Koi laying over at bottom
Hi all,
I've been lurking for a while and conscious I really should write a newbie post introducing myself and my pond set up, sorry about being straight in with a question/problem!
I have a very large in ground pond 60ft x 40ft and 5ft deep at its deepest part. Approx 275k litres running 4 BD's to 2 drum filters, one to moving bed with hex media and the other to a bakki shower which runs a waterfall (currently turned off to avoid further cooling the water)
Pond parameters are:
Temp - 7c
PH 7.2
KH 6dh
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 5 ppm
I have a Sansai Sanke approx 50cm that is sat at the bottom with most of the other fish but is laying over on its side. It will right itself and occasionally swim around like it is fine...
Not sure if it is relevant but I fed them last week when temp was around 8C and they were all fairly active at that point.
This is my first winter with a pond and koi, I suspect the Sanke has never been through a winter so I don't know how it normally reacts. I have been doing a lot of reading and had seen some articles that say koi do sometimes lay over when the temps drop and then I have seen other articles that make me worry there could be something more serious wrong like swim bladder disease.
I'd welcome any advice whether people think I should risk stressing the koi trying to catch it (not going to be easy in a huge pond) or whether I should leave it alone and see if it improves on its own.
Thanks in advance,
Adam
Koi laying over at bottom
Hey and welcome along. Sounds like a epic pond/lake! koi laying on their sides is not normal in any sense.
Koi will sit on the bottom of ponds with the fins clamped if they are sulking, if the bottom is not flat they may be tilted at times I have seen this in my sloped pond but completely rolled over on its side is a sign of severe stress.
There are a number of things that could cause the stress. Sickness, water parameters, overcrowding, temperature, parasites I’m sure there are others.
I had a similar issue last year and lost a few koi with no other explanation other than natural selection they were all young tosai and my inexperience.
My suggestion would be if possible to get it out the pond and into a holding vat with some heat and salt.
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Koi laying over at bottom
Thanks Nige, it’s hard work keeping on top of it all but I’m hoping next year it will be great! It’s a lockdown project that has taken me the last 8 months!! I’ve done most of the work myself with the help of some tradesmen friends who’ve done some of the groundwork and brickwork for the filter house.
I’ve probably made loads of mistakes in the way I’ve set it up, I tried to just read as much as I could online and watch videos to learn.
With the filters running 100% it puts 40k litres through an hour so it takes almost 7 hours to put the whole pond volume through it once. I’m working on the basis that it is massively understocked even with 30 fish so hoping that turnover is enough once the feed is at max levels. No signs of ammonia or nitrite issues yet (touch wood) but clarity isn’t ever going to be like a more typical sized koi pond as I just can’t get the turnover rates
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