Kois Not Too Healthy In New Pond

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fisheatfish

fisheatfish

Aimara
MFK Member
Mar 19, 2008
953
665
130
OC, CA
Hello friends...could use some help. Have 8 kois that have outgrown their little concrete pond I built years ago. I recently built an above ground pond using 4x4 lumber & a liner that is 8ft x 20ft & is 2 1/2 deep. Had everything set up & waited a week before introducing kois to their new home. Looked active & healthy during first few weeks and female even spawned laying eggs all over the place unexpectedly...couldn't retrieve eggs so they all got eatened except a few frys. They've been in there for 4 weeks now and the bigger ones seem to not be very active & not eating. Their colors are not as vibrant & they tend to want to rest at the bottom on their sides. Filtration is working beautifully...water is crystal clear. Weather is getting warmer & liner sits on some padding directly over concrete slab. Water appears to be well circulated & well oxygenated. Currently have tarp over pond for shade until some vines grow over it. Can anyone tell me what's happening to my kois in their new home? Anything I can do?
 
What you feed them?
 
Filtration: 650 gph pump for Aqua Ultima II with media exiting into a uv system which feeds a 55 gallon drum filter with mesh media. Like I said, water is crystal clear so filter is doing its job. Have not yet tested the water. I have a kit I use for my aquariums...will this kit work for pond water? What are the parameters I should look for. Thanks.
 
If the new pond does not have algae yet they may be lacking spiralina or protein. Quick grow is low in protein. Try feeding some krill or step it up to Bright Color or Fast Color feed.
 
Kendragon, that might be a possibility...have noticed some algae growth but not much. I have krill & will try fast color feed. Only problem is few are not eating at all...been about a week now. I've blocked off water hiacinth on both side of pond with some netting & I noticed some trying to get at it & managed to go over the pvc holding up net. They destroyed these plants in the past when they were in the small pond. These plants safe for them?
 
fisheatfish said:
Filtration: 650 gph pump for Aqua Ultima II with media exiting into a uv system which feeds a 55 gallon drum filter with mesh media. Like I said, water is crystal clear so filter is doing its job. Have not yet tested the water. I have a kit I use for my aquariums...will this kit work for pond water? What are the parameters I should look for. Thanks.
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All that means is the filter is filtering the solids out, you could have high ammonia levels that can burn their gills or high nitrite witch can poison them. At a turn over rate of almost five hours I would bet your water is the issue. A one to two hour turn over is what most in the koi hobby shoot for. I would stop feeding and get your water tested ASAP, you want zero ammonia and nitrite and if you show some nitrate that will tell you your bio is working. If you show ammonia get an ammonia binder and do water changes to reduce the ammonia levels, if you show nitrite you need to salt the pond to protect the koi from nitrite poisoning and also do water changes.
 
Thanks Moneypit. Added salt to the pond couple days ago. One pound per 100 gallon enough? I estimated pond to be about 2600 gallons. (Used about 26 lbs of salt) Will test water & do water change tomorrow.

Thanks for all the help guys. Trying to give these guys a happy & healthy life. When they outgrew their pond, I thought about releasing them to nearby lake...couldn't do that to them so I built this bigger pond. I think I should have cut into the concrete slab & made it deeper.
 
Moneypit said:
All that means is the filter is filtering the solids out, you could have high ammonia levels that can burn their gills or high nitrite witch can poison them. At a turn over rate of almost five hours I would bet your water is the issue. A one to two hour turn over is what most in the koi hobby shoot for. I would stop feeding and get your water tested ASAP, you want zero ammonia and nitrite and if you show some nitrate that will tell you your bio is working. If you show ammonia get an ammonia binder and do water changes to reduce the ammonia levels, if you show nitrite you need to salt the pond to protect the koi from nitrite poisoning and also do water changes.
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Totally agree. Turn over rate is not enough. Also, now that you mentioned the plants, in warm temps the plants at night will deplete oxygen. Hope you have an air pump in addition to the under rated pump. Adding salt with plants is brewing for disaster. Plants cannot tolerate salt and will die....will polute the water. I would remove the plants till you figure out your filtration.
 
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