# help me with my pond. PLEASE!!!



## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

back about this time last year We bought a small 150 - or so gallon pond from Lowes/Wal-Mart where ever, its a hard plastic preformed pond. It came with a light and a filter and a little attachment thing.

Basically we had everything we needed. well at the time we lived in eastern Ky, its very shaded there but we had the pond setup temporarly under a patio/deck because of my dog (he loves fish and always tried to get into the pond) but anyway we bought some stuff to clean the water and make it safe kinda like you would do for a regular fish tank, we put that in as directed and then we put in some alge killer/destroyer which worked pretty well. about a week or so went by we put two gold fish in it. they lived for 10 months or more and we finally moved to Ohio and these fish died just before we moved. really flat no trees = no shade here in ohio. well we put the pond up (actually down we dug it into the ground this time so it would look better plus the dog cant get near it now lol) and ran it for about 48-72 hours and we introduced our first fish, two gold fish and a blue channel cat fish. all was well. 

about a week later we introduced two fancy tailed / fan tailed goldfish into the pond. once again all was well. another week went by and the pond was staying clear the fish seemed happy we went out and bought a yellow Koi and put in. and then about 3 days later we put in 5 of the feeder goldfish we put the other two in our fish tank inside with our other fish (which are still alive) 

3-4 days go by and 1 by 1 our fish are dieing. 

The pond is in direct sun it sees this sun for pretty much all day long. and its been about 84-97 or so Id say during this time.. well I dunno what really happended.

about 2 days before they all started dieing I had noticed the water a little dirty (we had been planting flowers and such around and got dirt in the pond and just I guess it was just dirty anyway) but I used no cleaners just drained the pond then wiped it all down with a couple paper towels and stuff just to get the grime off the sides. well then they all died?

I dont know if it was a combination of the heat/sun that killed them or what but Id like to put more fish in it, I was recently reading online and found that Koi would get to big for the pond we have. but im shocked I dunno what I did wrong? I didnt add no water cleaners to it like stuff to set up the water and make it safe. that might have been 1 mistake but the other thing I was thinking might have done it was the heat? but they were alive for a long time but it started getting hot and then they all started turning up dead. maybe they neighbors killed them I dunno? 

any help and advice is wanted/needed. Id love to put more fish in it. but I just dont want them to all die out. I can get pictures if needed. 

right now we just put some chlorine in it to keep the water clean. But when I get everything worked out I would like to put fish back in so what would be a good way to do this.

I mainly wanna know what im doing wrong and how I can fix it and what I should probably do to fix this? 


Nice site BTW!!!


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## Christine (Nov 4, 2005)

If you have chlorine in the water where you live it will dissipate over time (I think most people still use remover). If you have chloramine in the water where you live it will not dissipate and you *must* use a remover (it must be capable of removing chloramines preferrably ammonia as well.. some removers only remove chlorine). That was likely mistake #1.

Mistake #2 Too many fish that get too large being introduced too fast to the pond. I strongly urge you to read this thread  on the nitrogen cycle. Tho it is geared for an aquarium, the cycle still applies to ponds. Goldfish have a reputation for producing very large amounts of ammonia.

Unfortunately I have no experience with goldfish/koi so I'm not qualified to answer about the heat. I suspect that with a deep pond, the temperatures would be cooler towards the bottom and perhaps keep things cool enough to their liking. Additionally, you could put surface plants on the pond to shade the water. 

Of course, its always possible that one of the fish introduced was harboring some type of sickness that spread to the others. My understanding is this can really be a problem with feeder fish as they are not kept in good conditions.

I hope this helps some.. and maybe someone else can answer better about the heat.


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## cheesy feet (Jul 27, 2006)

*heat*

all the above is correct :-D ..but i also read up that fish can easily get overheated and die(when theres heat wave etc)..it hasnt happend to me b4 though.

BTW im new to the forum so hi lol


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## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

two n00bs in 1 part lord help us all..

thanks for the advice im gonna get some shading for the pond.. also some purifiers and some conditioners.. and Ill just introduce a few fish at a time.

how many fish would be good. and would a picture be helpful?


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

OK, i'm trying to answer this the best I can. I've had about a thousand interruptions while typing this so hopefully I didn't misunderstand anything.

First off, you added WAY too many fish too quickly right off the bat, stick with a few goldfish. Koi will get too big, and channel cats well..will eat everything and get very large. They'll outgrow your goldfish and will probably try eating them even if it's smaller then them.

Did you say you put chlorine in the water? That'll definitely kill them right away.

If you want the temps to go down increase filtration, let the pond build up some bacteria,a nd add current. The more current you have teh more the temp will drop.

I'll leave it at that for right now, I just have too much going on this second!


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## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

I will try to get a pic of the current setup and let you see what is going on.

also. no I didnt add nothing just filled it up. but there is probably some in the water since its city and they probably add God knows what in it.

so Im gonna try this.

- shadeing the pond a little more.

- daining the water letting it dry up put new water in run that for about a week. then add in some stuff to clean the water like the purifiers and stuff to condition it.

- add 3 goldfish first then maybe add 3 more a little later..

how many goldfish is too many to put/have in said pond?


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## MarineFish (Mar 6, 2006)

ok i want to add a few things......

1. you added the feeder goldfish later IMHO Don't add feeder goldfish!!!! they often carry ich and other desieses from lack of care

2. try as best as possible to stay away from the algeafix/algea destroyer adding just a tad too much can kill your fish as it helps removed oxygen from the water

3. you need some plants like hyacinth and water lettuce to help provide soem shade or if nothign else get a few clay pots to put in bottom to provide shade

4. try adn use some kinda tap water conditioner they was probablly what led to the death of your fish although over time some of these other factors may have as well

Because of the heat and everythign if i could i would try and provide more water circulation. If you have any other questions let us know!!! But there are other much better ways to fight algae other than nasty chemicals!!!

Thanks,
MarineFish~MF~Brad Hall


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## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

thank you very much...


I will try to see about getting that pic today. but as far as circulation goes what could I do in terms of that.

and what might be a good way to stop the algae?


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## BIT01 (Jun 18, 2006)

You could add a waterfall/cascade or a fountain which will also increase the aeration levels in the water. as it gets hotter water looses the dissolved o2 so if you have seen the fish acting lethargic or coming to the surface for air that's the problem. I believe you also overstocked.


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## pahunter (Apr 10, 2006)

*Adding new fish*

NEVER< NEVER< NEVER< NEVER Add new fish to a pond without first putting them in qurarantine for no less than two weeks. One diseased fish can wipe out a whole fish population. Do a search on qurarantineing fish. Get yourself a good pond test kit and check your water readings often. There is more to ponding than adding water, pump and filter. There is a wealth of information on the web for starting into ponding just by doing alittle searching. Anybody that wants to get started in ponding SHOULD do some research before starting cold turkey. The largest benefit of the searching is the money saved by doing things right the first time. Learn as you go. Nobody knows it all. Anybody that says they do is a fool.


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