How to move my KOI (FISH) to another pond?

Question

I have 10 koi, range from very small to 11 inches long. I am moving and i have a 1700 gallon koi pond at my old house that i am selling to the new 1400 pond that i just dug a couple of weeks ago. The new one has been finished and water running for about a week. I also added pond quick start day after i added water. The air temp this week will be in low 70's, cool, at night, 50's. the new pond is about an hour away. I was going to transport them in a storage tub filled with about 12-15 inches of water. the tub will be in the back of my magnum. when i get to the new pond, i was planning on adding new pond water gradually so they get acclemated to temp difference, and add the fish about 20 minutes later. can anyone tell me is there is anything i am going to be doing wrong or have any other ideas how i should do it. any comments will be appreciated, any advice?

Answer 1

just buy a battery operated airpump for the transport storage tub and don't feed them for two days before the transport.



kOi keeper & goldfish keeper



http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/worldwidekoiclub/

Answer 2

Use a pickup truck and two or three thirty gallon trash cans tied to the bed so they will not tip over in transit. Put a thirty gallon trash bag in each can filled with about twenty gallons of water. Tie off the top of the bags like the ones you get at a pet store when you buy tropical fish. This may sound funny but this is how I transport smaller koi in numbers and I do this for a living. I have had to move koi over three feet long and that is a whole different story. Since you have small koi this will work well for you. Just keep in mind that black bags absorb heat FAST! Strapping the lid of the trash can down is a huge help to control the temp inside the bag. Now if you are confident that you can get from point A to point B without having to risk tipping over the trashcans all you need to do is strap the lids down so you do not have suicide attempts. Koi are JUMPERS! Especially the ones with torpedo shaped noses. The trash bag is more for "IF" for some reason one of the cans tip over you will not loose everything inside it if you tied the top shut tightly. Remember, The guy who came up with Murphy's Law was an equal opportunity offender and you cannot trust the other guy to do the right thing on the road so SAFETY FIRST! Do make sure there is some air in the bag. if the trip is longer use less water and more air. If heat is an issue take a one gallon zip lock bag and fill it with ice and toss it in the bag with the fish. Koi are cold water and they will probably thank you for it for the trip will surely be stressful enough! Oh and do use clean trash cans and fresh trash bags for this. Also as long as the temp is not radically different between the transport water and the pond (<5 to 7 degrees F.) go ahead and dump them right in. If the difference is greater add five gallons of pond water to the transport container, wait five minuets and put the fish in the pond. Waiting longer could result in the water warming up too fast making you have to repeat the process. Fish can survive Small temperature differences but changes of 7 to 10 degrees is pushing your luck. If the transport water is really warm ice bag it and add pond water. Then add the fish to the pond ten minuets later. Remember, Koi are COLD water fish just like goldfish and trout!

Answer 3

When needs are needs must, but this is the wrong time of year for moving pond fish. Can't see anything wrong in the planned method of moving, but the old pond has a years worth of heat stored in the water plus it's 300 gallons bigger. The new pond will be several degrees colder as the water hasn't had any chance to catch the sun. Air temperature takes time to effect water and a week will make no difference in Autumn. A week really isn't long enough to create an ecosystem, so there's no natural food source either. Your fish will be shocked into winter mode early, there bodies won't be fully prepared and you risk losing fish.



Leave them were they are till late spring, overwinter the smaller ones indoors or find a bigger established pond if you must move them.



Good luck, but expect problems from the new water.

Answer 4

your koi should be fine to move,yes add the water slowly from your new pond otherwise you risk the fish going into shock. as long as the water temp dont change dramatically wen transporting them it should be fine. a week isnt very long for your new pond to establish so keep a very close eye on your fish for the first month as the stress of moving will make them more susceptible to disease but if they are in good condition they will handle it well. if you can take some of the filter media from your old pond and put it in the new pond, this will help mature the filters quicker. also its worth adding pure salt ( not cooking salt) to the water as this can greatly reduce the risk of shock and will inhabit bacteria, when fish are stressed from being moved their immune system is compromised so this is a good tonic for them. salt should be added to the new pond at a rate of 1gram per litre of pond water. also feed the fish with food containing high vitamin c, this acts as a stress eleviator and the fish soon use up their natural stores of this vitamin when they are stressed.



i should add your main problem wont be transporting the koi, your new pond im more concerned about. it may take 6 weeks for your pond to mature and during this time the water chemistry is likely to go through many changes. if any of your fish do develop any problems you should make arrangements for the sick fish to be housed indoors and correctly treated. overwintering a sick fish will most certainly kill it. please buy a test kit and test the water quality daily for a few weeks, you really need to know what your water is doing as this is a very new set up.

Answer 5

Sounds like you have everything under control. You could use a large fish net to get them out of the old pond.

Answer 6

Transporting Koi Fish

Answer 7

a fish net comes to mind,i think u should transfer some of the old water to the new pond however.

Answer 8

wow. That sounds difficult...