hi
i whent on my holidays for 2 weeks when i come back there was a note DO NOT FEED FISH o my god mother inlaw had feed the fish to much and my nitrate were RED by the tetrapond tester (1.6 and more ) and had lost 4 fish when i was away but she did go to the pet shop and get some stuff to put in the filter to drop the nitrates any ways £30 later and it is droped from 1.6 to 3 so safe but not good to put more fish in pond i am leting the nitrates drop by them self trying to let the good bacteria get going
have lost 3 more fish up to now and i think thats were it is stoped, i did not see my small fish much only when thay come up to die any ways i have put 2 air stones in the pond and was told that it would help the nitrates
looks like the larger fish are ok and still look normal and the 3 strgeon are still alive but i have only seen 2 at one time but one was allways hiding and now i have seen 3 smaller fish over the last 4 days and thay have not died so looks like i will not lose any more i have not been feeding the fish at all
just have seen some golden koi which i am going to get but need the nitrares down below 3 is thay any othing way to drop the nitrates down i have cleand the pond as best i can and all the dead plant stuff out i can find

Your poor mother inlaw must be feeling totally guilty. Everytime my hubby goes down to the pond, he wants to feed the fish...and I tell him 'NO'. At least she did the smart thing and ran for help while you were away...hope all gets better soon.

I'm sorry about your problem. Are you sure it's the nitrates that are high and not the nitrites? Nitrate is pretty toxic while nitrate is only a problem if it's super high. To reduce nitrate, do water changes. The nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite and then nitrite to nitrate but they don't do anything with the nitrate. Plants can use nitrate. In time, some nitrate will leave the pond as nitrogen gas. Aeration may help with that. I suggest water changes and some fresh activated carbon in a mesh bag in the filter to not only reduce the nitrate but to remove the excess organics from uneaten food. There may be an oily coating on the water's surface from the uneaten food if it was a lot.

The last time I went away was May 1996. I pre-bagged my aquarium fishes' food in ziploc bags for my mother for the week. I didn't have a pond at that time. Now, I could never trust anyone to take care of all the animals, aquariums, and ponds.

thanks sadiemay mother inlaw was upset but she is fine now

the thing i am testing for says on the box NO2
i do have a oily coating in my pond and foam at the water fall i have been taken out the foam there is still foam there but not as bad and i have not yet feed the fish well put some floating in just incase as it as been 3 weeks and not been fead but after 3 mins i took it all out and not 1 fish come to eat it so thay r not going hungery
but i do put most of the prob to the sinking food that i put in for the stergeon as after 30 mins it go`s to a power and u can not tell if fish have eaten it i know about it and was only putting bit`s in but mother inlaw did not but that in the past hopefull at the and of the week the pond will be ok and i can put the golden koi in that i have seen once again thanks for the help

NO2- is nitrite
NO3- is nitrate

You have high nitrite then. Nitrite is pretty toxic. To lower the levels, do the water changes. Also, add pond salt which reduces the toxicity of nitrite. Add more good bacteria as you said you were doing. Water changes and activated carbon will help remove the DOC (dissolved organic compounds) which are the organic oils from the excess fish food and fish waste.

You haven't fed the fish in 3 weeks?

it as been 3 weeks that i have not feed the fish i did put some floating food in but not for longer then 5 mins and thay did not even look at it i do have a lot of flying stuuf going on in the water lava and the like and i did buy some live food and thay r swimming around all the time as tho nothing as happend and my sturgeon look ok as well and from the start i have had pond salt in the friend who i got the fish off told me thats wot he has in his pond i had a word with the man in the shop and he told me how much salt to put in and as i have not changed the water yet i do not think i should put more salt in the water yet
if i remember the pond is 1500 gall and i put in 12 k of salt over 3 or 4 days and this activated carbon wot is it were can i get i have fillter sponges do i put it on the sponge or in the water
i have put 3 250 ml bottles of the good bacteria in the fillter and have got a 500ml bottle which i will put a cap full in a week till the NO2 gets to normal lvl`s just thought i will give it time to work

thanks for the help

You only want to add salt with water changes unless the pond is getting natural water changes from a lot of rain.

Activated carbon is carbon or charcoal sold for aquariums and ponds. It removes many organic chemicals from the water. The carbon can be put into a mesh bag to restrain it and then put into the water, preferably where there is some water flow. I keep some in the top of my filter.

ok thanks i will look into the carbon once again thanks for the help