Sorry for your loss. They become so sentimental dont they?
The Nitrite build-up was just a natural process, maybe your pond had alot of
dead vegetation and as soon as the temps starting rising then so did the
Nitrite, if your filter was not running or maybe overloaded already it did
not have the ability to convert the nitrites fast enough. Maybe next year
you should turn your filters on sooner. Has your fish population increased
at all, this could also be the culprit. Maybe you should invest in or build
another filter with more bio surface area. HTH
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**



"SueAndHerZoo" wrote in message
news:MUT9c.2098$9g.1660@lakeread04...
Hi. If you recall I wrote about a week ago with my koi hiding and dying.
Some of you suggested nitrite poisoning, which made sense, and when I
tested
the water, the nitrites were high. I have been doing water changes,
adding
salt, firing up the pump and filter, added 2 more airstones, etc. and the
water tests fine now. Unfortunately, I lost 4 of my very large, "been
with
me from the start" koi. I still break down and cry a lot, especially
when
I'm out working on the pond, and most people think I'm nuts, but I knew
people here could relate - they were my "babies", I raised them from only
a
couple of inches long, they ate out of my hand, followed me around the
pond,
etc. Of course a part of it is the guilt - I feel as if I killed them
or
let them down.

But anyway, sorry for the venting, here are my real questions: why is it
I
still have quite a few small fish and koi fry that survived, and only the
big ones didn't make it? I thought it would be the other way around with
nitrite poisoning. And secondly, I still need to know WHY I had a nitrite
problem this winter - it's never happened before. It would be easier to
deal with this and prevent it from ever happening again if I knew WHAT I
was
dealing with. Thanks for letting me vent - nice to know there's a place
where I can cry over fish and not feel like a fool.
Sue