Transitioned pond fish

[seamstome]

Hello! I have so many questions!! Here’s my story: I purchased a home with a dilapidated In-ground pool. The liner in the deep end was intact and was holding water but it was stinky. My daughters purchased two water lily plants and ten gold fish and put them into the “pool” four years ago. 
last summer I had over 30 fish, four different  species of frogs and some wonky looking lizardy type creatures all living harmoniously. 
The fish wintered over outside as theme water was at least 4’ deep. Then this past spring we had a big storm and our teak bench was blown into the “pool” where it tore a hole in the liner. We lost all but about a foot of water and many fish. 
I rescued a 50 gallon tank from my daughter and we filled the tank with half pool water and half well water. 
we then just caught all the fish and put them in the tank. 
We couldn’t see the fish for about a week because the water was thick and green (see photos) but the fish seemed happy. 
I believe there are 19 goldfish currently residing in the tank. 
I have not successfully kept live plants as the fish have eaten the dwarf water lettuce and Red root floater. I am timing the feeding frenzy to see how long it takes them to eat either the flakes or pellets. The water is consistently cloudy. (See 2nd photo)
honestly I’m clueless. The water tests perfect with the strips and I haven’t lost a single fish. 

Should I just continue on in ignorant bliss?  Help…….

[Colu]

I little information would be helpful what filtration are you using how often are you doing water changes and how often do you feed and if you have cloudy water it can be a sign of ammonia or nitrites what are your water parameters 

Edited October 16, 2022 by Colu

[seamstome]

I am currently using two large Tetra bio bags with charcoal. I haven’t come to a set schedule with changing the filters as the water was so opaque that I changed them when they were nasty. 
 

GH @ 30

KH @ 40

pH @ 6.5

NO3 @ 200

NO2 is off the chart

water changes have been done twice in two months but only 5 gal each time.

 

 

[seamstome]

The water tested perfect when it was thick and green……. Now the Nitrate and Nitrite are off

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/13/2022 at 2:53 PM, seamstome said:

honestly I’m clueless. The water tests perfect with the strips and I haven’t lost a single fish. 

Should I just continue on in ignorant bliss?  Help…….

Honestly,

The biggest concern is going to be ammonia, nitrites, and nitrate toxicity.  The fish are in a very small tank for what they need.  Imagine it being koi or something similar.  It's a waste heavy system, which means water changes are your friend.  Because they were in a pond previously, unknown schedule for care in both places I would suggest the following method to try to get things on track and help clean the water for the fish in question.

Test your tap, so you have an idea of what water parameters are going to be for your system. 
1. Test your tap water directly from the tap for any tests you can perform.
2.  Aerate that sample of water for 24 hours to off-gas the water.  This would be your expected water values when performing a water change.
3.  Compare the results from #2 to your tank parameters.  This will give you an idea of the changes the fish see when you do a water change for them.

If parameters are similar, you can go ahead and change 50% of the water.  At worst case you can change more water volume, but 50% is about the max that is commonly recommended.  If water parameters vary widely from the tap, I would suggest sticking to 30% water changes for the time being until you're able to stabilize things and get your parameters improved.

Meaning, I would recommend daily water changes right now until things improve (nitrates under 50, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite).  If you can't get water parameters improved with this, then you're looking at other solutions to solve the bioload issue.

As mentioned aboved, water volume (how big is the tank), filtration, plants, and all of those things are the variables at play here when it comes to the care for the fish.

On 10/15/2022 at 4:38 PM, seamstome said:

The water tested perfect when it was thick and green……. Now the Nitrate and Nitrite are off

The "thick green" water was likely algae helping you to fight off the ammonia and waste.  It's a sign of an imbalanced tank, but this is something common in ponds due to the high light causing the algae in the water.  Now that the algae doesn't have such high light, it's likely dying off, leading to the spike in waste values.

[seamstome]

It is a 50 gallon tank. Today I switched to the open cell foam filters including the intake tube. 
 

Thank you both so much! I will off gas the tap water (well) and test tomorrow evening.

 

[Colu]

High levels of nitrites will effect your fishs immune system and eventually  kill your fish you want to do 50%daily water changes and I would add prime in emergency you can add up to 5x the amount to help detoxify any ammonia or nitrites till your nitrite and ammonia are constantly at zero I would also add some aquarium salt  1 table for 1 gallon that will prevent mathemoglobin toxicity by blocking nitrite adsorption though the Gills @seamstome

Edited October 17, 2022 by Colu

[Flumpweesel]

Are you going to reinstate a pond?

Sounds like you had a cool eco system going out there.

I'm guessing your wonky lizards are newts they are a really good sign in pond as a rule.

[seamstome]

I am not redoing the pool/pond. 
 

so I changed the water (10 gal ea time) twice. Prime in the water. Cut back on feeding. Added three plants and four moss balls. Nitrite and nitrates are still high (darker than the test strips). Water is cloudier this morning.

I will change out more water later today. 
 

i was thinking this would be a relaxing hobby……. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[CornAndCrawlers]

its going to eventually balance out. id be dumping lots of seachem stability in there to build up beneficial bacteria