HELP /w 1500 Gallon pond! Overfeeding

We went out of town for 3 days, and the person we hired to take care
of the animals dumped a whole 25 POUNDS of Koi wheatgerm food into my
poor little 1500 gallon pond. 25 POUNDS! MY.. GOD.. how stupid could
you get!
*I was stocking up for the winter.*
Well, now its a day after we've gotten home. There is a layer of food
on the floor of the pond that even dwarfs the ammount of leaves before
we had a skimmer. The water is so incredibly filthy, I cant see to the
bottom in the gravity pond's mechanical filter! Visibility is about 3
inches. The pond water is milky *and seriously.. its like I filled the
tank with milk* white. I cant see the colors on the fish from 3 inches
of water.. I have no quarantine tank, was planning on putting one in
this spring.

The food has clogged the skimmer.. is was completely full. Thank god I
bought that auto-shutoff. Food has nearly stopped the drain pump from
working.. its pulling a measly 450 gph *while it usually pulls about
2500 GPH* The pond aerorator doesnt blow bubbles.. seeing its full of
little particles of FOOD..
the rocks I use to give the fish a hiding place were COVERED.. not a
spot of rock to see.
Like I said, visibility was about 3 inches. I did a 75% water change
*drained half way, filled, half way again, filled.* and dumped 20
ounces of 'Ultimate' pond clear *fish store was out of ammonia lock*
I picked out as much dirt as I could.. *most of it being food*
I dont seem to have lost any fish yet, but I do believe I'm going to
lose them when the Nitrates and Nitrites turn into Ammonia.

I then sterilised the filter pads, heavy, medium, and light.. and
sterilised half the biological filter. *sterilising by boiling the
objects* The sand filter was clogged full of food, so I rinsed it out.



After about 2 hours, I noticed a change in the pond.. the water's
surface has a rainbow-like sheen, and foam occurs at the waterfall.


Please, somebody help!

Not a good time of year but I'd take the whole
pond down to the liner and really clean it out.
The koi club here has containers that members can borrow to store fish when the
pond is being worked on.
We take apart the filter in our 150 stock tank
and put the fish in there when we clean.

good luck!
k30a
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

I'd remove the fish right now! Even if you have to go borrowing
containers to put them in.
Then KILL the sitter!!!!!!!
No ... I mean do as Kathy (K30a) prescribes. Empty the
whole pond... you'll have to take off work to get this done!
Also enlist some help... family, neighbors... whoever.

Good Luck!

Nedra

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
"K30a" wrote in message
...

Not a good time of year but I'd take the whole
pond down to the liner and really clean it out.
The koi club here has containers that members can borrow to store fish
when the
pond is being worked on.
We take apart the filter in our 150 stock tank
and put the fish in there when we clean.

good luck!
k30a
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

I cant believe that some idiot would do that. What did you say to the
person?





On 17 Nov 2003 19:36:21 -0800, (David) wrote:

We went out of town for 3 days, and the person we hired to take care
of the animals dumped a whole 25 POUNDS of Koi wheatgerm food into my
poor little 1500 gallon pond. 25 POUNDS! MY.. GOD.. how stupid could
you get!
*I was stocking up for the winter.*
Well, now its a day after we've gotten home. There is a layer of food
on the floor of the pond that even dwarfs the ammount of leaves before
we had a skimmer. The water is so incredibly filthy, I cant see to the
bottom in the gravity pond's mechanical filter! Visibility is about 3
inches. The pond water is milky *and seriously.. its like I filled the
tank with milk* white. I cant see the colors on the fish from 3 inches
of water.. I have no quarantine tank, was planning on putting one in
this spring.

The food has clogged the skimmer.. is was completely full. Thank god I
bought that auto-shutoff. Food has nearly stopped the drain pump from
working.. its pulling a measly 450 gph *while it usually pulls about
2500 GPH* The pond aerorator doesnt blow bubbles.. seeing its full of
little particles of FOOD..
the rocks I use to give the fish a hiding place were COVERED.. not a
spot of rock to see.
Like I said, visibility was about 3 inches. I did a 75% water change
*drained half way, filled, half way again, filled.* and dumped 20
ounces of 'Ultimate' pond clear *fish store was out of ammonia lock*
I picked out as much dirt as I could.. *most of it being food*
I dont seem to have lost any fish yet, but I do believe I'm going to
lose them when the Nitrates and Nitrites turn into Ammonia.

I then sterilised the filter pads, heavy, medium, and light.. and
sterilised half the biological filter. *sterilising by boiling the
objects* The sand filter was clogged full of food, so I rinsed it out.



After about 2 hours, I noticed a change in the pond.. the water's
surface has a rainbow-like sheen, and foam occurs at the waterfall.


Please, somebody help!

What a mess.

My best advice would be to buy a "kids" swimming pool, fill it with water &
amquel, and slowly move the fish over there. That way you can really
drain/clean out the whole pond.


On 17 Nov 2003 19:36:21 -0800, (David) wrote:

We went out of town for 3 days, and the person we hired to take care
of the animals dumped a whole 25 POUNDS of Koi wheatgerm food into my
poor little 1500 gallon pond. 25 POUNDS! MY.. GOD.. how stupid could
you get!
*I was stocking up for the winter.*
Well, now its a day after we've gotten home. There is a layer of food
on the floor of the pond that even dwarfs the ammount of leaves before
we had a skimmer. The water is so incredibly filthy, I cant see to the
bottom in the gravity pond's mechanical filter! Visibility is about 3
inches. The pond water is milky *and seriously.. its like I filled the
tank with milk* white. I cant see the colors on the fish from 3 inches
of water.. I have no quarantine tank, was planning on putting one in
this spring.

The food has clogged the skimmer.. is was completely full. Thank god I
bought that auto-shutoff. Food has nearly stopped the drain pump from
working.. its pulling a measly 450 gph *while it usually pulls about
2500 GPH* The pond aerorator doesnt blow bubbles.. seeing its full of
little particles of FOOD..
the rocks I use to give the fish a hiding place were COVERED.. not a
spot of rock to see.
Like I said, visibility was about 3 inches. I did a 75% water change
*drained half way, filled, half way again, filled.* and dumped 20
ounces of 'Ultimate' pond clear *fish store was out of ammonia lock*
I picked out as much dirt as I could.. *most of it being food*
I dont seem to have lost any fish yet, but I do believe I'm going to
lose them when the Nitrates and Nitrites turn into Ammonia.

I then sterilised the filter pads, heavy, medium, and light.. and
sterilised half the biological filter. *sterilising by boiling the
objects* The sand filter was clogged full of food, so I rinsed it out.



After about 2 hours, I noticed a change in the pond.. the water's
surface has a rainbow-like sheen, and foam occurs at the waterfall.


Please, somebody help!

K30a wrote:
Not a good time of year but I'd take the whole
pond down to the liner and really clean it out.
The koi club here has containers that members can borrow to store fish when the
pond is being worked on.
We take apart the filter in our 150 stock tank
and put the fish in there when we clean.

good luck!
k30a
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html


Do what k30a says! Then tell us your area and the name of
the sitter, this person should never be allowed to watch any
pond again!

--
Bonnie
NJ

That's a great idea, the kids pools are on sale this time of year. You get a
bonus for the kids! Good luck and I will say a prayer for the fishes. Kc
"Theo van Daele" wrote in message
...
What a mess.

My best advice would be to buy a "kids" swimming pool, fill it with water
&
amquel, and slowly move the fish over there. That way you can really
drain/clean out the whole pond.


On 17 Nov 2003 19:36:21 -0800, (David) wrote:

We went out of town for 3 days, and the person we hired to take care
of the animals dumped a whole 25 POUNDS of Koi wheatgerm food into my
poor little 1500 gallon pond. 25 POUNDS! MY.. GOD.. how stupid could
you get!
*I was stocking up for the winter.*
Well, now its a day after we've gotten home. There is a layer of food
on the floor of the pond that even dwarfs the ammount of leaves before
we had a skimmer. The water is so incredibly filthy, I cant see to the
bottom in the gravity pond's mechanical filter! Visibility is about 3
inches. The pond water is milky *and seriously.. its like I filled the
tank with milk* white. I cant see the colors on the fish from 3 inches
of water.. I have no quarantine tank, was planning on putting one in
this spring.

The food has clogged the skimmer.. is was completely full. Thank god I
bought that auto-shutoff. Food has nearly stopped the drain pump from
working.. its pulling a measly 450 gph *while it usually pulls about
2500 GPH* The pond aerorator doesnt blow bubbles.. seeing its full of
little particles of FOOD..
the rocks I use to give the fish a hiding place were COVERED.. not a
spot of rock to see.
Like I said, visibility was about 3 inches. I did a 75% water change
*drained half way, filled, half way again, filled.* and dumped 20
ounces of 'Ultimate' pond clear *fish store was out of ammonia lock*
I picked out as much dirt as I could.. *most of it being food*
I dont seem to have lost any fish yet, but I do believe I'm going to
lose them when the Nitrates and Nitrites turn into Ammonia.

I then sterilised the filter pads, heavy, medium, and light.. and
sterilised half the biological filter. *sterilising by boiling the
objects* The sand filter was clogged full of food, so I rinsed it out.



After about 2 hours, I noticed a change in the pond.. the water's
surface has a rainbow-like sheen, and foam occurs at the waterfall.


Please, somebody help!

On Tue, 18 Nov 2003 01:59:18 -0600, jammer wrote:


I cant believe that some idiot would do that. What did you say to the
person?


Leaving out the bad words? I bet he said nothing.

Bad deal. Hang in there and do rest often as the stress can really
get you down.

dd

I live near Oakland, California..

The baby pool sounds like it wouldnt be such a bad idea.

After the 75% water change today, I see no difference, other than I
cant see anything at all now *milk*

Catching the fish to put them into a separate pond will be quite a
problem.. they're all quite camoflauged in the milk. Even then, I've
searched all through the neighborhood and cant seem to turn up
anything but a wheelbarrel and a couple of drink boxes. Nothing that
can hold 11 12'' fish.
No bellies up yet thank god.

I took water test readings today before I put the pond through its
winter torment.. results:
Ammonia is in the 'stress' zone
Nitrates are in the 'Toxic' zone
and Nitrites are in the 'Toxic' zone
PH is 6.5
everything else is normal



I have a Bitron 18 that isnt hooked up to the pond yet... *since I
ordered the new filtration system from two manufacturers, one of which
is INCREDIBLY slow*
and a spare Oase Nautilus 30 pump, plus a Beckett 1000 gph pump.

Do you think the Bitron 18, used as a steriliser, could cleanse the
pond of this horrid milky white bacteria layer?

*update, the layer on top is now a milky greenish white, with string
algae starting up all over the place. wow, after only 2 days.

I've done another 75% water change, and I still see no difference in
the color or purity of the water.

Help!

Wow. My lilly pads went boom.
From green as an Evergreen to looking as though its been sitting in
the attic for a couple years..



Hooked up the Bitron 18. I ordered a Biotec 10 a while back, and I
hope it will solve my problems.