koi 1 dead, 1 dying

[Coinr]

Hi, I could use some help. I live in michigan and Here's my pond situation. 1600 gallons, about 10' x 15' diameter, 4' deep in center. I had 17 fish at shutdown. 4 koi about 16", 2 about 12" and the rest are small goldfish and koi. Ph is about 8.5. Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite all 0. Shut down around early November. Cleaned the bottom of all debries then. Setup an aerator and heater. Had lots of leaves and debries blow in afterward. I did my best to get out as much as I could.

I know I have too many fish and was planning on addressing that this year. At the immediate moment though my largest koi died a few days ago and the next largest looks to be on its way out also. I believe there is an oxegyn deficiency and added a second aerator. That doesn't seem to be helping.

My thoughts were to go ahead and start the pond up today. Hook up the pimps, waterfall and uv. I also thought about removing the dying? Koi and putting him in a 20 gallon tank in the house with better water/air conditions.

Any thoughts?

 

[sissy]

What are your water temps now and is the pond in sun .I would remove him to try and save him .Are there any dead fish in there that you do not see that may be causing issues .

 

[Coinr]

Water temp is 44 and the pond is in full sun although it's not very sunny now. I don't think there are any dead fish at the bottom but the water isn't very clear. I was able to see the dead koi on the bottom and remove it, but it was bigger and easy to see. I can't really see the small ones.

 

[sissy]

Any fish dead in the pond can cause problems for the other fish .

 

[Tula]

Can you do a water change, adding de chlorinator? I'm not an expert in tending to a sick koi, but I'd most definitely to save it. I'd be concerned with the water temps being similar, so it doesn't go into shock...and make sure you have plenty of aeration. You and a tough winter.

This year I'm starting up my pond in stages. I'm currently running one pump through the skimmer and have it splashing into the pond. I'm also running an aerator and have done water changes.....tomorrow I'm starting up my filter.

 

[Sunshine]

I'm in Ohio, rough winter for sure. I already started up my filters. I had them shut down because of a pipe breaking, usually I leave one running all year. I would go ahead and start your filters. Bring the sick one indoors and try to save him. Try and get your indoor water temp close to pond temp.

 

[mrsclem]

I had a similar problem this year. Thought I had 3 koi that were dying but ran a net across the pond bottom and ended up pulling out 16 dead koi. You may need to drop your water level to make sure there are no dead koi. I'm hoping you can save your fish. Good luck -

 

[Coinr]

I brought in the sick fish and some pond water. Mixed it with some tap water and was able to match the temp to the pond temp. Running an aerator also. I don't think it's going to make it although it's still alive but barely. I got everything running in the pond. I also ran the net across the bottom a couple of times and didn't net any fish. Keeping my fingers crossed.

The ice has been gone for a couple of weeks so if it was from the winter then why are the dying now?

At this point I just want to figure out how to make sure this doesn't happen again.

 

[CometKeith]

Sorry about your koi. My suggestion would be to start your waterfall immediately. This will aid in two ways; Increase water movement and the introduction of dissolved O2 into your pond and will also reduce any anaerobic decomposition of organic materials like leaves that may be the source of bad bacteria. I leave my waterfall running all winter and I feel it helps a lot. I personally don't think you should plug in your UV light yet because algae can assist in removing ammonia. Also I don't feel you need a filter unless the water temps are over 55 degrees because the beneficial bacteria won't do anything before then. Fish are much more susceptible to disease in the spring than any other time because their natural resistance is very low.

One more thing i have heard of ponds with heaters having problems. My thinking about this is if the water is too warm the fish will be active and give off waste products and since there is no bb there is nothing in the pond to convert this to inert materials like what happens in the warmer months.