Well, I doubt that the mud will kill your fish, but the overstocking may. Most of us are somewhat overstocked, but you have way too many fish in a 250 gallon pond. Or did you drop an 0 and meant to say 2500? Koi are genetically prone to grow large, and will almost certainly grow too large for 250 gallons. Sorry. My koi are almost three feet long; yours will grow smaller in such a cramped space, but they will outgrow your pond, trust me. That's also too many goldies. Your pond can support about half that amount.

You can add more water if the water level is lower, but it sounds like your pond was not constructed properly. Mud should not have been able to get into the pond. The sides of the pond should be high enough to prevent runoff from getting into the pond.

The filter will probably clear the muddy water eventually. You need to get the filter back on. If you don't have the GFI installed yet, run an electrical cord from the house and wrap the place where the pump is connected to the extension cord with plastic and secure it tightly to help keep moisture out. Make sure the prongs are all dry before you plug them in. Get that GFI installed pronto. That could save not only your fishes' lives but yours as well should anything go wrong with the pump.

Yeah, that would be a lot of fish for such a small pond. I doubt they would die immediately, but that wouldn't be a very good existence for them.

You didn't say why your new pond is so muddy. Did you not grade the soils around your pond to prevent yard runoff from being directed into your pond?

I know that some of us have had problems because we failed to clean the rocks and liner before filling. Maybe you should start over, get temporary tank to store your fish and re-plan. Don't forget to dechlorinate your water.

You must have a typo error on the gals of your pond or your pump would be draining your pond just to keep up.
Can you post pictures?
You can get plastic covers for the electrical outlet--depends what you have. Maybe put a plastic tub over the outlet/plug if you are worried about the rain.

we just got the gfi installed today.. yay, that problem is taken care of.

we are building four more ponds in the next month. i got the fish at a koi show so i went ahead and bought them with the intention of moving them asap. we also have a 54 gallon pond already in and up and running today. i'm putting the 4 comments in there for the time being.

my pump is really large for the pond but our watter fall has a 8 ft head and we thought we would need one that strong to run the waterfall. but it was still to much force so we put in a water valuve regualtor thingey.. i can't remember the name, but it turns and allows us to set the flow of water.

unfortantly i did not clean out the pond prior to putting in the water. but there was only a little amount of sand it then. so it was preaty clear. then we had the rocks pressured washed and the man did the rocks around the walk way where all the sand was. that was like a sand blaster and put in alot of sand. but the pond is right next to the bank, a very steap bank, and i was not able to grade it off. the liner comes right up the bank. a big planning problem. so we are thinking maybe this will work....

we can take out some of the bank and make it leavel or lower than the liner. put wood holding back the higher bank area , and then put liner in that area we dig out and make like a bog area.. i'm really not sure. i know if we plant some ornamental grasses on the bank it will hold back the soil, right now it is bare.

what do you guys think.

how can i put up pics. i have them saved to my computer but i can't figure out how to post them..

thank you so much for all of your help..

ps plz forgive my horible spelling.. HUGS laura

Hey there, Laura. I don't know about the bog area if the waterfall is coming off of that high bank. It might get washed away. You don't say how deep the pond is. If it is too shallow the waterfall could splash way too much water out. I must admit I wish I had a fall that high but the yard is flat so I guess that is not going to happen.

If no one comes up with the instructions for posting pictures you can do a search. Go to the top of the main ponds forum page and find the space where it says search, put in something like "posting pics" or "posting pictures". That should take you to a bunch of posts that talk about that. We will all do better if we can see what we are talking about.

You don't say what zone you are in or enough other info. for us to give you a lot of help. In general, you need to have the pond for koi at least three feet deep. The more gallons the better. We will be looking for your posts.

thank you so much for trying to help me. this is a big project but i so love it.. :)

my pond is 6x6 kind of a circle shape, and it is 3 foot deep in the deepest point. but there is a shelf area on the left. i will try and get some pics up tomarrow for you all.

i have encountered a new problem. it is real damp and rainy outside and my gfc keeps cutting off. this is not good because there is not oxogen getting to the fish.. the electiction said this will happen but there must be a way to fix it..

oh yeah, i live in south east virginia, right on the nc, va boarder. we are in the blue ridge mountains right near the blue ridge parkway. i am thinking that i will have to bring in all the fish for the winter to ensure they live. we get real bad snow here. so we have a 250 gallon aquarium and two preformed ponds that we can bring in to for them to stay in.

right now my koi are only 5-6 inches long. 3 normal ones, one premium one, and two butterfly.

and the 6 comments, and 10 shubukko's. i so hope i spelled that right. we are trying to get more tanks on free cycle for the gold fish to stay in..

i hope this all makes scence .. thanks again for all of your help.. hugs, laura

this is my waterfall and the bank i'm speaking of. the liner is right under the top layer of rocks.
[IMG]http://i939.photobucket.com/albums/ad235/loriques/picofbank.jpg[/IMG]

{{gwi:224318}}

well a new day, and a whole set of new problems. one of my fish is loosing its fin. it was all white and then most of it fell off. also on its back behind the fin that is falling off alot of scales appear to be gone. is this fin rot. it to some malafix and treated the pond. then after about an hour i was able to catch her and now she is in a cooler in the house. i added a teaspoon of salt slowly. but i dont have an air stone for her. so i am going to do a 50% watter change every 2 hours and make sure the watter stays cool for her. do you think she will make it untill in the morning when i can go and get an air stone??

oh yeah, also i want to let you know the date on my camera is wrong. the pic i posted was taken 2 weeks ago..

thank you for any help at all..

Ummm. Did you lay the edge of the liner flat or did you fold it back and forth? If the liner is flat or the edge is under the soil then the dirt will just roll right over it and into the pond. A back and forth fold behind the stones on the bank might help. Laying it over a raised edging might help too.
Sounds like your fishie was in a fight.

thank you so very much. i have it laying flat on the bank. i will put up a boarder tomarrow and put the liner over it. i also am doing some dirt moving today. i have the bank flat for about 2 foot next to the pond now. we also put in one of those plasic pipes with the holes in it and lots of gravel down where the dirt use to be. my husband says this may help the watter drian off and down the rock steps and not in the pond. i will post pics in tomarrow.

i had another fish die today. this is nuts. i just bought these fish. my ph is normal, and everything eles is testing in the normal range. this one did not have any white on it and it's gills were bright red. like blood spots in it.

i tried to catch some of the fish today to move them to the other pond but it was stressing them out so much i gave up. i just don't know what eles to do.

Be sure to use the fabric cover for the perforated pipe.

thank you sleeplessinftwayne. may i ask why. i have not done that. i just put real small gravel around it. but i can still cover it. i'm just wondering why..

all of my fish seem to be doing good so far. i lost 4 total. but the rest look good and are eating. the pond is very clear now. i can see all the way to the bottom. but there is alot of silt or dirt on the bottom. the bio filter seems to be working real well.

thank you all for your help.

The holes in the pipe can allow that small gravel to pass through. Changes in temperature affect the size and flexibility of the holes.Unstable sandy soil and fine clay soil can pass through as well. Large clean gravel or river bottom stone is pretty fair for covering. In most cases unless it is quite deep, roots will gravitate to the holes in the pipe to get to the moisture. Home for insects and small critters. Lots of reasons. It will pay for itself over time.