White film on sides & bottom of above ground pond.

[joannkmueller]

I have a 165 gallon above ground pond. I have white/light green/ brown spots film on the sides & bottom of pond. Yesterday evening it was just brown with a little green. I don’t know what to do. Ammonia is past 8.00ppms, nitrite is 2.0ppm, ph is between 7.0 & 7.5 phosphate is 0ppm. We had 1 koi in a 120 gallon above ground pond, bought 3 baby kois, added them & moved the 4 to the 165 gallon above ground pond. This was 5 weeks ago. I have been doing 25-35% water changes because of the high ammonia & nitrites. I have been adding Ammo Lock, Aqua Essentials, Pond-Zyme Sludge Distroyer & Pond Salt all according to directions. I added a Pond Aerator 1 to my pond a week ago. The filtration system is also a water fountain. When I clean the filter medium I rinse it all in buckets of pond water from the pond. I have not added API Quick Start but am going to as it should be arriving today. The API pond salt was added a week ago but I did not make up for the salt that was taken out during water change yesterday.

 

[j.w]

@joannkmueller

 

[joannkmueller]

Thank you!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Please rehome the koi — quickly! You might be able to get the levels down with a lot of work, but that will only be temporary. The amount of water you have them in is too small to accommodate the needs of koi. They produce a lot of waste, and your filtration system is probably not able to keep up with the nitrogen cycle.

Stop adding chemicals, except in this case (de chlorinator) something like Prime. Continue water changes. Increase the aeration if possible . You are correct to rinse the filter media only in pond water.

Sorry to come across as blunt. Basically, koi need in excess of 1000 gallons. Yours are apparently small, so you’re not there yet, but you are going to have to stay absolutely on top of the water conditions for now!

What are you using to check water parameters?

 

[joannkmueller]

Thank you for response! I am using API Pond Master Test Kit.

 

[j.w]

Can you dig a bigger pond for them?

 

[joannkmueller]

Unfortunately no.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have to second the return of the koi Pet stores should be banned from selling them. In two years time they will have overgrown the space but by the looks of it they have already over whelmed the filter system

 

[rubyduby]

I have a 165 gallon above ground pond. I have white/light green/ brown spots film on the sides & bottom of pond. Yesterday evening it was just brown with a little green. I don’t know what to do. Ammonia is past 8.00ppms, nitrite is 2.0ppm, ph is between 7.0 & 7.5 phosphate is 0ppm. We had 1 koi in a 120 gallon above ground pond, bought 3 baby kois, added them & moved the 4 to the 165 gallon above ground pond. This was 5 weeks ago. I have been doing 25-35% water changes because of the high ammonia & nitrites. I have been adding Ammo Lock, Aqua Essentials, Pond-Zyme Sludge Distroyer & Pond Salt all according to directions. I added a Pond Aerator 1 to my pond a week ago. The filtration system is also a water fountain. When I clean the filter medium I rinse it all in buckets of pond water from the pond. I have not added API Quick Start but am going to as it should be arriving today. The API pond salt was added a week ago but I did not make up for the salt that was taken out during water change yesterday.View attachment 153058

Welcome to the forum Joannmueller! You have come to the right place for answers to your questions...First, and foremost, you need to rehome your koi...Your pond is best suited for goldfish...The proper recommendation for koi is 1000 gallons for the first one and 500 gallons for each one after that...The API pond master test kit was an excellent choice...The smaller your pond the more issues you will probably have with it unless you heed the advice of others on here...There are some awesome tiny ponds people on here have built and been very successful but most only have guppies or goldfish in them which do not put out the huge amount of waste that koi do...Also, you have to be very careful not to feed too much in a small pond because the waste accumulates much faster....My pond is only 900 gallons so I have limited my occupants to shubunkins (goldfish that look similar to koi) and I have no water issues at all....Good Luck!

 

[joannkmueller]

Welcome to the forum Joannmueller! You have come to the right place for answers to your questions...First, and foremost, you need to rehome your koi...Your pond is best suited for goldfish...The proper recommendation for koi is 1000 gallons for the first one and 500 gallons for each one after that...The API pond master test kit was an excellent choice...The smaller your pond the more issues you will probably have with it unless you heed the advice of others on here...There are some awesome tiny ponds people on here have built and been very successful but most only have guppies or goldfish in them which do not put out the huge amount of waste that koi do...Also, you have to be very careful not to feed too much in a small pond because the waste accumulates much faster....My pond is only 900 gallons so I have limited my occupants to shubunkins (goldfish that look similar to koi) and I have no water issues at all....Good Luck!

Thank you for your response!

 

[poconojoe]

You don't need salt in your pond. That's probably the white residue.

You don't need to add anything but dechlorinator (if your home has treated water).

Yes, your pond is way too small for koi.

I don't ever do water changes, but in your case, I would keep doing that to control all that ammonia. Too much fish waste for such a small pond.