Thanks Charles! I have had the Fish in my pond for 3 weeks now and they seem to be doing good with only two dead out of the 15 put in! My buddy said it was normal for a couple to die?!
Yep. New fish in a pond die mainly due three things: 1) big chain retail fish; 2) unmatured filtration and water; 3) water too acidic.
One, big chain retail fish were kept in a stressful tank environment. The tank might have way too many fish or the filtration in the tank is not good. Often, the big chain retailers bet on that the fish will be sold within a couple of weeks. However, still fish do die in these tanks, but the store will often scoop the dead out before opening the doors. So, when buying fish from a big chain, there is always a chance 1 out of 3 will die, but you may get lucky and none of them die.
Second, water filtration and the pond needs to become mature. To become "mature", this means the proper naturally occuring bacteria need to be allowed to settled and allowed to multiply forming colonies. Bacteria colonies mainly feed on ammonia so adding a couple fish in the beginning provides this ammonia. If you want to know more, then google "pond nitrification" or look in the forum search here or my post history. Often, you are instantly starting with many fish, such as what you did, the influx of Ammonia may kill your fish until the bacteria colonies are allowed to grow big enough to consume this Ammonia. It does not take much Ammonia to slowly poison your fish causing them to become ill or die for other reasons. To test for ammonia, you can get the API Freshwater Aquarium Liquid test kit, commonly found at the big pet stores, or you can have the big pet store test the water for you. If you want to combat the potential water and filtration "maturity" problems, then you can buy an Ammonia binder chemical to prevent the excess ammonia from poisoning your fish. You will need some Ammonia present to allow your bacteria colonies to grow. Bacteria colonies will also only grow according to particular liveable surface area and this is why bio-filtration is created. Bio-filtration increases the amount of liveable surface area so your bacteria colonies can grow. Also, algae directly feeds on ammonia, unlike most plants, so an increase in algae is helpful as long as there is not too much; too much algae can cause pH swings and can reduce oxygen saturation. Do some searching on this forum; give a yell if ya want to know more.
Third reason is the water might be too acidic. Also, pond water naturally becomes acidic over time due to the bacteria colonies, good guys, feeding on the Ammonia. You determine the acidity with a pH tester. Google "pond pH swings" or read the forum here for more info. If the pH swing is too wide, then this will stress your fish's immune system causing them to become sick or die. I have read fish doing fine in anywhere in the range of 7.0 ~ 9.0 pH.
I clean the pond of debri every day and there maybe two or three leaves at the bottom and a single pinestraw cluster lol, is it good for a few leaves to make it to the bottom?
Debris on the bottom will not hurt at a small level. Do not allow too much to lay at the bottom. Eventually, it will create its own soil layer on the ground and this is ok as long as it gets no thicker than 1.5cm. Aerobic bacteria, the good guys, is known to live in this layer of the soil. If the debris is allowed to get thicker, then the anaerobic bacteria, potentially bad guys, can start forming in deeper debris, soil layers. Anaerobic bacteria can be helpful in reducing Nitrates, but algae and plants also help to reduce Nitrates. However, anaerobic bacteria can also produce hydrogen sulfide, which is also toxic to fish. For a beginner, you really want to have as little anaerobic bacteria possible so this is why removing the settled debris out of the water is a very good idea.
I am trying to get some algea growing in there but dont see any yet, just a little slime on the side that i feel, is that algae? Thanks!
It could be the algae and also could be the beneficial bacteria colonies forming in a bio-film. As sissy mentions, this is the good stuff and the fish will eat some of it.
