i need help with koi pond,ok my koi where in a 200gallon pond now they r going to a 1000gallon pond?

Question

so what i did is i got a 200 gallon hold tank took the water from the 200 gallon pond put it in with the fish ,then i filled the 1000g pond up, then put declorinator in, i got 10 feeder fish put them in then i took the old linner of the 200g pond and put that in thinking it would help speed up the cycle,is there any thing more i could do to it so i dont get new pond syndrome,and have to wait about 5weeks to put my kois in it any input would help thank

Answer 1

Are you using your old pond filter with the new pond as well? you'll have some additional bacteria there as well.

I'm not sure it wouldn't be better to just put the koi in the larger pond. If you added the old pond liner, that's where any bacteria will be, rather than the holding tank (unless you cycled this before you added the koi). If not, you'll be doing a large number of water changes on the holding tank when the bacteria and additional volume of the new pond (to dilute their wastes) might be less stressful for them.

There are aquarium additives for bacteria involved in the nitrogen cycle which may help things along, but these have differences in effectiveness. If you want to hold off on adding the fish, you could also try adding pure ammonia (no soaps or other stuff) to the larger pond - you should do this anyway if there are no fish - without a source of ammonia, the bacteria don't have a food source. Then monitor the water chemistry, just as you would for cycling an aquarium. Since this is outdoors, though, how fast the bacteria will multiply will be dependent on the water temperature. Add the fish when all ammonia and nitrite are gone.

Answer 2

The 200 gallons of old pond water and 10 feeder goldfish will help some. I would add more feeder goldfish and the old filter from the 200 gallon pond. I would also add any gravel or rocks from the old pond as well. All of these things have the bacteria on them, that you need to give your pond's cycle a kick start.
Before you add your Koi I would also add pond plants at this. They will need the time to get rooted and they will also help speed up the cycling of your pond. If you do the above thing you should be able to add your Koi sooner. I've done this with friends, family and my own ponds many times.

Answer 3

Nice jump in ponds by the way.

Your old liner isn't going to do much for cycling the 1000 gallon pond. Pull it out and allow your larger pond to cycle. Also, 10 feeders aren't going to do much either.

Take chunks of raw fish and toss them into your new pond. Around 3 pounds worth and let it rot. this will jump start your bacteria cycle. Keep your filters and fountains and/or waterfalls running the entire time. this should jump the process where your fish should be able to get into the new pond in about 3 weeks.

However, DO NOT add your koi until you test the water and everything is ok. Also, you can add appx 150" of fish at one time (Don't know how large your fish are) without messing up your biofilter.

Just be sure your water quality is high. Also, be sure you are feeding your Koi a higher protein diet while in the holding tank. Included greens, lettuce, spinach, endive, watercress, duckweed, green beans, pumpkin and carrots. This will help keep their immune systems high and ich away.

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