Now that I looked up causes of ammonia poisoning, i now think of before when my one filter wasn’t working well because the pipe was ripped and the water was leaking out. I fixed this issue but I realize that may have caused this problem.
Now that I looked up causes of ammonia poisoning, i now think of before when my one filter wasn’t working well because the pipe was ripped and the water was leaking out. I fixed this issue but I realize that may have caused this problem.
I did get it tested by my local pond store they said it was normal Ph a tad high but not that much to cause a problem. But I realize that like you all said before I should get my own kits since they can’t provide me numbers. So now I know it may be ammonia I will buy that kit.
Also I did do a water change so it probably helped with the ammonia levels
I’m sorry I know I sound confusing it’s just because I am so confused lol. But I will definitely buy a test kit tomorrow and then give you all some data.
I am the one that referred you here for help. These people know a ton more about Koi than I do. I'm a goldfish person. You need to provide actual numbers. Your pond is overstocked and looks dirty and multiple fish are showing signs of issues. This probably means you have a water quality issue. Please buy the entire API test kit (not just the ammonia), carefully read the instructions, do the tests, and then take a well lit and unaltered photograph of the test tubes standing against the test card so that the helpers can accurately read them. It can be hard to tell sometimes.
Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 0 ph 7.8. This is of course after my water change.
I don't see the results for the KH, and the number for the pH is not high. Is the pH tested with the high range pH test kit, the wide range pH test kit, or the Fresh Water pH Test Kit. The Fresh Water test has a maximum of 7.6, the wide range has too few steps between the minimum and maximum to be of much use except to point you to the Fresh Water Test or the High Range pH Test.
I know, we are difficult. Not really, but it does take time to register what is going on, and until it sinks in, it sometimes seems difficult. My first inclination when I saw the fish was one of these fish have serious parasite issues, but with your comment that they seemed to be improving with the water changes, it would appear to be a water quality issue. It is always easier to fix a water quality issue, and if it is the problem, fixing the parasites issue or bacterial issues will have been done in vane.
Check your pH very early in the morning, preferably before the sun hits the pond (this will typically be the lowest pH of the day) and again very late in the afternoon, before the sun leaves the pond (as this will be the highest pH of the day). The reason for the pH swing is due to the sun causing photosynthesis of all green vegetation, where carbon dioxide is taken in and oxygen is expelled, and carbon dioxide in water is carbonic acid, lowering the pH. During hours with no sun, the vegetation shifts and starts to remove oxygen from the water and expel carbon dioxide. If the KH is low, less than 80ppm, then the swings can be large, and if the KH is near zero, the swing can go to pH of around 5 very easily in what is referred to as a pH crash. There really is no maximum KH, though some argue that high KH is not needed. I will say, it may not be needed, but I have never seen it cause a problem, like low KH. If the KH is below 80, you can use baking soda, plain old bicarbonate of soda, which is cheap and easily found to bring the KH up. Add it late in the afternoon when the pH is highest so that it does not cause a radical rapid pH shift. If the KH is over 80 and there is good aeration the pH should be pretty solid at about 8.3. Lower would indicate a lack of aeration to drive off carbon dioxide, and higher would indicate a lack of calcium to combine with the carbonates to form calcium carbonate which is not ionic, so does not affect the pH values.
Factors affecting water quality are feed rate, which is generally associated with population, (general rule of thumb is one fish per 250 gallons, which makes keeping water much easier), filtration, aeration, and pond volume.more fish equals more waste, more food equals more waste, smaller filters means more waste. I think you can see where this is going.
Zone 7 A/B
Keep your words sweet. You never know when you may have to eat them.
Richard
It was with the fresh water test kit. And it may have parasites like you said I just don’t have a way to tell for sure. I don’t see visible parasites but I know most are microscopic. My one fish that was the worse does have a couple “strings” hanging from beneath. I thought it was just his tissue coming off from his infections and rotten tissue. Could that be a sign of parasites? As well as I noticed my two little butterfly koi now have little bumps on their tails. It is the same color as the tail and they feel hard.
So there are 3 types of ph test kits, do we need them all and if so where is a good place to get them and when to use?
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Rich you are not being difficult, she is. I asked her to photograph the tubes against the card. She has been dodging around what has been asked of her multiple times. She reported all her numbers as 0 in that badly overstocked pond full of sick fish. I don't think you should spend your time here trying to help when the user won't follow simple instruction or prove she is taking advice.
For most of our ponds the high range pH test kit is the one to use. The wide range pH kit will tell you for sure, as it reads a much wider range, just not as closely as the Fresh Water test kit or the high range test kit. With the ponds exposed to the sun, algae and other green submerged plants have the diurnal swing of consuming carbon dioxide in the daylight which raises the pH, and giving off carbon dioxide at night, lowering the pH. With adequate aeration and a KH high enough to level the pH swings, the pH will most often be in the 8 to 8.5 range, which is above the limit of the Fresh Water test. Indoor aquariums can be run with more expensive KH boosters than the baking soda that we typically use due to there small size, setting pH values that are stable at various pH values, nearer 7 or even acidic for some of the ciclids.
Zone 7 A/B
Keep your words sweet. You never know when you may have to eat them.
Richard