Pond fish dying

Bigcheeze

I moved into a house that came with a pond and Koi fish. Three have died over the last few days and three others are gulping air at the surface. I've owned an aquarium in the past so know a little about water.

Is this an aeration issue ?
Should I change the water ?
Should I add any treatment to the water ?
The water does look quite green. Ammonia problem ?

kylith

Test the water and treat accordingly, I should think. The gasping does sound like an ammonia problem. Is there a filter?

Degsy

Get abig bucket and bail out as much of the water as you can,then replace it asap...Use a garden hose if you can and a water conditioner if you want.

It sounds like the warm weather has driven the oxygen out of the water and probably increased the toxins in there too,

Bigcheeze

Degsy wrote: »

Get abig bucket and bail out as much of the water as you can,then replace it asap...Use a garden hose if you can and a water conditioner if you want.

It sounds like the warm weather has driven the oxygen out of the water and probably increased the toxins in there too,

Does the tap water need to be dechlorinated first ?

I have campden tablets which I could use to dechlorinate. Presumably they are safe to use for fish as they are safe for human consumption.

ANXIOUS

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Does the tap water need to be dechlorinated first ?

No you should be fine, you can add water conditioner.

yellowlabrador

look at installing a little fountain, that could help but koi can be very dirty, so you could do with a filter system, otherwise I'd be doing frequent water changes. It's also a good idea to syphon off any debris at the bottom of the pond, decaying leaves etc.

Bigcheeze

kylith wrote: »

Test the water and treat accordingly, I should think. The gasping does sound like an ammonia problem. Is there a filter?

there's a filter but house was unoccupied so was not being used. I'll change some water and see if the filter works.

I think I have a water test kit from my aquarium days somewhere.

Bigcheeze

yellowlabrador wrote: »

look at installing a little fountain, that could help but koi can be very dirty, so you could do with a filter system, otherwise I'd be doing frequent water changes. It's also a good idea to syphon off any debris at the bottom of the pond, decaying leaves etc.

there's an upper and lower pond with a kind of waterfall connecting them. Presumably this works when the pump is on. Lower pond seems to be colonised by tadpoles.

Any recommendation where to get a syphon? It seems deep, I'd guess about 4 feet.

Degsy

Bigcheeze wrote: »

there's an upper and lower pond with a kind of waterfall connecting them. Presumably this works when the pump is on. Lower pond seems to be colonised by tadpoles.

Any recommendation where to get a syphon? It seems deep, I'd guess about 4 feet.

You dont need a syphon..get a big old bucket and just scoop everything out..then you can throw the water on your plants.

You dont need to dechlorinate or anything because the chlorine will dissapate very quickly into the air.

Also you cant move tadpoles legally so leave them where they are...concentrate on getting the fish's water changed asap.

Have you got any pics of the pond?

Bigcheeze

Degsy wrote: »

You dont need a syphon..get a big old bucket and just scoop everything out..then you can throw the water on your plants.

You dont need to dechlorinate or anything because the chlorine will dissapate very quickly into the air.

Also you cant move tadpoles legally so leave them where they are...concentrate on getting the fish's water changed asap.

Have you got any pics of the pond?

Cheers will tackle it this evening and grab some pics.

Bigcheeze

Dead fish




Upper and lower pond with tadpoles




Bucketed out this much water. I count 4 dead and at least 3 still alive. The smaller ones survived.

ANXIOUS

That is a lovely pond, pity we are seeing it with dead fish. Only advice I can give, is keep changing water and testing.

LeinsterDub

By no means an expert but that water looks very green and almost stagnant. I also noticed that the fountain doesn't appear to be running. Get the fountain running an oxengate the water. Do the dead fish have any physical signs of illness?

Bigcheeze

LeinsterDub wrote: »

By no means an expert but that water looks very green and almost stagnant. I also noticed that the fountain doesn't appear to be running. Get the fountain running an oxengate the water. Do the dead fish have any physical signs of illness?

Kind of hard to tell about the fish. No obvious fin or scale problems.

Degsy

Those fish just cooked in the heat would be my guess...there simply wasnt enough oxygen in the water for them.

When you've changed the water i advise you to get a pump or a waterfall or something working in there to oxygenate the water...howevere it did look like that water had been like that for months with the amount of green algae that you had.

kylith

If the waterfall was on would it disturb the tadpoles? A small pump to get some circulations would be good though.

Thunderbird2

Is there a UVC light? It looks as tho algae is the problem ... If the pump works disconnect it from the filter end and let the pump drain it onto a flower bed.by the looks of it id say its in with the tadpoles
Sorry to hear about the fish , mine were recently eaten by a heron. I was given electric cattle fencing to try and keep the f**ker out!

Thunderbird2

kylith wrote: »

If the waterfall was on would it disturb the tadpoles? A small pump to get some circulations would be good though.

There going to be disturbed anyway once the pond is setup and running.. Wouldnt say it would harm them

buzz

With no movement in the water, there simply wouldnt be enough oxygen in the water for those fish to survive, and especially with the size of them. replace your water and add anti algae treatment. If you check to see if there is a UV light in that filter, if not PM me and Ill loan you one to get it going. What were the water test results?