Sludge!

[Janne]

Give up? Not a chance! Working on improving filtration... adding a pressure filter. If I knew that my fish would be with a person with a better system than they currently have, that would care for them, I might feel better about sharing them. However, given that I would clean filters three times a day to keep them healthy, they will be here while I sort out this problem. BTW, how long have you had your fish? 17 years? These fish have names. They know me.

 

[Lisak1]

BTW, how long have you had your fish? 17 years? These fish have names. They know me.

I sense a bit of hostility in that response - I'm not sure why it would matter how long I've had my fish, nor does it matter if your fish have names. That won't save them from an overcrowded pond, unfortunately. Do they "know" you? I'm not sure how one would know that, but I'm sure everyone here has fish that respond to their presence pondside. Again - not the issue you raised with your post.

The greatest kindnesses comes from being honest, which is what I am being. You can clean sludge from your filters every hour on the hour and the problem will persist - the sludge is just a symptom. And cleaning the MECHANICAL filtration will not resolve a BIOLOGICAL issue - the sludge won't kill your fish. They could honestly care less. (In fact they may even prefer a murky pond full of sludge and algae.) But poor water quality absolutely will.

 

[Mgessert]

Sometimes we get a little excited Janne, and I’m sorry if I offended you. We just don’t want to get one of those “My fish are dying” posts from you. Best of luck! Perhaps one of the koi forums would have other suggestions.

 

[Tula]

Janne, I'm the lady @Lisak1 referred to as recently parting with my beloved four adult koi after 18 years.

Our pond is 1700 gallons, but I was pretty dedicated to it's care and worked hard on the water quality. I started to become concerned about their future a year and a half ago and from time to time would place an inquiry with a koi club or individual, but it never worked out.

This past Labor Day my koi went to their new home, about an hour and a half away. I was super emotional for the week leading up to that day. It's been an adjustment as I've cared for them for a long time and could hand feed them, but I now realize it was the best thing for them.

I found a koi farm owner that agreed to take them. He's very experienced and caring, so that made it easier. He's also invited me to visit them once they're settled and he send me videos of them.

 

[rubyduby]

Janne, sounds like nothing we suggest here is what you are hoping to hear but we have the koi's best interest in mind...My suggestion is that you check out koiphen.com to see how you can upgrade your filter system to accommodate your fish load...Please keep in mind that even if you upgrade mechanically, you will still have a humane issue of a pond that is too small for the potential growth of so many koi...