JohnHuff
I know nothing.
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Take the new fish out.
Help my koi are dying
- Thread starter heartrnb
- Start date
that's the fish I found this am I have them all together treating them all with proform-c
There has to be something we're missing here, there is no way you can have that many fish and have good water quality. Am I'm I right in stating, you expanded your pond in July? How did you do this? And did you save the water from the pond if you drained it to expand it? Did you add the fish back to the pond as soon as the pond was finished or did you let it cycle? Ammonia should be 0, nitrates should be 0. Your ph is good. 50% is a bit excessive of a water change.
*Please don't get discouraged or upset at our questions, this is the only way we can learn whats going on and how to help you. We are most certainly glad to have you on our forum and welcome you. When there is a serious problem, we like to hit it head on, and it is NOT meant to put you on the defensive or bash you as a bad fishy mommy
We just want to help you save as many fish as we can. AND WE WILL, we just need lots of info
Now back to your nitrates, the good bacteria has to have time to build (cycle) in a closed system like ours, if you over load it too fast, the bacteria will not keep up with the production of ammonia. Idk if you know how this works, but basically, fish (especially koi) = waste/ ammonia, ammonia is harmful to fish; The good bacteria = there are two types in a pond ecosystem ( three if you count the bad stuff lol), one that turns the ammonia into nitrates- the other turns the nitrates into nitrites with is what will feed your plants. The bacteria that converts the ammonia will grow faster than the other slower developing bacteria. Which is what I surmise is happening here, and it may very well be something else that has compromised the fish also, because they are stressed. When fish are stressed is makes them susceptible to diseases and parasites. If you have nitrates this tells me you don't have enough of the nitrite converting bacteria in your system to keep up with the fish load.
*Please don't get discouraged or upset at our questions, this is the only way we can learn whats going on and how to help you. We are most certainly glad to have you on our forum and welcome you. When there is a serious problem, we like to hit it head on, and it is NOT meant to put you on the defensive or bash you as a bad fishy mommy
We just want to help you save as many fish as we can. AND WE WILL, we just need lots of info Now back to your nitrates, the good bacteria has to have time to build (cycle) in a closed system like ours, if you over load it too fast, the bacteria will not keep up with the production of ammonia. Idk if you know how this works, but basically, fish (especially koi) = waste/ ammonia, ammonia is harmful to fish; The good bacteria = there are two types in a pond ecosystem ( three if you count the bad stuff lol), one that turns the ammonia into nitrates- the other turns the nitrates into nitrites with is what will feed your plants. The bacteria that converts the ammonia will grow faster than the other slower developing bacteria. Which is what I surmise is happening here, and it may very well be something else that has compromised the fish also, because they are stressed. When fish are stressed is makes them susceptible to diseases and parasites. If you have nitrates this tells me you don't have enough of the nitrite converting bacteria in your system to keep up with the fish load.
Sorry just did not want you guys to think I was being defensive, I am worried that I am going to lose all my fish. Maybe I have this backwards my nitrites are at almost 40 and ammonia and nitrates are 0. After I filled the new pond I let it run for a few days but it did have my old filter system hooked up to it. The waterfall was already there and I put the matala filter media in water to keep the good bacteria while we was building the new pond. And the matala biosteps filter was hooked to the tank holding the fish. I also used a starter kit for bacteria from a pond guy to ensure that I had the bacteria going. I do not change 50% of the water every week only when the ammonia level starts to increase, which has only been one time since I started the new pond. Most of the time it many be less than 25% depends on how they look and the pond looks.
Now that my pond has been empty for 3 days should I power wash it or just fill it .
Ok you now have how many fish in what size tub?
How old are your test kits?
You want 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite. Nitrate is less toxic. I prefer it under 40 at all times.
50% water change is fine as long as it is dechlorinated and there is not a large temperature or ph swing.
How old are your test kits?
You want 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite. Nitrate is less toxic. I prefer it under 40 at all times.
50% water change is fine as long as it is dechlorinated and there is not a large temperature or ph swing.
nitrate was at almost 40 I have well water with no big huge change in temp or PH. My test kit is new just got it this year. about 50 fish left in a 300 gallon tank for right now I need to know if I should power wash my pond before I fill it back up it has been empty for 3 days. The water they are in now has been treated for 3 days with proform-c with 25% water changes everyday except the first day all water was new. My levels are all 0 right now with a ph of 7.6
Power washing it won't do anything. I would give anything that has not dried out completely a good cleaning.
I am going to give the whole pond a good cleaning just to get all the dried stuff off the sides and bottom
slakker
AKA Mike
There's a lot of moving pieces and info so apologies if I'm not following the bouncing balls well enough. If it is nitrites at 40 and not nitrates, then that could be a problem as nitrites are more toxic to fish. Having a high fish load will do that especially as the fish get bigger and product more waste.
The bio-filtration may not be able to keep up so when the fishes are small, it may be fine but as they grow, they will crowd out the system.
The system is always in flux, but a more stable system that has been fully nitrogen cycled is what you should get to. And if you do a significant cleaning, you will kick off a new nitrogen cycle.
Make sure you haven't confused nitrite for nitrate as they are 2 different chemicals and one is much more toxic than the other...
its nitrates that is almost 40 I did not have it backwards the post I read did. everything is dried out and has been for three days don't that mean its all dead now anyway
slakker
AKA Mike
Sorry for the lose of the fishes...
Thank you slakker
I have a few spots on the sides of the pond that are purple the rest is brown is the purple good or bad