I have noticed that some of my females are starting to thicken up around the mid section. It seems like it is early for that for my pond - but I know spawning last year early. We will see.... I already have the tad poles in. At my age, I need to exercise responsible birth control ^_^
Ponds 2013 II
Just got back in from feeding them peas again.....a 2lb bag lasted all of 30 seconds at best. But since I don't have a natural pond, they need some fresh greens from time to time. All the females are eggy right now, and very round. I may inject several of the larger ones, to select a male and female that I want to breed together, just to see if I get anything better than the normal flock spawnings. I don't really need any more fish, but if I end up with some, I'd rather have attractive ones, so I can give them away to friends. I'm trying to get gin rin butterflies (the sparkly scales)
I am still skimming the top of the pond but only twice today. I never see the babies until they are larger. They appear to hid in the boulders in the pond. I have two that are getting thick in the middle.
Mine are finally starting to recognize food. With all the mess on the pond, I skim it first and then feed them. They us to rush the food but now they take their time. I do take time to break the pellets in half for the little one and then try to throw into the area they are swimming around in and occasionally they find it.
Any ideas on feeding the little ones. Or do they just get what they need from the bottom. I counted today and I think I have 14. 5 small, 3 medium size that have grown from birth and 6 larger ones. Mix of KOI and goldfish. I had many more before the dead animal in the pond problem. Probably to many. I have a very large yellow Koi.
We have a "spool". A large spa. About 15 ' x 25'. Goes from 2 feet to 4 feet at the deepest. I went in once last year. DH has not been in for several years. It would make a nice pond. Has a great water fall but is wide open. Predators would not have any problem finding it.
I worked in the garden today and said again I am getting to old for this but I keep on. I have a great helper but he hurt his back. He is younger than I but I know how much hurt come when your back is not happy.
I picked my first ripe tomatoes yesterday. Delicious. Have a great Sunday. Sharon
I buy a small bag of fry food off ebay when I have little guys....(even my mollies and guppies breed around the small plants) When I run out, I use tropical flake food for a while. They do sell really tiny little koi pellets for babies. However, if yours are already there and not starving to death, I'm assuming you have what you need in your pond already.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-LB-GOLDEN-PEARLS-Fish-Fry-Food-500-800-Microns-/150638223575?pt=Live_Fish&hash=item2312bce0d7
Merry Mary, you always have the answer. Thank you so much. We are having beautiful weather today. I am resting the old body today. But resting for me is not easy. You just about need to lock me in a cage.
help!!! My local pond experts can't seem to help I am hoping with the gathering of expertise here, some one will have an answer! After Sandy we had some major repair to do, finally in mid April my usual pond guy came and cleaned it out and repaired the main front wall but did not fix the "plumbing". Two wks ago we had several inches of rain in a matter of an hour and the pond filled up with mud and pollen and mold spores and anything else that was in the air. I have changed the filter to fine and clean it every 3 hours, I have added two doses of Acurel, a biological flocculent, no change...I tried algae control, I hate chemicals, no change, I tried two doses of greenclean, no change, I tried one large dose of Aqua cleaner, its bacteria & enzymes, still no change. I do not have a tub to move the fish to or I would drain and refill. I do have 5, yes 5 Koi all over 2.5 feet long. I am at my wits end. As u can see in the pictures one clean and one with plumbing working but NO clarity.
Would hate to have to just fill in the hole, have never had this trouble in the 11 years I have had the pond.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated by me and my fish. thnx
PS...this is what it looked like before Sandy..........pictures above show how naked we are now.
It looks like you need a UV Light..... You can get better deals for them on Ebay..... I'd use a 36watt or above. It will take 4 or 5 days to clear, but should do the trick. Add some good bacteria/enzyme product (there's one with barley in it for green water) To my and my humble ponding opinion, it just looks like you're restarting the healthy balance of the water, due to the extra rain water.
I/we just re-did all the plumbing.....gluing fittings and pipes, my husband will kill me if I tell him we need to add a UV light besides I don't know where it would fit. We did just add a Ionizer this year and he swears that is what is causing the problem. But I will look into it..............any additives that can work in lieu of the UV light?
The light will be cheaper than several doses of additives at $20 a pop. And the light bulb only gets changed once a year. Even if you run it on an extension cord with a small pump instead of through your whole plumbing line, it will still do the trick.
I have a Pondmaster submersible UV light that is very easy to add to your pond plumbing system. It goes between the outtake from the pump and the water return to the pond. Just cut the hose and pop it in.
This is the second year for mine and it works like nothing else.
Sound fairly easy BUT........I have a two inch pipe from the pump to the first step down tee, then two inches to the next step down and the upside of the second tee steps down to the upper filter which is about a 1 inch line, so i have a two inch outflow from the pump which does about 4000 GPH and three outflows. Can it be put on a separate sort of re-circulating pump? I have one that I use as a spare, just for aeration if the big one goes out and I just drop it in the pond.
Is there a UV inline unit, where the water goes in one END and out the other instead of in the side and out the side? If there is an inline I think I could get it between the last side exit and the upper filter we have a one inch hose on that section and its about 2 feet long so that might work as long as its ok that all the water doesn't go through the unit.
Yes, the water goes in one end and out the other. They can be ordered to fit different sized pipes, or with a hose attachment that goes (usually) from a 3/4 pond hose, up to a 1 1/2 inch.
Yes, You CAN just run a separate little submersible pump through the UV light, with a hose that goes back into the pond....if you don't want to try to hook anything up to your existing pond piping and tubes. That makes it very easy without messing with anything else.
I would be lost without my uv lights. The uv lights also act as a sterilizer and so will also help with the health of your fish.
u folks are the best.......I will search for an inline UV light, u say about 36 watts should do? I'll post pictures when it gets clean. Thks
Just put new bulbs in both UV sterilizers today for both ponds. Wouldn't be without one either.
For months I had sturggled with brown water in old pond but when I got the UV in 2 days in was clear. When we built second pond we put one on it immediately before enzym and bacteria were added.
I paid a lot more than the one Merry Mary is referring to but they are larger and I didn't know the difference at the time so I went by gallonage of each pond. They sure did the trick.
Bonnie
am so excited... found a light that I think is going to work....no plumbing, how cool. its an Aqua 25 Watt UV Clarifier for Savio SkimmerFilter.
If it works it just slides down into the skimmer box. Keep your fingers crossed that this is the answer.
Let us know..... and good luck.
Well, good morning......Sunday I put three cups, made into a slurry, of ,something called "hydra crystal" within 4 hours I could see several inches into the water. I also added two aeration stones. suddenly the fish are back to the surface and feeding. Its now going on second day and I am still changing the filter every two hours but I can now see nearly half way into the water and the water coming over the falls is no longer green but crystal clear. I think I am winning. I have not put the uv in yet, but soon.
Q, that wonderful. When I get back from Cal. on June 13 I will be ready to clean up both of my ponds.
Once you get the UV going should clear up fine.
Bonnie
We got in last night from vacation in Boston and Maine. I am going to have to do some back flushing on my pressure filters to backflush and I am thinking the pondzyme should help. We have not been as faithful about adding that - especially being gone. I am afraid I might have DOC in the pond, but my fish don't seem to be stressing for air. I'll have to see what is going on there.
New problem, cleaned the net in my skimmer and found half a dozen fish scales. Is this normal? or is there something I need to do sooner rather than later? They seem to be happy and eating really well they aren't swimming funny or anything.
My brother used to do warranty work for Hayward pool equipment. He retired last year and had many parts left over. They do not want them back because of the shipping cost so I was gifted with a O Zone unit. It is a little over kill for my small pond bu we will out it on a timer once it gets the pond cleaned up. I have posted a photo of the unit. One light of the four is not working but that is probably a good thing. This would be used on very large hot spa tub.
I have also posted a photo of the pond this afternoon. You can actually see one of the filter drains in the bottom. The algae is disappearing and I am seeing things in the bottom of the pond I had no idea were there.
How could you tell these were fish scales. I have no answer to your question but we have some pretty smart pople on here. They will either know the answer or know where to send you for info.
as a fresh water fisher person, daddy taught me how to scale my catch....wanted me to be a good as my brothers, I was the only girl out of seven, so I recognize them as scales. Maybe they are shedding like we shed dead skin cells. I just don't remember ever seeing them before, maybe I wasn't looking.
My fish are so big that when they lose a scale, it looks like a quarter. Make sure they don't have an abrasion somewhere...or that one isn't missing all together! The doitsu koi, that have larger scales along their backs and lateral line, occassionally lose a scale, but it leaves a small wound, so make sure you don't have any injuries that need tending to.
Typically when I see a number of scales from my fish, generally it is after they spawn. Have you seen other things that would indicate spawning - foam on the water? An odor? Fish look a bit beaten up? Koi spawning can be quite rough.
the fish are very frisky and do look a bit frazzled, mine tend to rub themselves up in the water spearmint I have growing along the edge. If they are spawning it will be the first time my big gold koi is 10 years old the rest are 6 or 7 years old. I thought the smell was from the green water I am struggling to control. I am winning I think...LOL but since I can now see into the water about 4-5 inches I at least feel like I'm winning.
I'll keep an eye on them for the next couple of days..............
UV went in on Thursday (6/6) today I can see the gravel on the bottom....33" down. Its not yet crystal clear but I am winning....finally........I am so excited. BTB, attached is a picture at night with my big shortwave UV light on...........I have reconfigured since the picture but it is now similar.
Great news!
It only takes a short while for people to be convinced how happy their pond can be with a UV light! It makes a world of difference! I'm happy your pond is clear!
I love the lights. Good news on the pond getting clearer.
In my pond is a yellow Koi, Sunshine, that is about 3 years old and about 10 inches long. Was born in the pond. I have been watching him for weeks. I have 6 Koi that have been in the pond over 12 years and I think they intimidate "sunshine". He will not surface but he is getting higher in the pond every day. I thought for sure today he was going to make it but just before he got to the surface he dived. He eats the flakes and is like a vacuum on the bottom. He will swim along side of the larger fish but not above them. I cheer for him every morning. There are smaller fish and they surface al the time.
Have a great Monday. We have been in a heat wave. 110 degrees yesterday and today but tomorrow suppose to cool down to 102. "But", it is a dry heat.
MM, does the UV kill off the good bacteria, like micro lift?
No, once your good bacteria gets established, the UV light won't bother it. While getting it established, they often recommend that you turn off your UV and any carbon filters. After a few days, you turn it back on fulltime. They also say the best method of adding good bacteria is to put it in a bucket of pond water, and let it sit overnight to really get up and running, then dump it in your pond. After a few days, turn your UV light on fulltime again. The UV lights kill single cell beings....so green water algae is a single cell plant, it won't effect your water lilies or anything. It will kill some protozoan diseases, because they too are single cell. The less green water algae you have, due to the light, the more your bacteria will control what's left, by eating the nutrients in the water that is needed for algae to grow.
Sunshine, the pale yellow koi surfaced Thursday. I was so excited I let out a hoop and a holler and scared the fish big time. He took a dive and did not surface again until today. Now he/she is swimming with the big boys.
Yesterday Sunshine was swimming at the bottom of the pond with a fantail goldfish about his size and they were going around in circles and rubbing bodies but it looked like they were just having fun. So, what were they doing.
The algae is disappearing, the water is clearer and the fish are way more active. When I fed them yesterday two of the older koi broke water.
Have a good Monday.
Are you sure the pale yellow fish is a koi? Sounds like goldfish spawning to me! :)
There are off white goldfish/comets. But even if it isn't a goldfish, occassionally koi and goldfish will interbreed.
I have a friend that is a Koi breeder and seller. I will have him come over and give me his opinion. He also told me the other day he would tell me who was a female and who was a male. I really have no idea because it was born in the pond. It's mother was a very large fish that just disappeared one night. But I did not know what she was. She came with many other Koi that the owner died and the granddaughter worked for me and wanted them to go to a nice pond because the individuals that purchased her grandfather's home was going to fill the pond in and put the fish in the garbage.
They are very active and several again today broke water. They only appear to do that when I am near so I guess they are just saying hello.
I am off to bed. Have a great Tuesday. I do not get on here until late afternoon. Sharon
Koi will have barbels (whiskers) and goldfish will not. You may be able to tell if you can see it up close.
CRAZY morning already! Woke up to find police all over the neighborhood. Apparently a minivan was stolen from a Racetrack gas station by me, and they drove into our neighborhood, not knowing my street is a little cul-de-sac. They abandoned it and ran. I'm thinking they must have jumped my fence and ran through the back yard, because all of my temporary hoses were off the filters, which drained the temporary pools my koi were in (while I do my new pond) They must have tripped over everything in the dark, and trust me, my back yard right now is one big hazard! Anywhoooo, had to go to Lowe's at 7am, to get some antichlor to try to get my fish in at least enough water to cover their gills. So far, so good....only one large butterfly looked doubtful. Right now, she looks like she'll pull through. So many of them are around 2 feet, and have big egg bellys, so can't really handle much stress. The up side of it is that I got to take some pics of fish while they were in only 6 inches of water, to sort of get an inventory! :)