Help! Fish Emergency...

[GardenGeisha]

I have had a pond liner with 7 fish in it all summer, and they have been so happy and healthy. But night before last I guess the neighbor's swamp cooler hose broke, due to the freezing weather, and water from his swamp cooler has run into the pond, from off the roof. The pond water, which was clear, now looks gray. I can only imagine what is probably in it-- fluoride, bacteria, etc.

I was planning to bring the fish indoors soon, in aquariums I bought them. I was hoping they could stay outside as long as possible but now it is imperative I get them out of that gunk. I didn't think about it having fluoride in it until the middle of the night.

I have read you should transfer your fish into the water they have been used to, since it is an eco environment, but now that it is polluted I feel I need to buy fresh water for their aquarium. Will that shock them, going into spring water from the store? I can't use tap water-- it has chlorine and fluoride and I don't want to buy the de-chlorinators and the fluoride is impossible to remove from the water.

What should I do?

Also, their water lettuces and water hyacinth won't make it indoors, will they, atop their aquarium water?

Thanks for all suggestions. What a nightmare Jack Frost has been this year.

 

[digitS']

You really, really will appreciate spring's return, GardenGeisha!

I will be of very little help but have an idea. It has been years and years since I have had fish and that was indoors only.

My guess is that, at this point, distilled water would be better than anything else for their new home. Reverse osmosis filter should also give you just about nothing but H2O. The fish will probably populate it with beneficial micro-organisms soon enough. All just a guess, Sunday probably isn't your best time to contact a pet shop for their advice.

Steve

 

[GardenGeisha]

Thanks, Steve. I thought someone had advised me earlier that distilled water had problems for fish, but for the life of me, I can't remember why. I will check into it further...

 

[GardenGeisha]

This is what I found:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Fish-1472/Distilled-water.htm

 

[897tgigvib]

When I worked in the greenhouse in Montana we kept the water plants inside the greenhouse in a makeshift pond made of a metal store bought watering trough. Most of them did fine, especially the water hyacinths. Water plants were a specialty of Roxi's. They do appreciate good light. That pond was on the south side, one of the brightest and warmer spots in the greenhouse. They can't freeze though.

Yes, I very much understand the gardener's distaste for season's end in northern areas. On the bright side, there is always the challenge of creating indoors winter gardening.

Now for example, would be the best time to plant Pansy seeds indoors. Alyssum. Snapdragons. Petunias. Long season Peppers. Columbine. Impatiens.

http://www.thompson-morgan.com/flowers/flower-seeds

A good time for lots of things! Cuttings. This is the exact time of year when I was doing lots of propagation things. Bringing the crabapple seedlings in, setting out the year old crabapples for their first winter outside. Same with other seedlings of perennials. We experimented with successfully Primrose seeds, surface sown in mostly shade. I discovered Columbine seeding's best way. Surface sown, and sprinkle gravel lightly over the seeds. They sprout best peeking up around the gravel.

This is the very best time to begin planting Sweet Peas indoors. Let them take their time, and give them deep potting soil.

Winter indoor gardening is very enjoyable, and setting it up, well, some planning. I made a real fine mess of my living room and bedroom doing it, lol!

Watch out for Whiteflies. Start out with clean materials, and definitely sterile potting soils. Don't bring in plants that might have hidden bugs.

 

[Smart Red]

I have a very small pond. Every year I take my koi and goldfish into the sun room for the winter. I do have well water so I don't have to worry about city chemicals when I switch them from pond to tank. These fish are very hardy. As long as the water temperature in your tank is close to the same - or they are allowed to acclimatize to your tank temperature - there should be no problems. Any chance you could get water from a lake or spring nearby and use it for quick, temporary housing in buckets while your tanks are getting readied?

 

[GardenGeisha]

I called Wal-Mart and their gallons of spring water have no chlorine nor fluoride in them. I don't have access to a lake or stream, no. I have used their spring water in my pond all summer, when doing changes, and the fish seemed to like it. I don't know about the plastic jugs, though. I hope it doesn't leach. I do have several 3-gallon buckets I could move the fish from their pond into temporarily. Can I just put one fish in each bucket and carry the buckets into the cool house, and let the fish stay in the buckets until the water in the buckets warms up to room temperature, and then dump the fish with some of their bucket water into the Walmart spring-water filled aquarium which should also be room temperature? I don't have any heat on in the house.

Do I need to buy some of the Anti-Shock formula found at pet stores to put in the Wal-Mart spring water? Would that help their transition? What a mess!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i have been buying gallon bottles of spring water for my aquariums a couple years now and much less problems with fish loss. offsetting the tap water chemicals with more chemicals from the pet store was a pain and never really worked well. even trying to let tap water sit for 24 hours or longer doesn't seem to settle the chemicals enough to make it safe.

if you can get one of the LED light fixtures i've been finding that duckweed will grow nicely inside the house. i also have some water celery and penny wort growing in my tank with guppies and trap door snails. i need to get one of these lights too for my 55 gallon with my koi and pond comet. i have the LED that is hidden inside the tank just under the hood. it's been nice and bright but i like it has an on/off switch and can go into night mode too.

 

[Nyboy]

What kind of fish do you have? Goldfish are very dirty, water changes are important. I have city water and have used stress coat for many years.

 

[GardenGeisha]

I have 7 dime gold fish. My neighbor bought them and put them in my pond. They cost a dime each, and I have fallen in love with them.