Still hangin' on

The remaining fish - there are eight of them - are hanging on. Quite well, actually, or so it seems. Everyone seems to be eating, and they've been more active since the water change. They're still leaping and breaching; it must really suck to have an itch and no arms to scratch it!

Will it work?

The fish seem to be appreciative of the new water. They're more active and I get a happier vibe from them than I was getting yesterday morning.

I'm feeding them antibiotic-laden food once or twice a day. Not too much at a time, but I'll feed them as much as they want cuz I want to get that medicine into them!

I'm also going to put a whole bunch of anacharis in the filterbox. It can take over in there, for all I care; the box needs plants and the fish won't eat it if I stick it in there, and it'll just act as another filter media, etc.

So there you go.

Emergency Measures

I've removed approximately 3/4 of the water volume from the pond. The hose is refilling is at this time, and I'm dumping in salt and dechlorinator. While I realize this action is stressing the fish while they're in a weakened state, I felt the risk of NOT doing it was greater than the risk of doing it. And I'm trying to put enough salt in to help the fish heal, but not so much that it will damage the plants...although I care more about the fish than the plants right now.

I really wish I knew more about wtf I'm doing with all this. I feel like a very, very bad koi mama right now.

Hemorrhagic Septicemia

I think we've figured out what got Red Guy, as the others are now showing signs of illness that we would not have been able to see on such an orange fish. The others are growing relatively lethargic and showing signs of red tissue here and there. One little white fish with a red splotch on his forehead now looks like he's been in the sun too long - he's nearly red all over where he should be white! Torpedo has redness around the base of his dorsal fin. No one has any open sores that I can see, which means this bacteria is systemic. That is not good.

R.I.P. Red Guy

Sadly, Red Guy passed away today. Don't know why.

Funny, many may think, that one can get emotionally attached to a fish. But you can. They're like little water-kitties. They have smarts and personalities.

Red Guy will be missed.

Skippy Filter skipping out

Okay. We've given this thing lots and lots of time and it's still not living up to its reputation. What gives?

Steve thought it might not be working right because we were moving the water through it too quickly. No time for the gunk to stick to the pads? Fast current washing old gunk back into the pond? So he changed out the 3500 gph pump for an 1800 gph pump. That was about a week ago.

The water is still not clear. We can see about four inches down. There is still plenty of particulate washing around.

Everyone says wait...wait...wait longer. Seems like nine months should be enough.