Koi Forum (Nishikigoi - Japanese Koi Fish): KOI Talk: Pond Water Quality: Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!!

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!!

lpy
Koi Lover

Sep 7, 2001, 2:01 PM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!!	Can't Post

dear good people,

I'm a new member, fr today, how about that? Been surfing some of yr websites for a while & enjoy every subject on koi keeping. I don't know much about koi keeping. My interest developed when last yr i visited a friend's hse who has a sm koi pond, & the kois are very friendly, they come to the surface for feeding. They've lovely colours & patterns. I begin to love them since. My sm pond was built in 1998 which housed a 33" silver arawana,few gold fish & carps. So last May i gave all the fish to a friend & started introducing 4 sm baby kois in, then 2 more in July. They grow steadily. Feed them twice a day,I should say they are healthy.

By the way, it's a sm concrete pond, capacity 250gal , 6 kois from 18cm-22cm. drain 20% water every weekend & clean the bio filter(consist of corol,brushes & green mates)with pond water every 3-4 mths. Water been very clear but often encounter algae bloom, but thanks to green away solution, problem solved.

10 days ago (while i was away from home for a few days) my hubby cleaned the bio filter with tape water & drained about 30% water. I almost faint when i saw the water turn green & i can't see the kois, only when they surface to feed. The weather has been very hot with sudden heavy shower. I drained out about 40% water twice within 3 days but still no improvement.

I'm really upset & my hubby fells very guilty & sorry. It's heartache to see those lovely kois in such a condition. Their presence have foster closer tie between my family & friends too.

I'd be most grateful,anyone of you good people can render me advise to solve the problem.

God bless you all

jenny
fr Sabah

johnson lee
Koi Kichi

Sep 8, 2001, 12:34 AM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi Jenny

Welcome to one of the best Koi forum one can find! You've come to the right place and I assure you the advice you'll be getting from the webmaster and the contributing members will in no time help you solve your problems! Smile

OK, firstly you have not mentioned whether you have done any test on your pond water.

ie. pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates level. (this is the basic test to determine the health of your pond water).

If you have not done so, I would urge you to purchase them soon and post the readings. A good pH level should be between 7 & 9 and ideal pH wld. be betw. 7.5-8.0

Ammonia readings shld. be below 0.1 ppm, nitrites shld. be below 0.2 ppm and nitrates below 50ppm.

A pond with clear water need not necessary means that the water is good for the koi. In fact a lot of toxic substances are colourless anyway! So don't be lulled into a sense of complacency even if water is clear. On the other hand, green-pea soup water need not always be bad for the kois. If your water tests shows the above readings, then your kois will still be safe but of course with green water you can't enjoy the beauty of your fishes! Smile

Pls. let us know whether your pond is under any shade since too much exposure to sunlight also causes algae to bloom. What about the condition of your kois? Do they seem OK to you?

We will be waiting for you to post your water test readings soon in order for the senior members to advise you further.

Cheers!

Johnson

Mark
Koi Kichi

Sep 8, 2001, 3:13 AM

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First of all we got to know how does the green comes about. Could it be the undersized filter system, high nitrates level, over stocking, chemicals, mechanical and so forth. Knowing the root will eliminate it. The practice in this hobby is once again, determine the water quality by means of TEST KITS.

Perhaps you may want to help us with the test readings taken from your pond asap.

Thanks.

lpy
Koi Lover

Sep 8, 2001, 8:02 AM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

hi Johnson & Mark,

Thanks v. much for yr kind responds.

I'd done pH test on 5 Sept & it was 6.2

This afternoon I bought a set of test kits & the reading are:-

pH 7.6; Ammonia 0.5-1ppm; Nitrate 80 ppm; Nitrite(not sure, it looks like inbtwn 0.3-0.5 mg/1 against the Sera test kit colour chart, the colour is like tinted light pink/purple???).

Anywhere, i supposed the abv reading mean 'DIP TROUBLE' right?

My pond is exposed to direct sunlight. I'm not sure they're OK, they seem restless. when i am near the pond they swim away quickly. Is 6 kois in my pond consider overstocking?

Any other information u guys required pls let me know.

Thanks for yr concern

Regards
Jenny

Joshua Lee
Koi Lover

Sep 9, 2001, 3:34 AM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hi Jenny

"Elementary,Mr Watson" .. Trying to steal a few pages from Sherlock to solve the "mystery of the green water". I can imagine JTK Johnson with his overcoat, hat and magnifying glass going through the paces. Johnson, the game's afoot and you are doing very well. Smile

I think your tests do point to the main suspect being ----tadada....the filter box. Could be due to the chlorine in the tap water wiping out all the good bateria in the box so the de-nitrification (detoxification) process could not be carried out, resulting in the high readings. Hopefully things will improve when the good bugs multiply again. In the meantime you should do a water change to dilute the toxins - ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. The marriage of high nitrates and strong sunlight brought off the green algae offspring.

6 koi in a 250 gallon pond is quite spacious.

Do check if your filter box is at least 30% of your pond capacity, which means it should hold 75 gallons.

By the way, green water (contains natural spirulina) is good for your koi so long as the test readings are OK.

Anyway, better hear from the real Sifu.... Mark, what do you say?

Josh
[biggrin]

Khoobg
Webmaster

Sep 9, 2001, 8:50 AM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

Cleaning the filter with tap water is definitely the start of the problem. You have two choices. The first is to wait until your filter mature and stabilized. This will take several weeks. Second option it to purchase Biozyme to jump start your filter.

lpy
Koi Lover

Sep 9, 2001, 12:11 PM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

hi josh & khoobg,
Its nice to hear fr you. This morning i drained out 80% water & cleaned the filter with pound water cos' found lots of loose residue trapped in the grn mates(hope i did the right thing). After the heavy rain at 5pm this evening the reading are:-
pH - 7.4; ammonia-0; nitrite -btwn 0.3 & 0.5mg/1(same as before); nitrate - btwn 20 - 40ppm.

Josh, the filter is 1/3 of the pond size. Should be OK i guess?

Agree with u guys that the culprit must be cleaning the filter with tap water(cari pasal loooo!!!). Now should i do another water change? How many times more? I've not feed the koi since 5 Sept, should i feed them now? they seem OK, swim smoothly already.

khoobg, i don't think i've the patience to wait for weeks. I decide to try introduce Biozyme tomorrow. i noted there're few types available e.g Biozyme enhencer. Which type u recommand? (sorry lah so kan chiong)

hi johnson & siiifu Mark any suggestion?

gd nite

Rgds
Jenny

------------------

denniskweh
Koi Lover

Sep 10, 2001, 3:49 AM

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hi Mark, Joshua and others
I will like to share my water keeping situation so far. My main tank which is indoor and no sunlight at all has the following features:

1. Metal halide lamp of 70 watts (equivalent to 300 watts normal light)
2. A small plot Smile

of vegetation with lava chips
3 Hi-blow for aeration
4 5 kg of biohome which supports 15 tons of water capacity (my tank is 1 ton)
5 Quality food (email me to ask for brands)
6. Water parameters of 8.0, 0 ammonia and >0.3 nitrites

Results? -- my kois colour are good and glisten. As an illustration, I have one persimmon kujaku which had pale orange colour perviously under different tank conditions than the above. After a major revamp to the filtration system plus additional enhancements above, the said kujaku is now rich persimmon orange glistening and white creamy colour. A marked improvement and continue to improve.
Other fishes also improved as well.

regards
Dennis

denniskweh
Koi Lover

Sep 10, 2001, 4:09 AM

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Green Water, HELPPPP!!!!! [In reply to]	Can't Post

also:
1. Upgrade the tank size to 6 feet and this works wonders as the fishes are growing well.
2. Capacity of fishes:

1 large chagoi (22 inches)
5 mediun kois (12 inches)
10 small kois (less than 8 inches)

As I am overstocking here, the hi-blow aeration really helps coupled lots of biohome (will increase the biohome further), the water parameters are good. My water is slightly greenish but clear. There are some resident water snails (tiny ones) which I kind of like them around as they make the tank more eco-friendly.

regards
Demmos

tstang
Koi Lover

Sep 11, 2001, 3:30 AM

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hi LPY,

as all the sifu said, if your filter is enough to sustained your pond, there won't be any green water.

One quick way is to buy a UV filter. Sure will get your water clear.

Hope this help.

johnson lee
Koi Kichi

Sep 12, 2001, 5:07 AM

Post #11 of 11 (2013 views)
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Hi Jenny

Looks like your water readings have improved! Smile

pH - OK, ammonia - OK, nitrites - shld be below 0.3ppm and nitrates - shld be below 40 ppm.

But you are getting close. Changing 80% of your water will help in reducing the toxic in the pond but did you add in anti-chlorine in the water before adding into pond?

Beneficial bacteria comes in many brands and I do not think one is better than the other just which that suit your budget. I saw one in the fish shop selling at about RM70/bottle and I supposed that seems OK to me. Can't remember the brand though. Sorry.

Anyway, Khoo and Josh have already given you the right advice so keep checking your water daily and if things still don't improve for now, just change about 20-25% water and salt your pond up to 0.3% in order to reduce nitrite poisoining of your kois. Once the beneficial bacteria kicks in, it will eliminate the dreaded nitrites in your pond.

Happy fish-keeping Jenny!

Regards
Johnson

PS. Josh, thanks for the compliment and I know I still have a long way to go before attaining the knowledge you guys have. Smile

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