Hi. I posted about a week ago about the loss of three of my five Koi due to a drought that drained my pond. I managed to save two and am keeping them in a 50 gallon tank until the rains return. My questions is about water changes as I have never had to deal with them before. I did a partial water change about three days ago and the water is already getting cloudy and starting to have an odor. How often should I do partial water changes? I intitially added about a bucket and a half of native pond water. One Koi is fairly large. About a foot and a half and at least 3lbs. The other is about half that. Thanks.
Water Changing Advice Needed
- Thread starter spackle
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ididntdoit99
ididntdoit99
Whoa... that big of Koi in a 50 gallon tank? You might want to try to find something bigger ASAP, kiddie pool or something just to get you by. I remember your pond being a natural spring fed pond, so i assume you have no pumps laying around to hook up for filtration right now? I would probably be doing 50% water changes daily in your current conditions.
Sorry to hear about your pond. I have a 1/4 acre pond that is down to about 30% the size (maybe less) than it should be... My dad said something about Army engineers draining some nearby areas and it has taken my pond down to nearly nothing. All the fish died years ago when this all started (before I moved in my grandparents lived here)... it looks like i have a huge crater and a lot of the wildlife left except for bullfrogs and some turtles. This summer we have not had much rain and I swear the 1/4 acre pond will be dry soon leaving us with nothing but a hole in the ground. I have no idea what can even be done. My grand pop dug out the pond about 35 years ago or so.
sissy
sissy
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kiddy pools here are on clearance for 5 dollars for the big one .
Yeah. I know. He is a big boy. I do have a pump and have been running it 24/7 just to generate bubbles/dissolved oxygen for them. No filter. I used to run it in the pond in summertime because they loved playing in the water stream. Kiddie pool is not an option for various reasons. I/they are going to have to make due with what I have right now. I have been doing 50% water changes every 2-3 days. I hate even doing that because by the time they have finally calmed down enough to try eating something (they have barely eaten since I rescued them) I go about causing more chaos for them.
leet13,
I hear you leet13. It is heartbreaking to see the pond dry up and know there is not much you can do about it except for pray for rain. It is suppossed to rain fri&sat, but I am sure it wont be enough. We need a good solid week of rain.
ididntdoit99
ididntdoit99
I'd start every day, and wouldnt worry about feeding but maybe once or twice a week, feeding them just makes that little bit of water worse.
Only feed once week? Really? Thats great if true. I only plan on keeping them in the tank until mid September at the latest. The water temp also averages between 58 - 63 degrees anyway. So I guess they really dont need that much food after all. I was just really concerned that they would starve to death before I put them back in the pond. They were ravenous before I took them out. But then again the water temp was in the 70s. Thanks for the advice.