URGENT bought a house with a pond and koi fish

[gary77]

ive recently bought a house , it has a pond with one adult koi and one baby , as far as i can tell there is not another adult .

anyway , i spoke to the guy that owned the house previosly over the phone and he made an attempt to explain that there is a pump in the shed it connects to a uv filter that is in a box outside the pond,

i stupidly assumed it only needed to be used as and when i felt the pond needed a clean out, i viewed the house twice the pump was never working ,it has a built in fountain, i would have noticed that, also it was stored away in the shed when i moved in .

i need to get it running right away from what ive been reading so far , any help and advice is greatly appreciated , what and when do i feed them, the previous owner only said they dont need fed through winter but will be needing fed soon, how will i know

 

[MitchM]

Welcome gary77!
I think the best thing to do is post a picture of your pond and equipment here, buy a pond water test kit and post the results so we can help determine the health of your pond.
Don't worry about feeding the fish right now.

.

 

[sissy]

congrats on your home and yes pics will help a lot .pumps need to run 24/7 so getting it running is important and also making sure none of the hoses leak and finding out what kind of filter

 

[barryian]

ive recently bought a house , it has a pond with one adult koi and one baby , as far as i can tell there is not another adult .

anyway , i spoke to the guy that owned the house previosly over the phone and he made an attempt to explain that there is a pump in the shed it connects to a uv filter that is in a box outside the pond,

i stupidly assumed it only needed to be used as and when i felt the pond needed a clean out, i viewed the house twice the pump was never working ,it has a built in fountain, i would have noticed that, also it was stored away in the shed when i moved in .

i need to get it running right away from what ive been reading so far , any help and advice is greatly appreciated , what and when do i feed them, the previous owner only said they dont need fed through winter but will be needing fed soon, how will i know

I agree. Start with a picture or a couple of the pond and filter, pump and UV. Also, if you decide to get into this seriously, you might to pick up a book from Amazon. The book below is a great book. Lots of info ... The link below leaves a lot to be desired but will give you some help for now while people start to respond. Again these tips are basic and I don't agree with everything but it's a start. You'll want a test kit such as the one below. Also want to add a water hardness test to the kit called kH.
Hope I didn't scare you off. If you take measurements and depth, we can figure out the approximate gallons..

http://www.pondbuilder.com/pond-blog/bid/44427/6-Tips-For-Opening-Your-Pond-In-Spring

http://www.amazon.com/Koi-Health-am..._SL500_SR104,135_&refRID=1WB7SP8S0FFMH5VNVTMQ

http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwate...&qid=1459987104&sr=1-3&keywords=pond+test+kit

 

[gary77]

Thanks for the replies , I set the pump up this morning it seems to be working , although the fountain puts some water outside the pond , I could possibly put the pump/ fountain in a deeper part of the pond so the fountain doesn't shoot out the water , is that okay to do ? The pump should maybe be in the deepest part anyway ?

I'll take pictures this evening when I get home from work .

 

[CeeJayH]

Hi Gary,

Welcome to the group. Most fountains have some form of regulator adjustment so you can reduce the pressure - it makes the fountain lower with less risk of going outside the pond. The pump should be deep, but not right on the bottom. (If it's on the bottom and there is a leak in a hose to the filter, it will empty the pond. If it's 12 inches off the bottom, it will empty down to that level, saving your fish.)

Photos and dimensions would help a lot.
Chris

 

[gary77]

Good point about emptying the pond , I'll get all the info put up tonight

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

You are getting good suggestions, I won't type them out again lol.

 

[gary77]

Things just got worse , I mentioned the fountain going out the pond , I didn't realise how much that would empty the pond , worse yet the filter seems to have made the pond much more cloudy .

I care about animals well being and I'm seriously worried now ,

What should I do ?

Pictures to follow

 

[Nepen]

Is your pond empty now?
If it is, how's the fish?
To fill the pond back in your will need to have de-chlorinator if you have a city water (you dont need that if you have a well). Try to put the water back in slowly while also put the de-chlorinator in.

 

[gary77]

 

[gary77]

It's as it is in the picture , I have one of those barrels rain water goes into , could I use that water

 

[Nepen]

you can test the water in the barrel for the pH number and make sure it's not acidic before put it in there. I dont see any other reason not to (i have rain water directly drain from the roof to my pond).

You can put the pump back in and reduce the output level so it doesnt drain the pond again

Where does the water from the green box come out at?

 

[gary77]

There is a hose between the water feature and the green mesh . I'm going to have a look in the green box , see if it needs cleaned then I'll put it back in , I can't get a ph test untill Saturday

 

[Nepen]

There is a hose between the water feature and the green mesh . I'm going to have a look in the green box , see if it needs cleaned then I'll put it back in , I can't get a ph test untill Saturday

oh you mean that tire pots thing? the water from green box goes there? Will it go back to the pond? I couldnt see how it'll return the water to the pond, but may be it's hidden somewhere.

you can instead of using the fountain, divert the water to the filter in the green box instead?