistake, Totally Devastated, Huge loss

[minnowman]

Sorry for your loss, Larkin. It happens. I once lost 30,000 minnows in one night due to low oxygen conditions when I had the minnow farm. You will get over it.

 

[Fishylove]

Aww larkin no words, just unbelievable. ...

 

[Fishylove]

For the sunburned fish (and idk if its a poisonous plant to animal/fish) but what about the aloe plant? Not out of a bottle, but from the actual plant
( as to stay away from chemicals that might be in an over the counter type)

 

[Priscilla]

My heart is breaking for you. I am so very sorry.

 

[fishin4cars]

I would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, wishes, condolences and offers. Even the phone calls and private messages. Words can not express how much it has helped just seeing the support from everyone. For now I am by no means out of Koi keeping. I still have close to 50 Koi that still need cared for. Most are either young or are butterfly but they need to be continued to be cared for so I'm not done by a long shot. I am considering though selling the farm and taking a break for a while if I can find a buyer willing to purchase the property. If that does happen I am highly considering venturing out into a new direction but not out of the picture. I have fish keeping in my blood, I've been keeping them since I was 6 years old and I'm now pushing almost 45 years of fish keeping so giving up now, not likely. For now I'm planning on making repairs to try and prevent this from happening again. Going to make some modifications and improvements then slowly move some of the fish from the Butterfly pond over to allow them to grow and make sure all is well before purchasing anything new. Several people have made offers to help me rebuild, some I am very interested in talking to further once I feel more comfortable that I have solved this problem from happening again. If you are one of the ones that has made the offer and I haven't responded please don't think I don't appreciate the offer or not considering at least talking about it further. Right now though I just don't know what I will be doing and this has really affected me more than it should. Again, Thank you to everyone, It's the friends and support that have truly helped during this very difficult time.

 

[Becky]

Oh my goodness I'm so sorry to hear about that, what an awful tragedy No wonder you're in shock, if there's anything we can do then let me know.

 

[koshki]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. We do get attached to our pets, even if they live under water.

Grieve now. In time, you may think differently about the your next steps.

 

[sissy]

Larkin i think in a way my dream home has become my nightmare also as it can be a lot of work for 1 person ,but i also know how hard it can be to give up on that dream .Not sure how long I can hang on either .I have been fighting with myself day in and day out ,stay or go ,it becomes a battle 1 day you think you can do it and then something goes wrong and you just throw your hands up and say I can't do this anymore .I wish I could answer your question about selling but since i can't decide ,what good am I

 

[crsublette]

I would like to thank everyone for the thoughts, wishes, condolences and offers. Even the phone calls and private messages. Words can not express how much it has helped just seeing the support from everyone. For now I am by no means out of Koi keeping. I still have close to 50 Koi that still need cared for. Most are either young or are butterfly but they need to be continued to be cared for so I'm not done by a long shot. I am considering though selling the farm and taking a break for a while if I can find a buyer willing to purchase the property. If that does happen I am highly considering venturing out into a new direction but not out of the picture. I have fish keeping in my blood, I've been keeping them since I was 6 years old and I'm now pushing almost 45 years of fish keeping so giving up now, not likely. For now I'm planning on making repairs to try and prevent this from happening again. Going to make some modifications and improvements then slowly move some of the fish from the Butterfly pond over to allow them to grow and make sure all is well before purchasing anything new. Several people have made offers to help me rebuild, some I am very interested in talking to further once I feel more comfortable that I have solved this problem from happening again. If you are one of the ones that has made the offer and I haven't responded please don't think I don't appreciate the offer or not considering at least talking about it further. Right now though I just don't know what I will be doing and this has really affected me more than it should. Again, Thank you to everyone, It's the friends and support that have truly helped during this very difficult time.

Good to hear fella. Boy howdy son, stay on that horse and keep your head.

When you have it figured, share on how you decided to fix the problem since, as tough as moments like these are, it is moments like these that are the most educational to truly help folk.

 

[koiguy1969]

only 1 way to fix the problem...remember to close the valves when done...just like some of the rest of us need to do sometimes.

 

[crsublette]

only 1 way to fix the problem...remember to close the valves when done...just like some of the rest of us need to do sometimes.

Humans failing to pay proper attention, often due to distractions, or to conduct proper maintenance is inevitable, since we're not machines, and I think the system should take into account for this the best that folk can since everyone have different budgets and situations.

Accidents are inevitable, but this does not mean we shouldn't learn something from it to maybe prevent particular accidents.

Definitely hurts when they occur, but, after a few cervezas, keep your head up and try to make some lemonade out of those lemons.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

only 1 way to fix the problem...remember to close the valves when done...just like some of the rest of us need to do sometimes.

Larkin, just wanted to add my condolences to the long list. I know that's gotta be rough. You put your heart and soul into a project, only to have a destructive failure... what can you do but move on? I really hope you decide to stick with it. Five-dollar fish are beautiful too!

Regarding koiguy's post, this is the primary reason why I don't like bottom drains. I understand the reason behind them, but it makes for a single critical point of failure. Crap happens and we can't plan for everything, but we can certainly try to reduce the possibilities.

 

[dieselplower]

I must admit it is not common for me to forget things when I get to doing pond maintenance. I do not have a bottom drain but I can tell you, when I do a water change, I will talk away and forget to turn off the hose every time when I am refilling. There is a ton of wasted water everywhere by the time I realize it. Fortunately, the pond is outside hahaha.
Just saying, everyone makes mistakes.

 

[Jason]

Sorry about your Loss

 

[Waterbug]

I agree with improving the design. It's human to make mistakes. Thinking we won't make mistakes is the only mistake we make. I've have a perfect record of having never once remembered to turn off a hose when topping off a pond. I finally installed an auto fill. These things can be solved.

Good to see you're going to tough this one out and stay with pond keeping. I see in another forum you have a lot of local support, maybe can get some new fish in addition to the ones you still have. You're still going to have a great pond.

One thing I've done in the past is to bury pet fish in the garden and then plant a special plant/tree on top. Always remember the fish when pruning/weeding. Remember the good, forget the bad.