Need Advice

[mrsclem]

Very nice pond setup Jenny. Koi are very beautiful and addictive but be warned as Sissy said they get large fast! I have 2 that are over 3' long. They will breed on their own so you may end up with a lot of babies.

 

[Jenny]

Jenny, your first post is almost completely wrong, you really need to do some reading.
Oxygen tests are readily available, but you also need a kit that contains tests for all of the other major parameters...pH, Ammonia, Nitite, Nitrate, Alkalinity, Hardness and Phosphorous. And, of course, a pond thermometer.
Considering the present set-up of your ponds, adding more Koi at this time would be a grave mistake. Your ponds will not support them for very long.

But I don't know what else to add!

 

[Jenny]

I have a thermometer, I have an ammonia nitrite and nitrate test, i have two filters, i have circulation, i add a product that destroys nitrites and ammonia...it sounds like I have almost everything. I'm going to buy an oxygen test, surface plants, and a biofilter. I don't get what I'm doing wrong! And I have been reading, but I need direct answers, which is why I came to this forum.

 

[sissy]

Wll colleen in Canada doesn't have any fancy filters just a filter in her pond that i know of and she has koi and it works for her so don't be scared it can work for you also .The only filter that I know that colleen has is one of those big add on filters in the pond and she has large koi .I think you can do it and you just need to change a few things .Like adding more oxygen and changing out that pipe .I have seen lots of people just use pressure filters on ponds .I use just a pressure filter in my 300 gallon stock tank that I had baby fish in for almost a year before I found them a home and just had a airlines from my aerator in there also .The pressure tank does have a u.v. also.There were 27 babies in there so way overloaded but water was clear and all tests came out great .It was better than my pond .I had the pressure filter going into a crate of activated charcoal in the stock tank that was out of the water setting on top of another crate

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I have a thermometer, I have an ammonia nitrite and nitrate test, i have two filters, i have circulation, i add a product that destroys nitrites and ammonia...it sounds like I have almost everything. I'm going to buy an oxygen test, surface plants, and a biofilter. I don't get what I'm doing wrong! And I have been reading, but I need direct answers, which is why I came to this forum.

If you must utilize treatments to control water quality, then you do not have an established Nitrogen cycle in your ponds, Over time the continuous use of these treatments cause more harm than good.
As Sissy has said a pressurized filter will work just as well as most any other type biofilter. The bottom line is that you must establish a sufficient size colony(s) of ammonia and nitrite oxidizing bacteria in order to prevent water quality from deteriorating and becoming toxic to your fish. To do this requires sufficient submerged surface area which you don't, at present, have to support many fish. This is likely why 8 of your 15 original fish died. The addition of supplemental biological filtration along with maintaining adequate water flow is an absolute must.

 

[Jenny]

Ok, I see what you're saying. Would growing a colony of the beneficial bacteria help? And if so, what can I then do about the surface area? Build a new pond?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Ok, I see what you're saying. Would growing a colony of the beneficial bacteria help? And if so, what can I then do about the surface area? Build a new pond?

You already have beneficial bacteria colonizing all of the submerged surfaces of your ponds, but because of the limited surface area you evidently don't have enough to process all of the Ammonia that is being produced by the fish. If you did, you would not need pond treatments for Ammonia. A biofilter of sufficient size will provide the additional surface area needed to support an adequate bacterial population.

 

[sissy]

OK you say your dad seals the pond every once in awhile so that means emptying and cleaning all the good bacteria off the pond .Also does the product say it is fish safe and when is the last time he did it .Did you have any problems with the fish after it was cleaned and resealed .

 

[Jenny]

You already have beneficial bacteria colonizing all of the submerged surfaces of your ponds, but because of the limited surface area you evidently don't have enough to process all of the Ammonia that is being produced by the fish. If you did, you would not need pond treatments for Ammonia. A biofilter of sufficient size will provide the additional surface area needed to support an adequate bacterial population.

I will definitely do that. I will attach a big biofilter to the waterfall I plan on making. I'll also create more oxygen. And no more fish in the meantime! When the time comes, how many fish could a pond of my size hold with the proper filtration?

 

[Jenny]

OK you say your dad seals the pond every once in awhile so that means emptying and cleaning all the good bacteria off the pond .Also does the product say it is fish safe and when is the last time he did it .Did you have any problems with the fish after it was cleaned and resealed .

The product is safe. But it only needs to happen if we notice a leak. The last time we did it was a year and a half ago, and I think we've permanently fixed the problem of leakage. Fingers crossed! And it caused no reaction in the fish. The fish have died due to lack of oxygen and/or ammonia buildup in the past. I'm going to get a biofilter, and I just added an aerator for oxygen.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I will definitely do that. I will attach a big biofilter to the waterfall I plan on making. I'll also create more oxygen. And no more fish in the meantime! When the time comes, how many fish could a pond of my size hold with the proper filtration?

Let's cross that bridge when and if you come to it.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What is your geographical location?

 

[Jenny]

Northeast US

 

[Jenny]

Water freezes over in the winter, but I put in a heater that did the trick.

 

[Jenny]

I'm probably being repetitive, but would it help if, in the future, I built a pond with more surface area and more gallons with all of the proper equipment as well?