What happened??

[CLHQayyum]

Here's some background info: We have never had a pond or koi fish before, but I did used to live with someone who had a well established one. So I'm familiar with koi habits, but never been a caregiver. Our new pond is only 91 gallons and we had 3 itty bitty butterfly koi in it. They are only about 3" - 4" long. We've only had them about a week or so. They are extremely shy but seemed to be doing ok until yesterday.

So, here's what happened. When we came home from work last night, our little pond was all awry! The pump/fountain was laying on its side (still trying to figure how it's possible for that to have happened without someone actually moving it) and the water was spraying OUT of the pond. Since it just recycles the water from within the pond, that means the water level was really low by the time we got home. Also it was very green with algae, probably from the pump not working properly all day. We scooped the fish out and put them in a container filled with pond water, filled the pond back up with fresh water (just from the garden hose) and put some algae & murkiness treatment in it. We also put some gravel in the bottom which we hadn't previously done. We thoroughly read the treatment instructions and they both indicated that they could be used together and that they were not harmful to fish, so then we put the fish back in the pond.

Within a couple hours, one of the little fish was showing signs of distress and by the time we went to bed he was dead. By this morning, the other two were also dead.

I don't know which of the days events killed the fish, or if it was combo of all of it, but I'd like to avoid repeating the mistake when we get new fish this weekend. Any advice is welcome!

 

[MassKoi]

Sorry to hear about your mishap. Did you use a dechlorinator for the tap water? It removes chlorine from the water which is harmful to the fish.

 

[CLHQayyum]

No I did not, but I didn't the first time either. But the first time the water had already been in place for a couple of weeks and perhaps the chlorine had a chance to work itself out by the time I introduced the fish.

I will be sure to get a dechlorinator before introducing the new fish.

 

[koiguy1969]

sorry to hear that also.. may i suggest you build a bio filter for the good of the pond and its inhabitants. a 5 gallon bucket will be suitable for a pond your size and you can partially bury it and make a waterfall. thiose little under water filters just cant dso the job a good diy filter can.. look in the equipment forum or the diy forum here and you'll find instructions on its assembly...55 gallon bio filter , and 70 gallon skippy (same basic filters) you just down size to a 5 gallon bucket,or tote container... your fish will love for it.

 

[CLHQayyum]

I thought the one I have is a biofilter? It has bioballs in it.

I'll look over at the DIY forum. I'm intrigued by the idea.

 

[koiguy1969]

it may be a biofilter.. but most of the underwater filters like that leave something to be desired. thro a bit of beneficial bacteria in there to jump start the filtration

 

[mrsclem]

Youv'e gottenod advice on water treatment and filtering. As to what caused the problem- are there any dogs in your area? We had 2 black labs swimming in our pond before we fenced it in. They riped the liner and knocked everything over.

 

[CLHQayyum]

It remains a mystery. There are plenty of dogs in my neighborhood, but no one lets their dogs off leash.

One thing I thought of was perhaps a large hawk (we have many in this area), interested in my little fish, tried to land on the fountain head and knocked it over. But even that theory makes little sense because of the fountain spray coming out of it. Its seems highly unlikely that a bird (even a large one) would attempt that. Also they never come so close to where us humans live. We just see them soaring above the wooded areas bordering our neighborhood.

My best guess was that it was the neighborhood kids, and there is a little group of young ones who have been very interested in the pond lately. But I asked the tattle-tale of the group and she hadn't seen anybody around there. And trust me, if someone was around there, she would have known about it. I also believed her response to be genuine based on her face and body language.

So it remains a mystery! Maybe i should offer that little girl a reward for solving the mystery. It will give her something fun to do this summer!

 

[koiguy1969]

little Nancy Drew mystery, huh?

 

[DrCase]

I get cats on top of my drum filters at night,,I had to tie my inlet pipes in to keep them from knocking them out...

 

[stroppy]

yes i was thinking maybe cats ....some love fountains !

 

[DrDave]

Welcome, please put your location in your UserCP for future reference.