My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Very sad when we lose fish. Sorry this happened to you Keith. Hope you have it all under control now. I lost a few fish this Spring also and I have never lost this many before. Once every few yrs I might lose one but this year I lost 8. Think the water was mucked up and filters needed cleaning. All taken care of now and no more fish dying.

Thanks Jw I finally cleaned my filter today. I had a pretty tough time doing it and finally found a dead fish in my intake pipe. Everything seems to be running okay now. It’s been a few days since I had found any dead ones and they all appear active and healthy now. I’m sorry you lost some fish. I hope they weren’t your favorites!

 

[CometKeith]

So sorry to hear about your fish Keith. I think this colder than usual spring messed up a lot of our ponds.

Thanks. I’m guessing that is the problem because it was going into the 30s at night here not even a month ago. It’s tough for bb to build up when it’s so cold. I’m thinking in the future to use one of those jump start bb mixtures. I always thought they were worthless, but they are so popular maybe I am wrong. I don’t see how it can hurt.

 

[j.w]

One was one of my favorite Shubunkins and an oj/white patterned one too. The rest were plain oj but still sad to lose.

 

[Lisak1]

Oh gosh! I missed this one! I didn't even know that there WAS a pond crisis! I'm glad to hear that it appears to be under control. Your vantage point is absolutely perfect for pond viewing from on high. I take pictures of my pond from the upstairs window from time to time, but I have to take the screen out of the bathroom window to do it!

 

[CometKeith]

This feels like an ongoing saga and I want it to end! I backwashed my filter the other day.......a mistake? Then Sunday my wife told me she couldn’t stand the giant clump of sedges in the front anymore so I pulled it out. Some of the roots went down almost 2 ft. So as soon as I was almost done I notices several of the larger koi start flashing.. oh no!
So I did a 20 percent water change right away and dumped in some more of The broad spectrum antibacterial medicine I still had. That was all on Sunday. I’m still noticing some flashing and one of my Koi’s sat in front of the rocks that I pump a lot of water too so it splashes and adds o2 to the pond. I have enough medicine for one more big water change but I’m so frustrated... everything was fine until I cleaned my filter last week And the fish flashing now were fine when the other fish had problems. Also my string algae all went away so I think the pond is cycled.. I can’t believe pulling out one clump of sedges would have such an immediate effect and really don’t think that caused the new problems.

 

[addy1]

My guess is when you pulled the sedges, the debris hanging on the roots got released maybe causing a excess of debris which caused a issue with the water. I know when I pull the hornwort a lot of dirt debris goes flying off. It all gets sucked back into the bog and clears up pretty quick.

 

[Tula]

Keith, are you able to look at the koi up close? Are there any signs or redness on their bodies?

Do you have a local koi club you could contact for advice?

I can't imagine back washing your filter would be a problem. Does the medicine you're using affect filter bacteria ? I know some medicines do and they advise you by passing the filtration.

 

[Lisak1]

Ugh! I feel your pain @CometKeith . If you remember last spring and summer we had terrible issues with fish dying. Lost all of our koi when our plumbing failed over winter and then some kind of parasite started another mass die off in the spring and early summer. We used Prazi and that solved it, so we assumed parasite, but that was just through process of elimination. It's so frustrating and sad!

How many gallons is your pond again? And how many koi do you have?

 

[CometKeith]

So my inexperience and lack of knowledge killed a beautiful fish. This was the red spotted Sanke I bought 2 years ago. I still have he “sister” fish I bought at the same time. You don’t realize how beautiful some of these fish are until you see it on its side. This was the one struggling by the water pump with all the bubbles. .So far the rest look okay. My plan was to put a bog in the area where the sedges were. This is
the rounded area on the right side. I’m guessing I could make it about 15 sf.

 

[CometKeith]

My guess is when you pulled the sedges, the debris hanging on the roots got released maybe causing a excess of debris which caused a issue with the water. I know when I pull the hornwort a lot of dirt debris goes flying off. It all gets sucked back into the bog and clears up pretty quick.

Addy. I noticed an immediate change in the water clarity as soon as I pulled them out. It took almost 4 hours to remove them so you can guess how giant they were. There were two large sections I could barely lift when I cut them up.

 

[CometKeith]

Keith, are you able to look at the koi up close? Are there any signs or redness on their bodies?

Do you have a local koi club you could contact for advice?

I can't imagine back washing your filter would be a problem. Does the medicine you're using affect filter bacteria ? I know some medicines do and they advise you by passing the filtration.

Hi Tula. I was a little worried about the medicine but it said it would help seed the filter with good bacteria. I didn’t have any problem right after introducing the medicine. Everything happened as soon as I pulled out the giant clump of sedges. I had cleaned my filter 2 days before so I don’t know what caused the problem. There is no string algae so I don’t think it was an ammonia problem. Unfortunately it’s too late for advice. Poor fish

 

[CometKeith]

Ugh! I feel your pain @CometKeith . If you remember last spring and summer we had terrible issues with fish dying. Lost all of our koi when our plumbing failed over winter and then some kind of parasite started another mass die off in the spring and early summer. We used Prazi and that solved it, so we assumed parasite, but that was just through process of elimination. It's so frustrating and sad!

How many gallons is your pond again? And how many koi do you have?

Hi Lisa . I think it’s around 3000 gallons or so. On the average it takes 85 gallons of water to fill it an inch. The deepest part is 42 inches and there are some shelves too.i remember about you losing your fish. That must have been horrible. im so spoiled. Maybe Inlost a total of 5 small fish over the course of the last 5 years. Nothing like this. I’m afraid to touch my pond now that I might screw it up some more.
Tula I had called a pond consultant about helping me with a redesign a few weeks ago. I’m going to have him try to help me. I’m definitely putting in a bog. My bead filter may be okay for biological filtration but I think it needs more even with a lower bio load Now. There are 5 koi left at an average of 12 -14 inches.

 

[Tula]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your red spotted sanke......I remember how excited you were when you got it. Many experienced koi keepers have lost fish over the years while learning......its seems to be a sad fact.

Sounds like you're moving forward and a bog is a good idea.....just don't tell any of these " experienced koi keepers" - ha ha!

 

[Lisak1]

@CometKeith we lost 10 of our 11 big koi. Pulling those big fish out of the pond and disposing of them was so sad. You really do get attached when you watch them grow in your pond. That experience convinced me that I'm a better goldfish keeper than a koi keeper. We still have one big black koi - he's the master of the pond now.

If you're looking for professional help, make sure the person is experienced with eco-style ponds. Like @Tula said - dedicated koi pond keepers would never recommend a bog filter.

It's probably no comfort, but your wife was right about removing the sedges in the front - much better view of the pond! I learned with several pond plants to never let them get too large - it happens fast and then you have a struggle to control them!

 

[CometKeith]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your red spotted sanke......I remember how excited you were when you got it. Many experienced koi keepers have lost fish over the years while learning......its seems to be a sad fact.

Sounds like you're moving forward and a bog is a good idea.....just don't tell any of these " experienced koi keepers" - ha ha!

thanks Tula. There was one more koi i was really worried about for a few days.. he was sitting getting bubbles from my water pump probably for the O2. He is swimming around with the rest of the fish now..

@CometKeith we lost 10 of our 11 big koi. Pulling those big fish out of the pond and disposing of them was so sad. You really do get attached when you watch them grow in your pond. That experience convinced me that I'm a better goldfish keeper than a koi keeper. We still have one big black koi - he's the master of the pond now.

If you're looking for professional help, make sure the person is experienced with eco-style ponds. Like @Tula said - dedicated koi pond keepers would never recommend a bog filter.

It's probably no comfort, but your wife was right about removing the sedges in the front - much better view of the pond! I learned with several pond plants to never let them get too large - it happens fast and then you have a struggle to control them!

Thanks Lisa. I'm am hiring one of the "expert" pond guys i met on the pond tour a few years back. He is coming Monday for a consultation.