How To Prepare Your Koi And Garden Pond Fish When Moving House
The Secrets Of Keeping Your Koi Fish And Goldfish Alive When Moving Home
Moving house is a pain in the neck at the best of times! To complicate matters further if you keep a garden fish pond you will also need to consider what needs to be done with your fish friends! Those pond keepers who have friends or family who also have a pond will arrange to place their fish in the relative’s pond, temporarily. To be honest this is bad for both parties and should be avoided if possible; fish do not like changes to their environment and may become stressed. In addition if either of the party’s pond fish is diseased in any way then you will be spreading the disease around.
The following is a list of the best way to prepare your garden pond fish when you move house ...
About 1 week before the actual moving date it is advisable to stop feeding. The reason for this is to reduce the amount of liquid and solid waste produced. Liquid and solid metabolic waste contains ammonia, which is potentially lethal to all pond fish and pond inhabitants. As discussed in many of the articles on this website the only effective way of controlling the build of ammonia is to use a biological garden pond filter; strictly speaking it isn’t the biofilter that removes the ammonia it is the Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria that live on the pond filter media housed within the pond filter that break down the ammonia, rendering it safe for all pond inhabitants. Don’t worry about your fish starving. They can live on their fat reserves for several weeks without harm.
You will need a temporary home for the fish. The best way to do this is to hire or buy a kiddies swimming pool. You have seen them; they are usually made from PVC plastic. Failing this you could always get your hands on a flexible pond liner and place this on some kind of rigid base, such as a large wooden crate. It will probably look ugly but will serve its purpose.
Clean out the temporary holding pool using water, taken from the pond; do not use municipal tap water as this contains chlorine, which is poisonous to aquatic fish life.
In previous articles I have mentioned the importance of oxygen to any garden fish pond; it is needed by fish, nitrifying bacteria and plants. You will need to borrow or hire a pond air pump; preferably one with some way of distributing the air such as air stones. This is critical to prevent fish stress and to keep your fish alive, while they are in their temporary home.
On the day you plan to empty the main pond arrange to pump as much pond water as possible into the temporary pool. Start pumping oxygen into the pool using the air pump.
Fill the temporary pond to about half full. This will stop the fish from leaping out of the water and out of the pond.
I would also recommend that you borrow or buy some kind of protective pond netting to prevent herons and other predators such as king fishers from eating your fish. In a pond environment the fish tend to be able to hide more easily due to plants and the shadows, created by the darker pond water.
If you intend to keep the fish in the temporary pond for a period of time then you will need to replace about 50% of the water on a daily basis with fresh water. The reason for this is to remove ammonia build up. Remember that in the pond the biofilter removes the ammonia but you do not have one in the temporary pond. It is better to change 25% twice a day rather than one change of 50%. This again reduces the opportunity for your Koi and goldfish to become stressed. Stress, particularly in Koi can be the reason for premature death.
Be vigilant and keep a careful eye on the behavior of your Koi and goldfish. If you see any strange behavior just as sulking on the pond floor or gasping for air at the top of the pond, for long periods of time then change a portion of water immediately and make sure the air pump is working properly.
People with large Koi may decide to use an ammonia remover such as Jungle Pond Ammonia Chloramine Remover or Pond Care Ammo Lock 2 to hand, as a precaution.
Remember when replacing the water to spray it into the pond as this will help to ensure that the majority of the chlorine evaporates. You could always add a chlorine removing product such as Kent Chlorinex to the water; be careful to follow the instructions carefully. Do not overdose.
Many properties in the USA, not as many in the UK have water meters. Use this opportunity to record the volume of water you use to fill your pond. It is important to know your pond volume, particularly when adding chemical water additives and pond water treatments.
