My new fish are listless. I stirred up the bottom of the pond three days ago.

[Mmathis]

@Panzer13 ”Shubunkin.”

 

[Karen Crowley]

Karen, it is not. Get a bottle of Prime at the fish store. Add double dose asap.

Thank you! I already went earlier and bought a chlorinator. The dishes look much better since this morning. My husband spotted a giant toad, so they may be just stressed. I forgot to bring a water sample, but I will asap.

 

[Karen Crowley]

@Mmathis asked for all the info I would also ask for, in addition to a few more:

How did you cover your fish?
What is this "board" under your water fall filter that caused the water loss?

Simply stirring up the water shouldn't bother your fish. Clear water is something we like - fish could care less.

@Karen Crowley In addiiton to the Seachem Prime that @BarbO mentioned, I would definitely recommend you to test your water as soon as possible with a liquid/drop master test kit and post the results. You probably won't like this but you're most likely going to need to rehome those koi sooner than later. Koi get HUGE and you're already pretty well stocked with 5 goldfish in about 200 gallons. Most people will only recommend koi if your pond is over 1000 gallons and that's the low end of the range.

This is the kit I use to test my water since it has the tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NC...olid=34HXSAYHGQHJG&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I hope your fish do well, but in the long run I fear the koi will need a larger pond, maybe it's time to start digging!?

I guess I was wrong thinking 20 gallons for the first fish, 10 gallons for each additional fish. Yikes!
Regarding a larger home for my fish, our back, I have emptied our unused swimming pool. I haven't researched how to properly transform it into a pond yet. I figured I would wait until we needed it.

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

@Karen Crowley The 20 gallons for first fish and 10 gallons for each additional fish really only applies to goldfish and even if you follow that rule in an aquarium (or pond) you would likely have to perform large AND frequent water changes. I currently have 15 goldfish ranging in size from 3.5-9 inches long in a 450+ gallon pond so I'm stocked at about 30 gallons per fish which is pretty manageable for me. I also have a good amount of plants and my filter turns over the water in the pond 2x each hour.

The kind folk on this forum don't seem to follow any stocking rules as far as gallons per fish, but will usually recommend you start off with a comfortable amount and slowly add if you desire. The fish themselves will usually add to your numbers with spawning and you might find your 200 gallon container pond overrun with cute little babies and no where to put them. There should be others here that have experience with converting pools to ponds, or could at the very least offer guidance and advice to help you along on your journey.

 

[Lisak1]

Many people will tell you 1000 gallons for the first koi and work up from there. But generally speaking you want less fish than your pond can comfortably handle, especially since they will reproduce and add to their own numbers.

 

[Karen Crowley]

I agree with ShawnInfirmity. I also have a 200 gallon pond, with allot of plants and filtration. I currently have three comet and three sabumkin goldfish. I had ten but this was too much for the system and caused and algae bloom and an increase in my nitrates.
The algae you cleaned of feeds off of nitrates. If you get rid of it you will have to find some other way to deal with nitrate levels.
Personally I use a gravel vac to do about a 25% water change once a week. This also remove the fish waste and other funk on the bottom of the pond. Otherwise the funk will decompose and increase the biological load on the pond.
I would not remove the algae it your friend and the fish also eat it. Do you have any plants?

I have two plants. Kind of long and bottle brush-like. Was thinking that I may get floating plants for protection against predators and sun. I live in the Tampa area, zone 9b.

 

[Karen Crowley]

@Karen Crowley The 20 gallons for first fish and 10 gallons for each additional fish really only applies to goldfish and even if you follow that rule in an aquarium (or pond) you would likely have to perform large AND frequent water changes. I currently have 15 goldfish ranging in size from 3.5-9 inches long in a 450+ gallon pond so I'm stocked at about 30 gallons per fish which is pretty manageable for me. I also have a good amount of plants and my filter turns over the water in the pond 2x each hour.

The kind folk on this forum don't seem to follow any stocking rules as far as gallons per fish, but will usually recommend you start off with a comfortable amount and slowly add if you desire. The fish themselves will usually add to your numbers with spawning and you might find your 200 gallon container pond overrun with cute little babies and no where to put them. There should be others here that have experience with converting pools to ponds, or could at the very least offer guidance and advice to help you along on your journey.

Thank you Shawn. I appreciate that you made me think.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group. A lot of good advice up there. I agree with them rehome the koi.

 

[Mmathis]

Many people will tell you 1000 gallons for the first koi and work up from there. But generally speaking you want less fish than your pond can comfortably handle, especially since they will reproduce and add to their own numbers.

And a lot of this will depend entirely on the filtration you have. Better and more efficient filtration (biological) usually means you can get away with more fish — in general.

 

[Panzer13]

I have two plants. Kind of long and bottle brush-like. Was thinking that I may get floating plants for protection against predators and sun. I live in the Tampa area, zone 9b.

Water lettuce and water hyacinth should both do well for you. You are lucky to be in Florida, you should be able to grow allot of really nice plants. Check out the mosaic plant, wish I could grow one but it is to cold here.
Anyway welcome to the forum and best of luck with your pond.

 

[Karen Crowley]

@Karen Crowley In addiiton to the Seachem Prime that @BarbO mentioned, I would definitely recommend you to test your water as soon as possible with a liquid/drop master test kit and post the results. You probably won't like this but you're most likely going to need to rehome those koi sooner than later. Koi get HUGE and you're already pretty well stocked with 5 goldfish in about 200 gallons. Most people will only recommend koi if your pond is over 1000 gallons and that's the low end of the range.

This is the kit I use to test my water since it has the tests for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000255NC...olid=34HXSAYHGQHJG&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

I hope your fish do well, but in the long run I fear the koi will need a larger pond, maybe it's time to start digging!?

Thanks for your input. All is well with my fish.

 

[Karen Crowley]

Water lettuce and water hyacinth should both do well for you. You are lucky to be in Florida, you should be able to grow allot of really nice plants. Check out the mosaic plant, wish I could grow one but it is to cold here.
Anyway welcome to the forum and best of luck with your pond.

Thank you so much. They all are doing well now. I am thinking of purchasing plants online. I will shop around my neighborhood pet shops and pond store and compare prices.

 

[MitchM]

@Karen Crowley The 20 gallons for first fish and 10 gallons for each additional fish really only applies to goldfish and even if you follow that rule in an aquarium (or pond) you would likely have to perform large AND frequent water changes. I currently have 15 goldfish ranging in size from 3.5-9 inches long in a 450+ gallon pond so I'm stocked at about 30 gallons per fish which is pretty manageable for me. I also have a good amount of plants and my filter turns over the water in the pond 2x each hour.

The kind folk on this forum don't seem to follow any stocking rules as far as gallons per fish, but will usually recommend you start off with a comfortable amount and slowly add if you desire. The fish themselves will usually add to your numbers with spawning and you might find your 200 gallon container pond overrun with cute little babies and no where to put them. There should be others here that have experience with converting pools to ponds, or could at the very least offer guidance and advice to help you along on your journey.

Hey Shawn/Karen,
What I've found helpful is to use the size of the fish and their ammonia output compared to how much submerged, established biofilm is available to process their waste.
Here is a calculation that uses established ammonia output of a certain sized fish vs the sq ft of submerged biofilm available:
Specific surface area: https://russellwatergardens.com/pages/how-many-fish-can-i-have-in-my-pond
Koi (or other fish) waste output : https://russellwatergardens.com/pages/koi-length-and-weight

Please ask any questions if you want further clarification.

.

 

[Karen Crowley]

Karen, it is not. Get a bottle of Prime at the fish store. Add double dose asap.

Barb, Hi! Early this morning I ran to my pet shop, got the treatment, and things couldn't be better. The fish are back! I thought that I sent you a message this morning, sorry. Thank you for your valuable feedback.

 

[Karen Crowley]

Hey Shawn/Karen,
What I've found helpful is to use the size of the fish and their ammonia output compared to how much submerged, established biofilm is available to process their waste.
Here is a calculation that uses established ammonia output of a certain sized fish vs the sq ft of submerged biofilm available:
Specific surface area: https://russellwatergardens.com/pages/how-many-fish-can-i-have-in-my-pond
Koi (or other fish) waste output : https://russellwatergardens.com/pages/koi-length-and-weight

Please ask any questions if you want further clarification.

.

Just a little bit overwhelmed. I have much to learn.