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Thread: Ammonia
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06-07-2020, 05:49 PM #1
Ammonia
Hello,
7000 litre pond with 10 fish and a few have died due to ammonia we think. Treated the water, done small water changes regularly, we did a large 50% water change. We belive it may be something to do with our bios not being right as pond has only been up and running for a 2 months.
Any help is greatly accepted, we just want to make sure these fishes survive.
Thanks,
Natasha
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06-07-2020, 05:52 PM #2
Hi,
What are the Ammonia readings on the pond?
Are you getting any nitrite readings?
10 koi in 7000 litres is about the maximum safe stocking level (assuming they are koi) but they need to be introduced gradually over a period of months to allow the bio to keep up. Do you know if that was the case?
The first bit of advice before doing anything else is to stop feeding them until you get to the bottom of the problem and fix it.
Sent from my Pixel 2 using TapatalkLast edited by RS2OOO; 06-07-2020 at 05:55 PM.
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06-07-2020, 06:00 PM #3
Hello,
Thank you for your reply!
Ammonia is at 0.2, doesn't seem to change from that.
Nitrates are 0 and we have added them across the 2 months only little the biggest one is 15cm.
We have reduced feeding to once a day.
We think another one is on the way out, he is lethargic and hangs at the bottom most of the time?
Thanks,
Natasha
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06-07-2020, 07:17 PM #4
0.2 ammonia will make your fish sick and susceptible to illness but it shouldn't kill them over a period of just weeks, it would take longer, unless;
- you have a very high pH, or
- Your ammonia has been considerably higher than 0.2 previously.
What is the pH?
I noticed you mention Nitrates are zero, did you mean Nitrite? Nitrite is the next important parameter after ammonia.
Have you had any nitrite readings at all? On a new pond nitrite will normally spike up and then go back down. If it hasn't spiked up yet that would indicate the bio filters haven't started to cycle.
You do need to get ammonia as close to zero as possible and the only way to achieve this is to keep changing water until the bio filter picks up the slack. The best way for fish to heal from ammonia poisoning is to be in perfect water and unfortunately there are no shortcuts (unless you can borrow mature media from someone else who has a pond) or additives that can fix that, it really is just a case of changing water regularly to keep the levels very low. And of course, don't feed the fish.
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06-07-2020, 07:47 PM #5
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06-07-2020, 08:25 PM #6
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freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
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07-07-2020, 06:07 AM #7
The Nitrite this morning has come back with colour my husband is just working out the reading now!
We have started another trickle water change in and out through a filter on the way in.
At 5am my husband notices a heron in our pond and we wonder if that has hurt them causing them to die instantly? We had one completely disappear and wondered if it was a heron, we have now covered the pond and getting netting after work this evening, thankfully I'm still working from home so can keep my eye on them today.
We have stopped feeding them now and will continue to test until 0 ammonia.
Thank you very much for your help
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07-07-2020, 08:17 AM #8
Herons will obviously take fish, their presence will also make fish very nervous but it’s unlikely that is your issue.
Your pond has only been running a couple of months so you will undoubtedly be going through “new pond syndrome” whereby your filters have to complete the nitrogen cycle. Unfortunately, there’s very little you can do to speed it along, adding filter bacteria is a bit hit and miss.
I can’t see where you have said what filtration system you have on your pond?
Keep on top of the water changes and ensure that your water filter is not letting any chlorine though. Again, what sort is that?
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07-07-2020, 08:26 AM #9
An ammonia level of 0.2 mg/L isn't lethal at any pH. As we all know, the ideal level of ammonia (or nitrite) in a pond is as near zero as possible so 0.2 mg/L ammonia may upset the fish but it certainly wouldn't kill them even at a high pH.
The heron would either take fish or leave them with injuries if it tried to spike them and they managed to wriggle free. A fish might die later of the injuries but that would be obvious. None of the deaths could be attributed to them being scared to death.
As Steve (RS 2000) and Gary (BCC) said, the immediate action to take is to stop feeding and reduce the ammonia and nitrite levels by drain and refill water changes with a dechlorinator or, if you use a purifier and it's effective, carry on with the trickle feed until they reduce. We could give more definite advice about further actions if you gave us all the parameter readings you've taken. We need pH, ammonia and nitrite readings as a minimum. Additionally, a nitrate value will help determine the state of maturity of the biofilter and a KH reading will help determine whether the pH will be stable.
A parameter guide which gives ideal values and action to take if they are outside the acceptable range that can be downloaded and laminated for future reference is available in the document library of my website. Follow the download instructions at the bottom of the page on this link:
Ammonia chart
A simple way to tell if a purifier is removing all the chlorine/chloramine or if manual dechlorination has been effective is on this link:
Questions Answered
Last edited by Manky Sanke; 07-07-2020 at 08:31 AM.
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07-07-2020, 09:06 AM #10
Which test kit are you using , Natasha ?
Some are better than others . The ones where you have to compare the sample to a colour chart can be difficult to accurately gauge (especially if your eyesight is like mine)
The ones that give a digital reading are better .Colin
2500 Gallon Fibreglass Pond
Draco Solum 16 , 400l Bio Chamber
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07-07-2020, 10:26 PM #11
I have a question of my own on this one so apolgise to jumping in on someone else’s thread. If you have mature filters and move them over to a brand new pond with new dechlorinated water will the filters get knocked back? Ie will a new pond with new water damage the filters bio. I’m struggling with amonia myself at present, I moved my mature filters over to the new pond but i didn’t move any of my previous ponds water into the new pond so was 100% new water. I am right in thinking that after three months the hole pond will be more of a bio filter ... meaning the liner with all the algae etc helping towards cleaner water etc or is that not 100 percent true. Cheers guys
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08-07-2020, 05:22 AM #12
This chart is very helpful thank you
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freddyboy, Manky Sanke Thanked / Liked this Post
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08-07-2020, 06:51 AM #13
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08-07-2020, 07:38 AM #14
This chart is very helpful thank you 😊
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Manky Sanke Thanked / Liked this Post
Best plants to remove Nitrate
pug has a very impressive veg filter on his pond, have a look at some of his his youtube videos....