From time to time you will need to carry out routine maintenance work on your pond, whether it is a preformed pond, liner pond or concrete Koi pond. You may have a leak or a crack for example which necessitates emptying the pond.

This can be quite a traumatic event for all concerned, especially for Koi, goldfish and other pond inhabitants. You will of course need to find a temporary home for them. You may have another pond or have a friend with a pond that is willing to let you place your fish there for the time being. If this is the case then please be aware that the larger the fish load, the larger the possibility of ammonia problems arising.

Increased fish loads place more stress on the biological pond filter as it needs to cope with the increased levels of ammonia. This is assuming that you intend to place the fish in a pond environment with a pond filter in place.

What Do I Need To Consider Before I Empty My Fish Pond?

The following steps will significantly reduce the amount of stress placed upon your pond fish and will make for a smoother transition …

• Stop feeding your fish a week before you empty the pond.
• Hire or buy a children’s vinyl swimming.
• Clean out the pond with pond water.
• Place your hand on the largest air pump that you can.
• On the day that you empty the pond, pump pond water into the temporary pool.
• Please ensure that you do not over fill the pool; the fish will try to jump out.
• Whilst the fish are in the temporary pool you will need to carry out a 50% water change, daily.
• Remember there is no pond filter and the levels of poisonous ammonia and nitrites will build up.
• Keep a careful eye on the fish. If you see any unusual behaviour then make sure that you change a portion of the water straight away.
• People with serious Koi collections may well decide to have an ammonia removing product available, as a precaution.
• On refilling the fixed pond it would be a good idea to add a chlorine removing product to the fresh tap water or spray the water into the pond as this will help the chlorine to evaporate.
• Take advantage when refilling the pond to measure your pond volume.

The full article can be read at http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/garden-pond-emptyingfishponds.html ...

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