HELP - new pond with koi now floating on sides or head up when not swimming

[j.w]

Can one get their Ph to a certain level and then keep ground oyster shells in there to keep it at that level. Thought I heard that somewhere on here?

 

[Mmathis]

This is the testing kit I use, and have been happy with. It will test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH. Then I get the add-on kit to test for KH and GH. I don’t test very often anymore, but I do try to get fresh testing supplies every 1 or 2 years. Dropper (liquid) kits are more reliable than strips, and strips are prone to deteriorate faster than liquid kits.

Agree that it sounds like you were informed by someone who wanted to sell fish, rather than someone who actually cared about the fish. Look up THE NITROGEN CYCLE and get familiar with what goes along with each “stage.” It’s all a process which can vary over time, so it’s so helpful to recognize when changes to the water chemistry are happening.

 

[GBBUDD]

Just becareful I recommend getting away from the pond to test . The wet little tubes easily slip out of the hand and they break very very easy . Clear glass is the last thing g you need in the pond

 

[tmvandervort]

Hi All

Newbie poster and newbie pond owner.

My new Koi are struggling to float and keep going sideways or head up, not all but quite a few are doing this. I have 20 Koi between 5 and 8 inches.

New pond was filled 3 weeks ago slowly from the tap through a dechlorinating filter. Then ran for 2 days with filter, then added Evolution Aqua Pure + bacteria gel to filter foams and ran for 2 days with no UV light. Then added an Aqua pond bomb and left for another 4 days. Tested using Tetra 6 in 1 test strip and all levels where within range as per the Tetra guide on the pot.

20 Koi added ranging from 5 to 8 inches and all seemed happy for a few days but now starting to float on side or head up until they swim/move. Some are lying on the bottom until they move.

I am feeding twice a day with a mix of pellets and sticks which are labelled as premium and for Koi but not sure on brand as wife bought food for me as a gift. I make sure all the food is gone before adding anymore as not sure how much they need, I add a small handful.

I have a filter that is suitable for a heavy stocked pond of 10,000 litres so oversized a little. 18w UV light and large air stone pumping lots of bubbles into the deepest part and a water blade adding air to the pond too.

It is about 5 metres by 1.8m and 0.90m at deepest point.

I have been advised by the guy I bought the Koi from to add some Tonic Salt which I have 6kg being delivered this afternoon. Is this the best course of action or is there more I can do?

Any help much appreciated

 

[tmvandervort]

Too many fish to introduce to a 3 week old pond. I myself dont use any chemicals. I did at first, but had nothing but problems. You need a small amount of fish to get the life cycle started. 5 to 8 inches is too big. If you dont have a complete kill, I’d recommend feeder goldfish to get it started. Good luck with your new pond. Hope this helps

 

[Lisak1]

Hey I'm the first post. I let some of the minute femine side show occasionally but to call me MRs is pushing it

You're a stitch. MY first post on this thread was cranky.

ALL your posts are cranky.

 

[GBBUDD]

You're a stitch. MY first post on this thread was cranky.

ALL your posts are cranky.

Cranky is my middle name but with a big heart. Yes some of the posts where liner is showing everywhere . rocks stacked along the edge. And they come in asking why they have a leak and we make note what's probably the problem but they insist that can't be it but I can find the leak. Then magic ly disappear can get feathers ruffled and makes one wonder why.
Now I know why the pros down have blogs

 

[Steve-H]

UPDATE: (almost 2 weeks on from the problem starting)

• started with an initial dose of Seachem Pond prime to bring down suspected high nitrogen levels (did not test at that time as no test kit)
• 3 separate 20% ish water changes every few days for first week, refilled slowly through a dechlorinater
• doing liquid tests (API 500 kit) every few days to check PH, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate levels are safe
• feeding a small amount and making sure it all gets eaten so minimal waste food in water
• cleaned the pressurised filter using the auto clean feature today as the water starting to look a little green, I did not want to do this too early as trying to establish the correct bacteria to deal with the nitrogen cycle. The water that came out of filter waste pipe was very dirty but ran clean after 90 seconds. I will be testing again this evening to check no adverse affects from the filter clean.

Liquid test results show the PH level goes alkaline and towards 9ish when water has been topped up but comes back down to 7 ish within 2 days. Ammonia and Nitrite levels very low, maybe a trace. There is a small amount of phosphate showing on the tests now.

I have lost 3 fish in total, 2 of which were the ones showing clear signs of distress at the start. The rest seem a lot happier, swimming and floating in the water normally. Hopefully I now understand enough to keep the water well balanced for them. I now just need to address the overstocking issue as they grow.

Thanks to all contributors.... very pleased to have this free resource to call upon. Great work

 

[WaterGardener]

Prime will not bring down the nitrogen levels. It binds ammonia and nitrite and maybe even nitrate to make them inaccessible to the fish. That effect wears off in 48 hours, so it would have to be dosed every other day for that use. And all the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate will still show up on your tests. It's still here, just bound.

Have you tested your tap water? Is that the reason the pH goes up when topping up the pond?

The pH should not be moving around. It would be a lot better for your fish if it stayed the same, not bouncing around. Those changes really stress the fish and can stress them to the point of death. If it would stay at 9, it would be much better for them than going up and dropping to 7.

You can stablalize the pH with baking soda. There is a lot of info here on how to do that. Just do it slowly so as not to add even more stress.

 

[Steve-H]

Prime will not bring down the nitrogen levels. It binds ammonia and nitrite and maybe even nitrate to make them inaccessible to the fish. That effect wears off in 48 hours, so it would have to be dosed every other day for that use. And all the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate will still show up on your tests. It's still here, just bound.

I only added the Prime once as an emergency measure as I did not have a liquid test kit at that time. Perhaps the issue was never ammonia/nitrite being too high then as it should have unbound and raised the test result levels.

Have you tested your tap water? Is that the reason the pH goes up when topping up the pond?

Yes, I have tested the tap water and it does show an alkaline pH level. I had to do the water changes to try and resolve whatever issue was upsetting the fish. I will look into stabilising the pH levels at the same time I do the top ups to stop the fluctuations, thanks.

 

[WaterGardener]

Yes, it would have unbound the toxins and gone back to what it was before, if not higher.

Please don't use any commercial products to try to stabalize the pH. They might work, but briefly, and your pH will quickly go back to what it was before, creating even more swings. Baking soda is easy and cheap to use and it works well.

Those are pretty major pH changes, so that's not a good thing for your fish.

Keep up the good work! Your fish thank you for it.

 

[Phaewryn]

UPDATE: (almost 2 weeks on from the problem starting)

• started with an initial dose of Seachem Pond prime to bring down suspected high nitrogen levels (did not test at that time as no test kit)
• 3 separate 20% ish water changes every few days for first week, refilled slowly through a dechlorinater
• doing liquid tests (API 500 kit) every few days to check PH, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate levels are safe
• feeding a small amount and making sure it all gets eaten so minimal waste food in water
• cleaned the pressurised filter using the auto clean feature today as the water starting to look a little green, I did not want to do this too early as trying to establish the correct bacteria to deal with the nitrogen cycle. The water that came out of filter waste pipe was very dirty but ran clean after 90 seconds. I will be testing again this evening to check no adverse affects from the filter clean.

Liquid test results show the PH level goes alkaline and towards 9ish when water has been topped up but comes back down to 7 ish within 2 days. Ammonia and Nitrite levels very low, maybe a trace. There is a small amount of phosphate showing on the tests now.

I have lost 3 fish in total, 2 of which were the ones showing clear signs of distress at the start. The rest seem a lot happier, swimming and floating in the water normally. Hopefully I now understand enough to keep the water well balanced for them. I now just need to address the overstocking issue as they grow.

Thanks to all contributors.... very pleased to have this free resource to call upon. Great work

It's very easy to give away extra fish on Freecycle. I used to do it all the time.

 

[Steve-H]

It's very easy to give away extra fish on Freecycle. I used to do it all the time.

Thank you

 

[GBBUDD]

UPDATE: (almost 2 weeks on from the problem starting)

• started with an initial dose of Seachem Pond prime to bring down suspected high nitrogen levels (did not test at that time as no test kit)
• 3 separate 20% ish water changes every few days for first week, refilled slowly through a dechlorinater
• doing liquid tests (API 500 kit) every few days to check PH, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate levels are safe
• feeding a small amount and making sure it all gets eaten so minimal waste food in water
• cleaned the pressurised filter using the auto clean feature today as the water starting to look a little green, I did not want to do this too early as trying to establish the correct bacteria to deal with the nitrogen cycle. The water that came out of filter waste pipe was very dirty but ran clean after 90 seconds. I will be testing again this evening to check no adverse affects from the filter clean.

Liquid test results show the PH level goes alkaline and towards 9ish when water has been topped up but comes back down to 7 ish within 2 days. Ammonia and Nitrite levels very low, maybe a trace. There is a small amount of phosphate showing on the tests now.

I have lost 3 fish in total, 2 of which were the ones showing clear signs of distress at the start. The rest seem a lot happier, swimming and floating in the water normally. Hopefully I now understand enough to keep the water well balanced for them. I now just need to address the overstocking issue as they grow.

Thanks to all contributors.... very pleased to have this free resource to call upon. Great work

We bill in the rears . Get yeah hooked then slam yeah with the bill

 

[j.w]

Yep I see people giving fish away here on Freecycle off and on.