well water and dying koi

[vedalissa]

Carolinagirl, This is for the "hospital" tank
Water temp: 81.5
It is 10 gallon tank
PH 7.4
Alkalinity 122
Salt - guessing 1/2C at most
and Quick Cure By Aquarium Products


Thanks!

[mstrseed]

I would not use any bottled anything. Just 100% good clean water will heal most ailments.
The filter you may be rated for a 1600 gallon pond but do not rely on it.
As an example I used a FishMate rated for a 4000 gallon pond and it did good on my 900 gallon for 1 1/2 years then I added a 20 gallon upflow to supplement it. That worked for another year..........................that was with 5 Koi and one goldfish

[vedalissa]

Well, Our 1 koi is still striving. We did a 40% water change last night. He is upright and will come to the side to look at me. He looks as though he has lost a lot of scales. Thanks for all the input. This is something new for us: we've had goldies before, but the personality of the Koi along with their beauty made us decide to try this. I'm sure once it cools off and we can dig without heat stroke, we'll be increasing the size of the pond. Sounds like that with the filtration is the best way to go with koi.

[PapaBear]

Good. Koi are a much fussier fish to keep well than goldies, but the beauty they have to offer makes them worth the effort.

Do some reading around over on the pond construction forum to get some good ideas and pointers and it will save you a lot of trouble down the road.

[tranquility]

10 gallons is not enough for any koi as a hospital tank---the water will turn bad and be worse for the koi than just leaving it alone-a stress or injured koi needs pristine water to heal and re-coop...shading the pond will help with the algae--the up graded filtration will really help too....keep up water changes about 10% weekly ...that means taking water out and replacing it--not evaporation..... lots of people here do flow thru with well water and are very happy with it--that should also help if you don't have a filter thats quite up to par. and please do stay away from the magic potions....if its a new pond it is going to have to cycle---or if you've done major cleaning--the new filters for sure will have to mature--so keep feeding down to a minimal.... make sure NEVER to scrub the sides of the pond--that algae cover does have a purpose in the whole scheme of things..the fish in the picture looks like a Doitsu--they don't have alot of scales are you sure he has lost any or that he never had them to begin with...He actually doesn't look that bad to me...clean water -no more potions and I think he will be fine...Sorry you've had to loose fish--but, hope all turns around for you....
Lawanna

[vedalissa]

Thanks for the help. We are working to get the green water safer. It was clear but brown first and then went to green. We use the quick test strips and try to keep everything in a close zone. We have slightly acidic water so that is a constant. We will be putting up an arbor for cover. Part of the pond is under an eave of the house, but there is a couple feet that only get shade in the morning and evening. Is there a dangerous temperature high for KOI? What is the best way to keep track of ph,alkalinity,ammonia, etc? Are the strips good enough or should we go liquid? Do we need a salt meter?

[PapaBear]

The strips will get you in the ballpark, but are far less accurate and reliable than the drops. You mention that your tap water is acidic but your pond ph registers
7.4, which is near ideal.
What does your tap water register straight from the tap and then retested after it sits for a few hours with aeration? It is common for raw well water to have a high CO2 content, which will give you a low ph until the CO2 is vaporized out.

[tranquility]

Green water is not toxic---the water can be crystal clear and still have problems....Have you given any thought since the pond is under an eave of the house--maybe chemicals from the roofing? just food for thought....
Lawanna

[vedalissa]

We put baking soda in to keep the levels down in the pond, but I have not checked a sample straight from tap in a while. Will do that as soon as I get back with another test kit....We have gone through about 30 strips in the last 5 days. As far as roof run off, there shouldn't be any. He replaced the gutter over that area before the pond was set up. So if there is any runoff it should be small. Thanks for keeping me thinking....We'll get this figured out...........

[Meg]

nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels?

and my wellwater is acidic so check yours before you use it instead of the tap.

strips are not ideal for good test results