Pond/Fish advice.

Just after a bit of advice for my pond/fish.

I recently had to drain both my ponds to repair them and they were cleaned at the same time. Ever since refilling them, they seem to be very dirty (greeny brown bits floating in the water) and no matter what i do (pump off, pump on with inlet submerged or pump on with inlet splashing into the water), I can't seem to get the water clear.

I have also gained a large amount of black fly larvae and black fly, in and around the pond, how do I rid myself of them or at least limit their numbers?

The ponds both seem to be dropping fairly rapidly in water depth, I don't know if this is because of the weather or if there may be small holes in both.

I also have 2 fish that are acting a little strangely. 1 is trying to jump out of the pond by the filter outlet, it is even using the pump hose and the side of the pond to "swim" out of the pond. It gets in between the side of the pond and the hose and swims up and can stay suspended out of the water for a few seconds by doing this! The other is having to swim up all the time and doesn't seem to be able to just float at a given depth as it appears to just sink. Every now and then, it swims rapidly to the top and jumps out of the water before returning to it's upwards swimming!

What the hell is wrong with them?!?!

Can anyone offer me some advice on these issues?

Regards

[Bibio]

your fish maybe have some for of 'white spot' or 'flukes'. do you have a biological filter for your pond? if not i suggest you look at getting one. also consider some 'oxy giving' plants around the border.

another reason your fish might be unwell is osmotic shock as the pH of the water you took them out of is different to the fresh stuff you have put them back into.

the brown blobby stuff you see is algae and any algae treatment should work on it.

black fly is a nightmare m8 and i very much doubt that its that. what it might be is buzzers and if it is then thats fine as it will be food for the fish.

If you are getting a new filter, why not get one with a UV light? This will deal with your algae by binding it together big enough for the filter to take it out of the water.

And like Bibio said, the water may not be oxygenated enough which would leave your fish gasping at the surface? You can also oxygenate your pond water effectively by giving the surface of it some agitation.

Losing water is abit strange, but the weather is hot after all. How old is your pond? Might be worth re-lining it? If you do, get some old carpet and lay it under the lining on the ground. It will stop any stones working their way up through the mud and through the liner

Sorry, should have been a bit clearer. Both ponds run a pump that feeds a uv filter that then feed back to the pond. Before I repaired the ponds, both were crystal clear. One did get dirt when frog season descended though! Both filter outlets agitate/oxygen the water, one has a variety of plants in it and the other has a large pond weed type plant in it, so I know both are oxiginated properly.

I will keep an eye on the water level to see if it is heat/sunlight related as the liner looks in relatively good condition and there is a fabric liner underneath.

The water they were in was put into the holding tank, and back into the pond with the fish, and it only appears to be 2 fish being weird!

I am almost certain it is black fly larvae in the pond as they look exactly like googles pictures if them.

Sorry, should have been a bit clearer. Both ponds run a pump that feeds a uv filter that then feed back to the pond. Before I repaired the ponds, both were crystal clear. One did get dirt when frog season descended though! Both filter outlets agitate/oxygen the water, one has a variety of plants in it and the other has a large pond weed type plant in it, so I know both are oxiginated properly.

I will keep an eye on the water level to see if it is heat/sunlight related as the liner looks in relatively good condition and there is a fabric liner underneath.

The water they were in was put into the holding tank, and back into the pond with the fish, and it only appears to be 2 fish being weird!

I am almost certain it is black fly larvae in the pond as they look exactly like googles pictures if them.

[Bibio]

midge (buzzer) larvae look roughly the same as black fly larvae and come in all sorts of colours from red (blood worm) to yellow, green, brown and black. if the adults are hatching off the surface or round the edge its midge larvae. best way to tell is that there will be lots of 'shucks' in the surface film of the water when you can see a fair few adults flying about. or you can actually see the larvae in the water wriggling.

black fly (fungus gnat) larvae usually live in the root zone of soil plants. the adults hover about the plants once hatched and can bee seen 'dancing' in and out of the plants.

as to the fish it could just be them acclimatising again.

It might be worth changing the bulb in the uv light, they only last for 6 months and then lose their effectiveness, Ponds do lose water in summer due to evaporation, especially if running fountains, waterfalls etc.

Daryl

Chips go well with fish.

phil dont worry too much..

a year or 2 you will get Kate up the duff and be filling it in to make a sand pit.

[gruntygiggles]

Phil, I'd go and buy some oxygenating plants and get them in there and also look into getting some water quality testing equipemt, probably in the form of an inexpensive kit so that you can test the water and make sure that it has the right PH and balance. Go to a good aquatic centre and ask the staff there, not Pets @ Home or similar.