I know that this emergency has been taken care of, but if the pumps go out
and the fish start to gasp, 3% hydrogen peroxide, standard drug store or
grocery store variety is very good at putting oxygen in the water. It is
cheap. Those types of stores usually have better hours than the pet stores,
so it is easier to get at the time of an emergency. Just put in about a
pint for each 1000 gallons and keep an eye on the fish to know when to put
in the next pint.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Jim" wrote in message
m...
Hi,

I recently purchased a house that came with an existing koi pond. We
have done our best to keep up the pond, cleaning the skimmer and pump
filters regularly, feeding the fish, thinning the top-of-water plants,
etc.

Now, the problem.

Last night, when I last checked on the pond, the pump appeared to be
happily pumping water in to the system. No unusual noises, no obvious
loss of power, etc.

This morning, I woke up early, and could not hear the waterfall.
Usually this occurs when the pump's filter gets gummed up and it can
not get enough water through to support both the waterfall and
wall-spouts. Went out to check the filter, and found that the pump
had stopped. Flipped it off and on, checked its circuit breaker, no
change. Checked the filter, it had some stuff in it, but it was not
yet at a level I would have been concerned about cleaning it. Anyway,
the bottom line is that the pump is dead, it does not even try to
work.

Other things which may help you:

Location: San Diego
Size of pond: Roughly 4' x 20' x 2', but really it has deep (3') and
shallow (1.5') ends, a waterfall, and is more pond shaped than the
rectangle that those numbers portray.
Fish: 6x 18" koi, 6x 6" koi, 40x 6" goldfish - will get a better
count once they start asphyxiating and come to the surface for air!
(yikes!)

Dead pump:
from the sticker: "Magnatek HP1.5 SPL (2SPD), part 7-181327-03,
type: csm, rpm: 3450/1725, time:cont"
from pump's original invoice: 15LRT 1 1/2 HP 2SP Pump, 7/1/99

Aside: How long should this sort of pump last, running 24/7? Looks
like 5 years is what this one managed, it being 8/23/04 now.


Right now, these things seem important to me:

* Where can I turn to replace the pump?

* Recommendations for someone that can do the work on a Saturday in
San Diego?

* What can I do to help the fish survive while the pump is offline?


Responses in email or post here would be appreciated. Responses after
a week will not matter, as I hope the pump will be replaced else the
fish will be dead.

Thanks for your time,
Jim
(yes, asking for SPAM, that's what SpamAssassin is
for...)