wind rain and chaos

[lenny jewell]

Ok in st louis temp is about 60 degrees lots of rain last night lots of wind today and the fish are going nuts are they spawning? they all look as if they are chasing and attacking each other , not interested in the food i threw in the ponds just into each other , i am guessing the rains have indicated spring has arrived and they are trying to spawn am i correct in this assumption ?

 

[sissy]

make sure they can't jump out that happened to me last year .I had one jump out and die .i did not have the net on early enough and glad you did not get any of the really bad storms out there

 

[lenny jewell]

so is this spawning behaviour sissy?
should i be concerned about water conditions , some are flashing , this is my first early spring with fish so this is all new to me , also i have a Koi i rescued but is too big for the pond i have . Any suggestions?

 

[sissy]

The only thing is netting to make sure they don't jump out .Your water test may go nuts for awhile but not long .Only problem I have is jumping fish .Sounds like spawning and they got worked up by the weather .Did you test your pond ,do they have enough oxygen

 

[lenny jewell]

i have a waterfall in all three ponds , and even an air stone in the one with the big Koi in it as an extra precaution , i am sure they have oxygen , as long as water is falling into the pond oxygen is supplied correct? even if its just a trickle ? (sometimes i come home from work and pump filter is a little clogged)

 

[lenny jewell]

looking for a test kit to buy .. ph is normal , but the tetra kit i bought is way too confusing , i need to buy a less confusing and easier to comprehend by a non chemist layman < Again any suggestions , are there strips i can buy and perhaps a chart ? i like API products at least the ph test kit is easy for me to understand and i am hoping the ammonia and nitrite is too , should i be testing for anything else i keep reading something about "carbonate" what is that and should i test for it also ? Also is it normal for water conditions to change ? two of the three ponds i have had almost a year and after the initial cycling i have had good luck with all the fish in them ( no deaths ... thank you God)... The third ( big koi in it ) is a new pond all cycling done and again No deaths , i have added gravel (rinsed and even added a little ammo- carb to it all rinsed in water conditioned water ) and it seems it happens each time i add gravel , i use the gravel to seat the lillies as the fish love to attack the roots

 

[sissy]

koi love to root .I bought the pond care liguid test kit at pet mountain .com but also have my water tested at a local small pet store .They give me a read out paper that has all the tests on it and is a lot easier to understand and right now he charges me 2.50 for it.There are electronic type testers but they are not cheap and you need so many of them .Each test has a meter .I use only oyster shells to buffer and zeolite and activated charcoal and peroxide to soak my filters pads in and use quilt padding to clean the fine stuff out .Zeolite that I use is from tractor supply and is called there pdz horse stall refresher and get oyster shells there too .

 

[kcrepps]

I'm new to the pond world as well. Waterfalls actually supply oxygen to the water?

 

[lenny jewell]

yes Kcrepps anytime water is falling into another body of water it picks up oxygen and dumps it into the body of water it falls into , hence all the bubbles you see when the two bodies of water meet

 

[addy1]

Mine spawned today, lenny, racing around the pond, slamming into plants, each other, jumping. They also were jumping out of the water and landing on top of the few plants that are growing in the pond.

 

[lenny jewell]

ohhhhh Addy i think i am gonna be a fish daddy soon , mine are causing a riot in two of my ponds , and now the crystal clear water is all murky they are making me crazy hahahaha found most of them jammed into my lilly plant basket had to rescue them as well as my lilly , i am guessing if they are acting this way the water conditions must be fine ... The big koi is flashin' jumpin' and causing all kinds of mischief and not one of them is eating , i guess fish sex is much the same same as human as its the only thing i can think of that would make a hungry man / fish pass up a meal

 

[addy1]

Congrats! I doubt any of mine will survive, hungry fish and very little egg shelter. The plants have not really grown a lot yet in the large pond. The small ponds are covered with plants.

 

[bkrgrm]

Our Weather has been nuts too! 3 weeks ago was 80 and my fish went crazy. then it cooled off and snowed! yesterday was 80 again today is cool and rainy but expecting snow again on MOn or Tues! Problem is I have a momma who needs to get rid of her eggs! not enough plant life yet for coverage. worried about them but guess I just have to wait and see! have had pond for about 10 years but it just kind of took care of it self, every fall and spring I would find fry never saw eggs. had to clean out a lot of dead plants last fall so I guess I changed the enviroment and confussed momnma!

 

[addy1]

Mine dropped their eggs, doubt any made it, had a hungry herd following and eating caviar. Very little plant coverage this early to hide the eggs in. But I am sure they will do it again, multiple times over the summer.

 

[lenny jewell]

mine keep trying but the weather wont cooperate , but after a warm day/night i see the fish rooting and attacking plants so i guess they are laying eggs but they're all being eaten , thank god because the pond is at max capacity if not a little overstocked already