Why are my newly added fish in my POND dying ????

Question

I have a 1800 gallon pond with a waterfall, and my friend has a 400 gallon pond. she is moving and she wanted to bring her 3 year old...10-12 inches long...goldfish to my pond which has some small gold fish and small koi. i test the water everyday and the nitrates, ph, alkalinity is fine. hwe pond was in shade and mine is in sun. i have about 60% of the pond covered for shade, i added some stress coat. back to my smaller fish, i have about five 4 inch gold fish and five 3inch koi. she brought over 5 of the larger gold fish and one has died and the others are not eating (they ate the first day they were there which was saturday) they aren't swimming around, just hanging on the bottom of the pond, hiding under the floating plants. her pond had no plants.
any advice would greatly be appreciated.

my email address is bluebaby57us@yahoo incase you had some more info for me. :)

Answer 1

Sometimes, when transplanting big fish that have lived in a small pond all their lives, to a much bigger pond (especially if it is deeper), the fish's muscles around it's swim bladder and fins, etc., aren't accustomed to the extra work it is for them to just get around their new space. Think about it - if you had been raised in a 10'x12' room your whole life, with food served to you, etc., and then all of a sudden you moved to a full two story house where you had to climb up and down stairs daily to get your food, you'd be having some trouble adjusting initially, yourself! Plus, the additional depth of the new space can place additional pressure on their internal organs, that the fish is not used to. It would be like you or me trying to breath with an 80 lb. weight sitting on our chests.

If there is not much difference between the old space and the new space, or the fish are relatively young, they can oftentimes overcome this challenge with time. However, if there is a major difference in sizes between the two ponds, and the fish are fairly large, their chances for recovery get slimmer and slimmer.

This link talks about a "shotgun" remedy (salt, heat, Prazi, and Dimilin) that can address the most common parasitic infections, and certainly won't hurt the fish if parasites aren't the problem: http://www.koivet.com/html/glossary/glossary_details.php?glossary_id=35&category=Symptoms

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Right if the bat there are some pretty clear differences that you have to account for when acclimating her fish to your pond. Some things you can get ready for like the pH. With you having plants and her not your respective pH's and hardness's might be a little different. Some things are as you catch them, like the fact that your pond is warmer with more of it being in the sun.(even with the shade you provide) That will cause a some stresses. The final thing to think about is the pecking orders. Even if these fish are bigger than yours they have to find them selves in the established pecking order and there may be some bullying that you can't see going on. It usually takes a week or so to even that all out. Give it a little more time. You sound you have everything else well together.

Answer 3

While it sounds like your taking the time to check the quality of YOUR ponds water perhaps you should take your test kits over to your friends and test the quality of the water they came out of. Her pond may not have been as good as yours and the difference in water quality (as well as the other differences you noted) may have been the cause of stress that has killed the fish

Answer 4

Ditto to a few others, its most likely nothing more or less than moving shock. Since they can easily go a week or more without food, I wouldn't be concerned about the lack of eating. The behavior is typical of a fish getting used to a new environment, so I would assume it's that since nothing else seems to be amiss.

MM

Answer 5

you're pond is too clean for such a hardey fish!!!