Sick Fish Form forward to rec.ponds
Joe T
an adaptation of Jan's sick fish form. It is not from me but from the nice
people who's address appears in the respondent name field immediately
following this paragraph. I am submitting it in case anyone other than
myself ( and so many of you are infinitely better qualified! ) may respond
to them with help if you so desire. Thanks!
Begin form:
------------------------>
Respondent Name: = Brenda and David Casey
Respondent Email Address: = ldc...@cts.com
Please describe your problem.: = 8 koi died in a period of 3 months from an
unknown cause. They all had no signs of disease or pests to our untrained
eyes. The water is constantly filtered with bio and UV light.
Pond Size in Gallons? (litres*.26=US Gallons): = Approximately 350 gallons
Water Source (Well, Irrigation, City?)
If City how is water treated?: = City. Dechlor water solution.
Time in Operation?
(How old is the pond/water?): = The pond is about 2 years old. The water
has been added to throughout the life of the pond.
Liner type? (EPDM,PVC,RUBBER,Cement/Concrete etc): = Rubber
Fish Population?
Type? Size? QTY, Time in Pond: = Now it's two. Was 10 small to medium size
koi before the started dying.
Food? Type and Frequency of feedings.: = Summer - more protien based small
round peltes. Winter, more carbo based.
Pump Type, IN/OUT of pond, GPH etc
(Describe your filtration system as well as possible): = In pond bio filter
and out of pond UV light filter, 500g/hour pump rate.
Prefilter media type? Last cleaned?: = 1 layer foam bio, 2 layers less dense
foam/plastic, plastic inserts blow at pump level
Filter is BIO or Mechanical? Last cleaned? How?: = Bio. Cleaned
appoximately once per month.
Carbon added? How much? When last changed?: = None.
Aeration? Waterfalls? Bubblers?
Venturies?: = Water return from UV filter falls into pond from about four
inches.
Water Temp?
on following indicate test
kit brand: = Guessing in the upper 50's right now. Summer time in the low
80's.
PH?: = Unkown. I was told that the combination of fish and plants should
keep the PH level suitable for the koi
Ammonia (ppm or mg/l): = Unknown.
Nitrite (ppm or mg/l): = Unknown.
Nitrate (ppm or mg/l): = Unknown.
Water Color, cloudiness, odor?: = Clear. Odor of pond water seems normal.
Water changes? (% of pond volume and how often): = Appox. 10% loss per week.
Additives used (water conditioners etc): = None other than the dechlor.
Tests done by self or another?: = Self.
Weather (what's it been like lately?): = Cold nights for So. California, in
upper 40's to low 50's. 70's during the day.
Medications used?: = None.
What Zone or Country of residence?: = Pacific. Southern California, San
Diego specifically.
End Form:
-------------->
--
He doesn't bark, and he knows the secrets of the deep.
http://home.att.net/~joeyonetime
remove (NOSPAM) in address to reply!
Jan Jordan
But, right off they had too many fish and not enough water. They NEVER
did a water change in TWO years? Can you imagine what that water was
full of? He assumed the pH would be find and take care of itself? Has
no tests for ammonia or nitrites?
Why did his fish die? Too easy. ~ jan
On 4 Jan 1999 03:48:47 GMT, "Joe T" <joeyonetime@(NOSPAM)att.net>
wrote:
Randy in Aloha
too little water for the koi also but should they have done a complete
(i.e. put the same amount of water in another container and de-clorinate it
and cycle it through pumps for a day or more, drain the water from their
pond, ((putting koi somewhere)) and what ?) water change?
Or is it too little pond for the inches of koi? 2 years? they grow, don't
they.
P.S. got yer PG on the web page today.
Randy in Aloha
--
see my new web page
http://homestead.dejanews.com/user.randyinaloha/pondering.html
Jan Jordan <jjs...@ibm.Znet> wrote in article
<36a14185....@192.168.1.1>...
Lazulifawn
looking like, whirling, flashing, gasping at surface, wounds, etc. Solo
The Goldfish Guru
Derek
>I will e-mail them in kinder terms,
>
>But, right off they had too many fish and not enough water. They
NEVER
>did a water change in TWO years? Can you imagine what that water was
>full of? He assumed the pH would be find and take care of itself? Has
>no tests for ammonia or nitrites?
>
>Why did his fish die? Too easy. ~ jan
While I'm not convinced you can't keep a pond without explicit water
changes (and I'm not even certain that they were just topping up - 10%
weekly sounds like a big top-up), I would have to agree that you can't
keep 10 Koi in a 350g pond without testing your water. If they _have_
been topping up and not replacing, the pond has got to be chock full
of minerals. I'm betting pH will test out in the 5s, and hardness
off the top of the scale. The only thing that will have kept the
ammonia from killing them before was the extremely low pH. The fish
probably died after the new water was added when the pH rose and the
ammonia got them.
--
Derek (dbroughton@@usa.net, www.netcom.ca/~dbrought/pond)
rec.ponds FAQ http://w3.one.net/~rzutt/faq.html
The lion and the calf shall lie down together, but the calf won't get
much sleep - Woody Allen
Jan Jordan
<rjpi...@teleport.com> wrote:
>is a 10% water change per week not enough for this set-up?
If they had done a change, but they didn't, they just topped off about
10% a week, evaporation took 10% of pure water out.
>Looks to me like
>too little water for the koi also but should they have done a complete
>(i.e. put the same amount of water in another container and de-clorinate it
>and cycle it through pumps for a day or more, drain the water from their
>pond, ((putting koi somewhere)) and what ?) water change?
>Or is it too little pond for the inches of koi? 2 years? they grow, don't
>they.
They had too many fish per gallon, but what they could have done was
(at the very least) a 25% water change a month, every 2 weeks would
have been better. Then with that many fish kept a constant monitor on
their pH, ammonia & nitrite. If the last 2 test numbers rose at all
they needed to do water changes more often or better, decrease the
fish load. {Even better than that, dig a bigger pond}<G> 25% water
changes weekly can be stressful if the water isn't the same (or pretty
darn close) to the same pH & temp.
>P.S. got yer PG on the web page today.
Uh Oh.<g> But you didn't leave the url, and I haven't bookmarked it.
:o(
~Keep 'em Wet~
~ jan, Zone 7a ~
Remove Z to E-mail
Jan Jordan
>changes (and I'm not even certain that they were just topping up - 10%
I've e-mailed them direct and topping off is what was happening as I
mentioned evaporation and they didn't say the 'loss' was due to
anything other than evaporation. 10% does seem quite a bit now that
you mention it. But our idea of 10% (visual calculations YMMV type
stuff) and theirs could be totally different. ~ jan
Randy in Aloha
Randy in Aloha
--
see my new web page Jan!
http://homestead.dejanews.com/user.randyinaloha/pondering.html
Jan Jordan <jjs...@ibm.Znet> wrote in article