Pond photos, daily water changes question

[Damon0306]

Just wanted to share some recent photos of my pond. First a few specs :

220 Gallon pre-form, pond. Filter is a Cypiro BIO-Force 2000-UVC, rated up to a 2000-gallon pond. Pump is a Cypirio 1450 gallons per-hour.

I have 9 KOI, all have gotten way to big for the pond. I have had them for about 3-4 years.

Lost my first batch of NICE KOI to a Blue Herring who ate ALL of my fish. That was about 3 years ago. Since then I now keep a net over the entire pond.

My question is, I do DAILY WATER CHANGES, since the weather is between 80-90 every day. Am I going to hurt my fish with such large daily water changes? I am afraid if I don't I will be asking for trouble because I am so over-stocked.

I also clean the filter EVERY DAY otherwise the water turns a murky and brownish color.

My water is kept crystal clear, so as long as I dont miss a single day of changing anywhere between 25% & 50% of the water DAILY.

I do add stress coat when I do this.

I really cannot afford a larger pond this year, but next year I should have the money.

I just hope my fish are not getting stressed out from from daily water changes.

I feed them Hikari Excel and Hikari Growth.

Thanks for looking.

 

[guppy_man]

nice pics especially the last one because when i went fishing a couple of weeks ago i caught a koi carp like the white and yellow one it wasnt supposed to be in the lake where i caught it but i had to put it back i should of give it to you lol

 

[Sandusky]

Holy moley, that's a lot of fish for that tiny pond. Well as long as you don't clean out the filter pad you should be fine with daily water changes. If you clean the pads you're killing off the benificial bacteria that has cycled your pond, this stresses the fish out and subjects them to diseases easier. Too bad about the herron, if you provide caves and lots of plant cover for the fish to hide they wouldn't have been picked off to easy, that way too you don't need a net. Hope you can get that pond next year, they'll have some room to stretch!

 

[ryan]

Very nice set-up and some great fish. But I do think there could be some serious underlying problems which may arise. The reason the water is going brown quickly and the pond in general becoming dirty is because it is so over stocked as you probably know. I'm sure you find changing 25-50% of the water daily abit of a pain, but if not its worth it. By doing these regular changes you are taking the place of the filter and constantly renewing the pond with fresh clean water, much like a river as it flows. This itself will keep fish waste levels low. But this can leave the pond open to sudden fluctulations in temperature, pH etc which could be detrimental to the fish and their health. If you stopped these water changes for even a short period of time your pond would be in serious trouble as the bacteria would not be available in the filter and the high stocking levels would cause ammonia levels etc to rocket. Your diet is also very high in protien which means a greater amount of fish waste and higher fish growth rates. It may be an idea to feed smaller amounts less often to limit growth and waste until you can extend the pond.

Another idea may be to rent or burrow a temporary vat to house some of the fish so your workload is not as much and the fishes environment is more stable.

Good luck