Welcome to Koi Forum. Is this your first visit? Register
Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Ammonia

  1. #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



  2. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    South East
    Posts
    5,924
    Thanks / Likes
    13124
    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 Tapatalk
    Last edited by RS2OOO; 06-07-2020 at 05:55 PM.

  3. Thanks anne, MrsEvans, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  4. #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

  5. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  6. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    South East
    Posts
    5,924
    Thanks / Likes
    13124
    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.

  7. Thanks MrsEvans, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  8. #5
    don’t forget to dechlorinate the water you’re adding.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  9. Thanks RS2OOO, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  10. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Location
    South East
    Posts
    5,924
    Thanks / Likes
    13124
    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    don’t forget to dechlorinate the water you’re adding.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Good point.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

  11. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  12. #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

  13. Thanks RS2OOO, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  14. #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?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  15. Thanks RS2OOO, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  16. #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.

  17. Thanks hippo, RS2OOO, rogmondiev6, Craig L Thanked / Liked this Post
  18. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Kyusai hippo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Tarleton , Lancashire
    Posts
    1,091
    Thanks / Likes
    797
    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

  19. Thanks RS2OOO, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  20. #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


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  21. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  22. #12
    This chart is very helpful thank you ��

  23. Thanks freddyboy, Manky Sanke Thanked / Liked this Post
  24. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion freddyboy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Posts
    11,123
    Thanks / Likes
    17023
    Quote Originally Posted by charco123 View Post
    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


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    The whole pond has to mature mate. And it takes time.

    Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

  25. #14
    This chart is very helpful thank you 😊

  26. Thanks Manky Sanke Thanked / Liked this Post
 

 

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:35 AM. Online Koi Mag Forum
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3
Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.

vBulletin Improved By vBFoster® (Lite Version), © UltimateScheme, Ltd.