I'll keep to the techie/fishie stuff first.
The dying had to do with oxygen levels, not filtration.
A waterfall helps (a bit) with mixing the water with oxygen. Another (usually cheap) solution is to use an airpump/special airstones at several places around the pond.
In my case I don't need them - I have a waterfall too - because the difference will be summer temps. A decent pump would set you back about $150, you need some (very small diameter) tubing, and some air stones (cheap as dirt).
It's what fish need most: they breathe through their gills and have to depend on the oxygen levels in the water. The hotter the air/water, the less oxygen is saturated, so that's where the air stones/air pump would come in. A filtration system in itself does NOT add oxygen (in fact, some systems actually use us oxygen as the bacteria need them to convert the bad stuff (ammonia (aka pee
) into nitrite and then into nitrate.
Sorry to get technical, but it's important as that world is full of idiot merchants. Fish gasping? Add pump/airstones/keep waterfall running, problem finished in 15 minutes.
I've seen some of the pictures, but it's hard to be sure. There are quite a few "butterfly koi" -> the one with the "wavy" tails? Those are usually not considered "valuable" (in koi freak money terms). But you might still find people who want to pay a bit of money.
The pond is also overcrowded as hell. Ideally, you need at least 1m3 per grown up koi (so, a 1000 liters). But preferably more. The pond also needs to be DEEP before BIG. Shallower water heats up quicker -> quicker to lose oxygen when it gets hot too. Deeper water keeps cooler. (and also warmer in winter: did you know that in freezing weather water (even with ice on it) at -2meter will still be around 4°C?)
The pump... OK, there it's getting weird. Oase you say? Yeah, German company, German quality, best in class. My main 15000 liter/hour pump is in it's 18th season (I don't run it between November/March) without a glitch, and... without ever having to take it out of the water or cleaning it! Oh, did I mention it's an Oase?
A pump should just feed the water to a filtration system, leave the debris through (up to 2 cm), and in case of Oase run forever and ever. I have NEVER EVER had to go into the water to touch the pump (OK, I lie, once in 2012 to change it's place a little). Having to go into the water to clean a pump is madness. I hope whoever did that did not get paid. Grrrr.
I don't know the other system you now have, but I'm afraid DB has been duped, sorry.
The disease has nothing to do with the type of pump, but with water at a very specific temperature. Not an issue here, but I can imagine it is in Oz.
Anyway: in that pond, even with a 24 hour outage, goldfish (not bundles OK? just 10 or so?) will survive without any problems. ESPECIALLY if you keep a air stone or 2 running all day long (instead of a filtration system).
Look, I know you are overwhelmed with info, so I'll follow up with a summary post - but be assured all the above is 100% accurate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PamelaJune
I know very litttle about Koi and goldfish, but I’m fairly certain we have a combination in the pond. We lost 5 of our big Koi 3 years ago when the humidity was very high and we had an electrical outage for over 8 hours, the pump wasn’t working and the fish were gasping for air at the top. It was terrible and I was devestated to see them struggling. The smaller ones survived as did the big goldfish. The pondshop up the road lost 3 of his Koi same night because of the same thing...
Can’t run the hozelock pumps and stop the filtration, these pumps db bought to replace the Oase pump we had which only needed doing once every 8 weeks to these 2 new pumps (which are crap) and need doing every week. The pond shop had sold to new owners and they were distributors of the new product and talked db into, changing to them (keep in mind he caught legionnaires we think from the Oase pump) hozelock bioforce, supposed to be simple easy turn of the handle, they have never ever been a simple easy turn, they were installed incorrectly, and we’ve had nothing but trouble since. Last Xmas when db was away they broke down and I had to get a chap in to fix them as the humidity was high, he said they’re still under warranty, so while db was away for the 3 weeks I was doing the weekly turn and clean it nearly broke my back, getting in and out of the pond to the actual pumps to lift them out and clean, then go to the filters and turn them to run the water clean. It’s just a massive job ever since he got these new pumps. I hate them with a passion and the chap that came to fix them said get rid of them while under warranty, they’re useless. He recommended we go back to the Oase or a different brand but of course db came home, never did anything about following up despite me giving him all the detail what needed to be done and so now out of warranty, stuck with a crappy system I can’t manage.
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