Moving koi from inside to outside..

[jezabell79]

The new bio-filter I built is up & running, water in hot tub pond, all components running except for the 2 filter boxes in the inside pond with now all of my fish, 6 koi total, 3 suckerfish. I'm in Houston, and the weather has been cold (for us here..lol) into the low 40's/high 30's at night but not consistently. The inside pond is a 100 gallon rubbermaid bin, and since I put one of the box filters out in the new pond, and added the 4 babies from the smaller pond inside to it, it's a lot of fish for 100 gallons....but temporary. Going to get a thermometer today, that way I can see the temp change between the two. I'm pressed for time because of living situation, can't lose my babies now....how do I go about moving them?

 

[Smaug]

When I redid my pond all my fish went in a 55 gal in the basement for 2 months. I did it in the spring and over a period of a day I kept transferring the new cold water from the pond into the tank. When the water temp in the tank matched the pond I removed them from the tank and homed them in the pond. No losses.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

As Smaug inferred, it is absolutely critical that the temperatures of the inside holding tank and the outside pond be as close to the same as possible before transfer is even contemplated. Ignoring this will, depending on the temperature difference, at minimum cause severe acute stress in your fish with the real possibility of mortalities as the worse case outcome.

 

[jezabell79]

I'm going to need to do something quick, the ph keeps crashing now inside

 

[Meyer Jordan]

-Explain 'crashing'.
Too large of a difference in pH between the outside pond and the inside holding tank will have the same effect as too large temperature change...severe stress on the fish with possible mortalities.
No offense, but this is the worst time of the year to be setting up a new pond and transferring fish.

 

[jezabell79]

I know that, trust me. I'm in a complicated situation, my landlord wants to bug bomb the entire house I live in, & I've stalled her as long as possible. Trust I never wanted to have to do this right now or this quickly....but I have no choice in this matter. There is a 10 degree temp difference right now. Outside water temp is 58 and inside is 68

 

[jezabell79]

-Explain 'crashing'.
Too large of a difference in pH between the outside pond and the inside holding tank will have the same effect as too large temperature change...severe stress on the fish with possible mortalities.
No offense, but this is the worst time of the year to be setting up a new pond and transferring fish.

It went from a stable 7.4 to 6

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Seems like you really have no options here. Do what you have to do and hope for the best. Obviously the fish can not stay inside if the house is going to be fogged.

 

[jezabell79]

Seems like you really have no options here. Do what you have to do and hope for the best. Obviously the fish can not stay inside if the house is going to be fogged.

I raised the ph to 7.2-ish, guna wait until tomorrow to move them. outside water is a steady 7.4, biofilters working & on.....but it has to be tomorrow. I will keep you all posted.

 

[jezabell79]

Well the water temps are as close to one another as possible, the ph outside is a bit high, but I think it should be ok.....I hope so anyway. I plan on using the water from the inside pond in the outside pond as well when I transport them. Outside the ph is 7.8 or 8, inside it's around 7.2, but i'm out of time....

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Well the water temps are as close to one another as possible, the ph outside is a bit high, but I think it should be ok.....I hope so anyway. I plan on using the water from the inside pond in the outside pond as well when I transport them. Outside the ph is 7.8 or 8, inside it's around 7.2, but i'm out of time....

Keep us up-to-date.

 

[jezabell79]

Well, all the fish are outside in the new pond, seem a bit spooked, but happy considering no flashing. PH is at 7.4, no ammonia, but I have buffers, and neutralizers on hand as well as amquel plus and nite-out.....cage/netting on top because of cat population around here, and canopy over it for rain run off. Fingers crossed, as I now have to get ready for work. Pray for my babies!

 

[jezabell79]

Well, they made it through the night, PH seems to be still 7.4/7.6, zero ammonia! It got cold last night, and in the next couple of nights it's supposed to be in the high 30's, but I don't think that's too cold for them....I'm still nervous about it and them, and helpful input would be awesome. more pics to come

 

[Meyer Jordan]

The fish should be OK. Your Winter weather in Houston is very similar to mine here in the Florida Panhandle. Pondkeepers here never have a problem with winter temperatures. Mainly because our Winters are generally mild except for the occasional cold snap and the soil temperatures rarely drop below 60F. This soil temperature moderates the temperature of the pond water keeping all but maybe the surface above 50F.

 

[jezabell79]

WHEW! Gad to hear it! building the 'redneck canopy' right now, as I've had a make shift tarp-cover til today.....they are stressed out because of all the ruckus from the nail gun and such....but all in all seem fine. Fingers still crossed, as my big guys I've raised from 1.5" babies, and they are my world. My coworkers are sick of hearing about my fish (I think they are jealous, considering I have built all filters and pond by hand on an EXTREME learning curve) but they have really funny personalities and crack me up. Freedom (orange/black) & Salvation (white/black) are quite the characters! They love cheerios, and act like trained dolphins for them when I make a kissy noise. The 4 babies are still learning to trust me. When I moved they went to my sisters for about 4 weeks, and her bf neglected them even though he has 12-15 PRISTINE big tanks inside, and I lost Redemption,(in the pic, orange/white belly), and the tub was so over grown w/algae I couldn't believe the other two made it. I will keep everyone posted I promise!