3 to 4 inch Koi

Just got my pond ready for fish and got 2 small koi (3-4") to start.
The pond is aboout 8x12 and 3 feet deep in the deepest point. They
have been in for two days. The two litle guys have been swimming a
bit, but when I tried to feed them today for the first time they just
hide in the oxegeninator plant I have in the deepest spot. Are they
two small to eat or are they just eating other things in the pond? A
neighbor said he has a few comet fish I can have, I was planning on
adding them in the next few days, but I want to make sure these guys
are ok 1st
Thanks

wrote in message
om...
Just got my pond ready for fish and got 2 small koi (3-4") to start.
The pond is aboout 8x12 and 3 feet deep in the deepest point. They
have been in for two days. The two litle guys have been swimming a
bit, but when I tried to feed them today for the first time they just
hide in the oxegeninator plant I have in the deepest spot. Are they
two small to eat or are they just eating other things in the pond? A
neighbor said he has a few comet fish I can have, I was planning on
adding them in the next few days, but I want to make sure these guys
are ok 1st
Thanks

Wait til these guys are used to their surroundings, and until you are sure they
are not sick before adding more fish. It is not unusual for fish to hide when
they've been introduced to new surroundings. And they can go for a while before
eating. Check you water quality to make sure all is ok. You shouldn't add fish
to a new pond without first letting the water age and stabilize. Post the water
qaulity paramters here and we will have a look at them. If they don't appear
listless, or tipping to one side, but are moving around, and don't have any
obvious pathologies (red gills, fins, or sores on the skin, or white spots,
fuzzies, etc), then either the water isn't quite right, or they are just not
used to their surroundings yet. Keep us posted on their condition, but it
sounds like they may have new tank syndrome (or in your case, new pond
syndrome).

wrote in message
om...
Just got my pond ready for fish and got 2 small koi (3-4") to start.
The pond is aboout 8x12 and 3 feet deep in the deepest point. They
have been in for two days. The two litle guys have been swimming a
bit, but when I tried to feed them today for the first time they just
hide in the oxegeninator plant I have in the deepest spot. Are they
two small to eat or are they just eating other things in the pond? A
neighbor said he has a few comet fish I can have, I was planning on
adding them in the next few days, but I want to make sure these guys
are ok 1st

Fish in a new pond typically run and hide. Just watch the Nemo movie, there
is a nice documentary piece when he is captured, bagged and then dumped in
the aquarium. There is a lot of "What the h..." going on. They won't starve.
They'll eat plant matter, algae, etc. You can keep trying to feed them but
don't overdue it. If they don't eat it, you don't want that food just
rotting in the pond. Also try to get on a schedule. Go to the same spot in
the pond everyday at the same time. Pretty soon, they'll be there waiting
for you.

As for your neighbors fish, I'd wait just a bit. Check your water for a
short time, to make sure the filter is properly cycled and handling these
fish, then add more.

BV.

HMM, looks like one is missing. I dont know if he is just hiding well
or what. I can see one, and he is moving around when he doesnt see
me, but one I cant see at all. He was there this morning, Ill keep
you posted as to whether he comes back

My PH is about 8 1/2 - 9, which Im told is kind of high for my plants,
but the fish should have no problem with it
Amonia is non existant, been running the pump and bio filter for about
2 weeks and there are no fish
water temp is about 65 - 70 degress
anything else I should test for? Any advice?


"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message ...
wrote in message
om...
Just got my pond ready for fish and got 2 small koi (3-4") to start.
The pond is aboout 8x12 and 3 feet deep in the deepest point. They
have been in for two days. The two litle guys have been swimming a
bit, but when I tried to feed them today for the first time they just
hide in the oxegeninator plant I have in the deepest spot. Are they
two small to eat or are they just eating other things in the pond? A
neighbor said he has a few comet fish I can have, I was planning on
adding them in the next few days, but I want to make sure these guys
are ok 1st

Fish in a new pond typically run and hide. Just watch the Nemo movie, there
is a nice documentary piece when he is captured, bagged and then dumped in
the aquarium. There is a lot of "What the h..." going on. They won't starve.
They'll eat plant matter, algae, etc. You can keep trying to feed them but
don't overdue it. If they don't eat it, you don't want that food just
rotting in the pond. Also try to get on a schedule. Go to the same spot in
the pond everyday at the same time. Pretty soon, they'll be there waiting
for you.

As for your neighbors fish, I'd wait just a bit. Check your water for a
short time, to make sure the filter is properly cycled and handling these
fish, then add more.

BV.

Until you added fish, you had nothing to generate ammonia. Now that you
have your first fish, they will generate ammonia, and it will rise before
the bacteria develop to convert it to nitrites. Nitrites are toxic and it
will take the filter longer to develop the bacteria population to consume
them. For the size of your fish and size of your pond, you may not even
measure the ammonia and nitrite spikes, but if you add a bunch of fish at
one time, the levels can become very toxic and cause the fish to develop
diseases, or just plain die. As for tests, pH, ammonia, nitrite are the
three most important, though I use KH (alkalinity) and if it is up around
100 or higher, the pH will be rock solid and you won't even need to test the
pH.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
wrote in message
om...
HMM, looks like one is missing. I dont know if he is just hiding well
or what. I can see one, and he is moving around when he doesnt see
me, but one I cant see at all. He was there this morning, Ill keep
you posted as to whether he comes back

My PH is about 8 1/2 - 9, which Im told is kind of high for my plants,
but the fish should have no problem with it
Amonia is non existant, been running the pump and bio filter for about
2 weeks and there are no fish
water temp is about 65 - 70 degress
anything else I should test for? Any advice?


"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
om...
Just got my pond ready for fish and got 2 small koi (3-4") to start.
The pond is aboout 8x12 and 3 feet deep in the deepest point. They
have been in for two days. The two litle guys have been swimming a
bit, but when I tried to feed them today for the first time they just
hide in the oxegeninator plant I have in the deepest spot. Are they
two small to eat or are they just eating other things in the pond? A
neighbor said he has a few comet fish I can have, I was planning on
adding them in the next few days, but I want to make sure these guys
are ok 1st

Fish in a new pond typically run and hide. Just watch the Nemo movie,
there
is a nice documentary piece when he is captured, bagged and then dumped
in
the aquarium. There is a lot of "What the h..." going on. They won't
starve.
They'll eat plant matter, algae, etc. You can keep trying to feed them
but
don't overdue it. If they don't eat it, you don't want that food just
rotting in the pond. Also try to get on a schedule. Go to the same spot
in
the pond everyday at the same time. Pretty soon, they'll be there
waiting
for you.

As for your neighbors fish, I'd wait just a bit. Check your water for a
short time, to make sure the filter is properly cycled and handling
these
fish, then add more.

BV.

wrote in message
om...
HMM, looks like one is missing. I dont know if he is just hiding well
or what. I can see one, and he is moving around when he doesnt see
me, but one I cant see at all. He was there this morning, Ill keep
you posted as to whether he comes back

My PH is about 8 1/2 - 9, which Im told is kind of high for my plants,
but the fish should have no problem with it
Amonia is non existant, been running the pump and bio filter for about
2 weeks and there are no fish
water temp is about 65 - 70 degress
anything else I should test for? Any advice?


Yes. Test for nitrite. Nitrite is the most toxic form of nitrogen for fish.
I'm not sure about the timeline for the nitrogen cycle in freshwater ponds, but
in my salt water tank, when the tank is set up fresh, ammonia shows up after
about 3 days. It is then converted to nitrite after about a week to 10 days.
This is when the water becomes most toxic to fauna. After 21 days all of the
nitrite is converted to nitrate, which is much less toxic, and can be used by
most plants. This is also when it is safest to begin adding fauna, such as
fish. Like I said, I don't know the exact timeline for fresh water, but I can
imagine that it is similar. Test for nitrite.

Well, as of yesterday they were both still in there. The smaller one
is VERY good at hiding, I was sure he was gone. All seems well
otherwise. They do still hide when Im at the pond though. I put a
VERY small ammount of food in the water ( a few pellets) to see if
they will come up and then leave. I dont know if they eat when Im
gone. When would it be safe to add fish? Pumps been running about 3
weeks now and the fis got put in on sunday
Thanks

" George" wrote in message ...
wrote in message
om...
HMM, looks like one is missing. I dont know if he is just hiding well
or what. I can see one, and he is moving around when he doesnt see
me, but one I cant see at all. He was there this morning, Ill keep
you posted as to whether he comes back

My PH is about 8 1/2 - 9, which Im told is kind of high for my plants,
but the fish should have no problem with it
Amonia is non existant, been running the pump and bio filter for about
2 weeks and there are no fish
water temp is about 65 - 70 degress
anything else I should test for? Any advice?


Yes. Test for nitrite. Nitrite is the most toxic form of nitrogen for fish.
I'm not sure about the timeline for the nitrogen cycle in freshwater ponds, but
in my salt water tank, when the tank is set up fresh, ammonia shows up after
about 3 days. It is then converted to nitrite after about a week to 10 days.
This is when the water becomes most toxic to fauna. After 21 days all of the
nitrite is converted to nitrate, which is much less toxic, and can be used by
most plants. This is also when it is safest to begin adding fauna, such as
fish. Like I said, I don't know the exact timeline for fresh water, but I can
imagine that it is similar. Test for nitrite.

wrote in message
om...
Well, as of yesterday they were both still in there. The smaller one
is VERY good at hiding, I was sure he was gone. All seems well
otherwise. They do still hide when Im at the pond though. I put a
VERY small ammount of food in the water ( a few pellets) to see if
they will come up and then leave. I dont know if they eat when Im
gone. When would it be safe to add fish? Pumps been running about 3
weeks now and the fis got put in on sunday
Thanks

At this point, if they don't seem to be sick, you might try to add one or two
more fish. I've had experiences where fish were healthy but were hiding and
acting too frightened to eat when place in a new environment. If you add one or
two more fish, they might behave differently and start eating. Sometimes, when
this happens the more timid fish get the messege and will start to eat. Try it
with a couple of cheap (sacrificial) goldfish and see what happens. It is very
important to be as gentle with them as possible when first introducing them to
the pond.

" George" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
om...
HMM, looks like one is missing. I dont know if he is just hiding well
or what. I can see one, and he is moving around when he doesnt see
me, but one I cant see at all. He was there this morning, Ill keep
you posted as to whether he comes back

My PH is about 8 1/2 - 9, which Im told is kind of high for my plants,
but the fish should have no problem with it
Amonia is non existant, been running the pump and bio filter for about
2 weeks and there are no fish
water temp is about 65 - 70 degress
anything else I should test for? Any advice?


Yes. Test for nitrite. Nitrite is the most toxic form of nitrogen for fish.
I'm not sure about the timeline for the nitrogen cycle in freshwater ponds,
but
in my salt water tank, when the tank is set up fresh, ammonia shows up after
about 3 days. It is then converted to nitrite after about a week to 10 days.
This is when the water becomes most toxic to fauna. After 21 days all of the
nitrite is converted to nitrate, which is much less toxic, and can be used by
most plants. This is also when it is safest to begin adding fauna, such as
fish. Like I said, I don't know the exact timeline for fresh water, but I
can
imagine that it is similar. Test for nitrite.