Trouble in Paradise.....

[AmandaD87]

Does anyone know how long Fish can stay in a 5 gallon bucket for? We installed a pre-formed pond two weeks ago. The PH was fine last friday then we added plants and fish. The water won't seem to clear up and in the process of adding the plants the pond became filled with Dirt and rocks and the ph is hovering around an 7.5-8.0. Should I attempt to pump the pond out and put new water in it?

The fish have been fine until today, it appears one of the butterfly koi is laying on it's side on the bottom. One of his "wings" looks chewed up and his coloring isn't as pretty as it was. I hope there isn't anything else going on in the pond. We built the pond as a memorial to my young brother who passed away and by fish dying, it's not going to help the healing process

Any information anyone might have would be greatly appreciated.

 

[vertigo72]

Not long without airpump! If the only thing wrong with the water in the pond is dirt or algae, then put them in that dirt again asap. PH is fine. Now there are lots of other potential killers though, like ammonia, so I cant say if your pond is fish save, but an unfiltered, unaerated 5 gallon bucket is a sure way to kill them fast.

 

[AmandaD87]

Vertigo, I have a test kit with the pond, is there a way to test the ammonia? If that is the problem, how do I correct it?
All the other fish seem great, they swim all over and eat but this one doesn't seem right.

 

[vertigo72]

Dont feed them in that bucket. The ammonia will kill them even faster if you dont have anything to filter the bucket water. If you dont have an airpump, and no activated carbon or another way to filter the water, then save your fish from certain death by putting them back in the pond. We will figure out how to get the water clean later, fish dont mind dirt or algae (within reason).

As for testing ammonia, you need a test kit that tests ammonia (NH3). If yours doesnt have that, buy one that does. Its the single most important parameter to test, especially in a new pond. Now I dont know how many fish you have in that bucket, nor how big they are, but frankly, unless its one or two tiny goldfish, I wouldnt even get in my car to get a test kit, id put them back in the pond first. At the very least do partial water changes, using pond water, and not tap water.

Keep the ailing fish separate. Refresh his water (again, using pond water), and add salt and if you can, air. Perhaps its not too late to save him..

 

[AmandaD87]

They are all in the pond, I was just wondering if Ipumped it out could I use the 5 gallon bucket as a holding tank but I will not even attempt to take them out. My parents had a 3,500 gallon pond and never had issues, I thought a 300 gallon one would be easier, no such luck yet!

 

[fishin4cars]

first off, the fish won't live long in a five gallon bucket. it needs air and room for movement. second your pond is two weeks old, It's just starting to cycle, In other words the bacteria are just starting to form and start eating the ammonia that the fish produce. Adding koi in that early wasn't probably a good idea, It's best to wait and add fish like that a few months not days after starting the pond up. No do not drain it, you will be starting over again and going through the same thing, best thing you can do for now is change out about 25% of the water in the pond and slowly add dechlorinated water back. when I say slowly i mean it should take a couple of hours or more to refill what you take out. I would take a water sample and get it checked. your PH is fine, don't worry about it. 7.0-8.0 as long as it is stable is fine for both goldfish and koi, My bet is you have a high ammonia reading as you have no bacteria formed yet to break it down, that normally takes about a month after starting a pond and adding fish. this is a natural process that every pond owner has to start out with.
I would also recommend read,read,read. this site has tons of useful information about what is going on in your pond if you take the time to learn what your pond is doing and what you need to do to fix it. Don't jump in and do something without first reading and exploring options, Sometimes it is a very simple solution and sometimes very complex. starting over would just put you back to square one and wouldn't have fixed anything. best thing you can do for the fish now is get it into clean, water that has been running a while and NOT TAP water, get plenty of oxygen to it and get your water checked or get a test kit to check it all. You need to check, temp. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, General hardness (GH) carbonate hardness (KH) and ph. these are must know water parameters that anyone helping you needs to know first off. BTW welcome aboard.

 

[vertigo72]

Hang on, perhaps I misunderstood. You dont have the fish in a bucket now, but that koi is dying in the pond, is that it?

edit: too late lol. hang on.

 

[AmandaD87]

Fishin4cars, THANK YOU So much. as I mentioned before my parents had a huge pond. I took a water sample to the local Fish Pond Store (Piece of Paradise) before adding any fish. He tested everything,sent me home with a few things and brought another sample back a week later, he gave me the ok to add the fish. THere are 4 koi and 1 goldfish. Every single one is behaving as expected (hiding and only coming out at night) but this one that keeps coming close to the surface, slowly, then back down to the bottom to lay sideways. I just don't want it to suffer in any way. I take all of this very seriously and read and read for weeks on these forums before starting. I appreciate all the knowledge there is on here.

 

[vertigo72]

Okay, so I did misunderstand. Fishin' pretty much said it all. Your first concern should be to keep those fish alive, testing and partially changing the water as already mentioned. Adding salt is also often recommended (about 0.1-0.3%) to give sick and stressed fish a boost, but be aware many plants dont like it,.

Then we can have a look at your filter and see if anything needs changing or if its just a matter of cycling, but perhaps you describe the pond and filter setup in more detail first.

 

[AmandaD87]

The pond is a 300 gallon pond, the pump sends the water to a filter and then from the filter to a skimmer, down a waterfall and back into the pond, I am going to try to attach a photo in a minute.

 

[vertigo72]

Fishin4cars, THANK YOU So much. as I mentioned before my parents had a huge pond. I took a water sample to the local Fish Pond Store (Piece of Paradise) before adding any fish. He tested everything,sent me home with a few things and brought another sample back a week later, he gave me the ok to add the fish. THere are 4 koi and 1 goldfish. Every single one is behaving as expected (hiding and only coming out at night) but this one that keeps coming close to the surface, slowly, then back down to the bottom to lay sideways. I just don't want it to suffer in any way. I take all of this very seriously and read and read for weeks on these forums before starting. I appreciate all the knowledge there is on here.

Ahh. now we are getting somewhere. Good you had the water tested. Unfortunately, it might have been perfect before you put the fish in, but now you may have an ammonia or nitrite spike, caused by the fish, food, and a immature filter. Do not feed them until you get an ammonia test. Dont worry, they wont starve.

Its possible nothing is wrong with your pond or filter. Ive seen the behavior you describe with a few young koi in my own pond. I bought 10 tiny koi's, and about half of them do like yours. Laying on their side or just floating as if dead. That was a couple of weeks ago. Most of them seem to come through fine now, some are still doing it, and one died. Cause? No idea. My water tests perfectly. I guess it just happens. Stress and cold water seem to be aggravating factors.

Thats not to say you shouldnt get an ammonia test

 

[AmandaD87]

I will go straight home from work today and test the ammonia, I will get this mastered before too long! Thanks for all the advice!

 

[AmandaD87]

Ok, so update. Got home and the struggling fish was clearly on its last breath. I checked all the levels, everything was perfect. We gave him a proper burial and no sooner did my brother in law arrive with two goldfish that had outgrown his large aquarium. We let them sit in the transportation bag in the pond for 30 min before letting them go. The remaining 4 fish in my pond are now acting so different. Swimming everywhere, coming to the surface to eat and "chasing" each other. Hopefully its chasing and not them picking on the newbies.

Thanks for all the advice, we shall see what becomes of the rest of my finned friends!

 

[addy1]

When introducing fish it also helps to add some of the pond water slowly to the bag of fish so they get used to the pond water, before putting them in the pond.

Good luck with your fish!