GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

19-04-2004, 05:04 PM

wrote in message ...

First of all . . . Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate the
info!

[ . . . ]

any idea what was causing the pH climb? cement pond or blocks in the pond?

I have no idea, except that municipal water often varies in pH ---
perhaps the regular additiona of replacement water with occasional hi
pH was at fault? The pond has a ruber liner that is exposed on 4 of
the 5 sides of the pond. On one side, there is decorative slate tiling
that has been cemented into place. If this aspect was the culprit, why
would it take well over a year to show up?

what are your water quality parameters, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH?

The pond's water is perfect for all other criteria testable through
the standard kit: Ammonia, nitrities, chloramines and chlorine, and
virtually zero for salt. The pH is now back down to 7 and I am testing
constantly now. Nitrates is not one of the tests available to me
through the kit and the local pond place which has been guiding me,
also has not nitrate testing available.

I think the major problem is you got toxic water. GF and koi dont like sudden drops
in water temp, and I am not sure you are controlling the temp of your pond.

This is correct, I am not controlling the water temperature. However,
that having been said, the following 2 points need to be added: During
the time of the incidents, we were having a nice warm streak in the
70's and lower 80's so my guess is that a sudden temperature drop
would not account for this particular event. Alos, this is a near
frost free area on California, and temperatures never fall like they
do in other parts of the USA. My pond temperature remained naturally
between 45-50 all winter long and only fell and rose gradually (1 or 2
degrees per day) before and after that.

what kind of filtration and aeration do you have in this pond. how many koi and GF
do you have?

I have a pump that's rated for a pond twice this size (per my
contractor) and use a natural filtration (bio-filter) with regular
applications (14-day intervals) of the good bacteria flakes. I have 3
koi, 3 small goldfish, and one huge tadpole.

Thanks agin for your help!

D
Ingrid

(seed lover) wrote:
Background: I've had a 400 gallon pond stocked with Koi and goldfish
for over a year, and everything has gone fantastic. Good water
quality, happy, tame fish. I guess it was beginners' luck . . .

Then, two weeks ago, one of my koi (a solid pale gold that I really
liked) died from mouth rot (as diagnosed by my local pond supply
place). A check of the water revealed that pH had climbed from 7.1 to
8.9 in a couple of months (the last time I had checked), which totally
blew me away.

Prior to the fish's death, there was a behavioral change. The fish had
all become very skittish, and no longer tame. The pond place said
there was possibly a bird-predator, and that, combined with the pH
increase, may have stressed the fish and increased susceptibility to
the disease.

The pond place told me to use this malachite green product and change
the water over the course of the 3 daily applications. I followed the
instructions to the letter, and retested the pH, which was now back
down to 7.0. I also added a tiny bit of salt (see my other post
regarding why I am worried about using salt). My friends kidded me
when I told them what I was doing . . . they said I'd end up with
Ceviche.

Anyhoo . . . My reason for posting is this: The fish seemed to respond
well to the treatment . . . they became more active and behaved
better. Then a week after the treatment, disaster struck and a second
koi died!

I am now at a loss as to what to do: Was the second death due to
merely the fact the animal was already too far gone and was doomed to
death anyways despite the treatment --- and therefore I need not worry
about the remaining fish? Or did it die because the treatment was
ineffectual at curing the problem, and are all my other fish at risk
--- and therefore I better do something . . . but what? If malachite
green didn't work, what do I do? Or am I over-reacting?

I presume that the disease was introduced with an infected fish that I
unknowingly introduced into the pond. If this is the case, how do I
treat incoming fish before putting them in the pond? Do I put a few
drops of Malachite Green product into the bag with water and fish in
it? If so, how many drops and how long do I delay introducing the fish
to the pond? I don't have any other water reservoirs to put new fish
into , so the only approach I can think of is keeping the fish in the
bag a couple of days?

I hope the experts in this forum can help!

Thanks!

D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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