Chainsaws and Koi

[beastmaster]

I found this thread searching Chainsaw oil spill in Koi pond. Lots of cute remarks, but no one offers any solution for removing chainsaw chain oil from a pond.

Pond owner here and after tree guys left after cutting back a large tree near my pond, I found the pond surface covered in a thin sheen of oil, like a miniature BP oil spill.

I'm sure these guys were not using any kind of edible food oil to lube the chains so what do I do? It's late November, pond plants are frost bit and dying back, probably coated with the oil too.

I'm a boater, and found a few sheets of oil-absorbant pads in the basement that I put under boat engines in the bilge. I have them floating on the pond, hoping they soak up some oil. Also removing as much of the dead/dying pond vegetation, mostly pickerel rush.

I'm assuming the oil should stay on the surface so I'm leaving the pond pump running to continue normal pond filtration to the gravel & pebble pond filter. I sure don't want that getting gunked up with oil.

I thought I'd thought of everything, but why I didn't think of the oil their chainsaws would be slinging, I don't know. My bet is that it's probably a shot glass or less of oil, but the sheen covers the entire pond.

My fish come to the surface around dark (6 hours from now) begging to be fed and that's when I'm concerned that they'll ingest the oil as they suck at anything new they see on the surface hoping its Koi pond sticks (food).

Maybe I should call BP HQ and ask what to do. I'm sure they'd give a crap about my pond and fish and bullfrogs.

Dangit.

Based on what I've said, anyone know if I can expect a large fish kill? Any suggestions on removing the oil? I may look up the number and call the local fire department's HazMat department for advise.

Thanks.

Dangit again.

All the fish and turtels survived my oil fiasco. They had some containment expert come in $$$$ and he just skimmed off the oil after using floating absorbing barriers to concentrate it in one area. I guess they had to clean the rocks that bordered the pond too. I don't know what it cost, but the Company paid for it and handled finding the right people to come ASAP.
I don't know what the cost was but when I offered to pay for it the owner only gave a manical laugh and said I'd be working for free for rest the month If I had to pay for it. It was an accedent, and we made good on our mistake. So should whoever is responable for your oil spill.

 

[KenJax Tree]

A mistake is not a mistake if a lesson was learned from it.

 

[imagineero]

Working off the commonly accepted number that 1 gallon of oil contaminates 1 million gallons of water, 1 drop of oil contaminates about 12 gallons of water. It takes very little to get a slick on a small pond. You could easily contaminate a small pond just by dipping one oily finger in it.

I've worked around Koi's before, mostly with chinese owners who are very superstitious about the fish and the wealth and luck they bring. I always get it in writing that protecting and dealing with the fish is not my responsibility. In my opinion, covering with a tarp often isn't enough. I've worked near them and the owner has tarped but somehow oil still got in. I get the same waiver working near pools. I think it makes absolutely no difference what sort of oil you use.

Shaun

 

[flushcut]

Good thread!

 

[treeclimber101]

A bit off topic , but I was taking out a huge oak one day , the neighbor a nice above ground pool , after a few cuts I noticed the wind was carrying a lot of dust to his pool , I knocked on his door he answered , I told him your pool is getting filled with sawdust , he laughed and said I am so glad he is cutting that tree that cleaning the pool one last time because of it is no sweat . 2 days later he called and demanded I pay 200 dollars for chemicals since it went green .

 

[jefflovstrom]

A bit off topic , but I was taking out a huge oak one day ,

A bit off topic? Ya think?,, duh!!
You just don't understand the Koi!
Put your oak in another thread,, I am way too interested in this KOI thing!!!
Jeff

 

[TreeGuyHR]

I have a client with a Koi pond, and about a month after I treated 51 small Japanese maples (some near the pond) most of the Koi suddenly died. First thing that happens is the property manager (the wealthy couple were often traveling) calls ME and wants to know if what I had done could have killed the fish. I had painted a solution of Agri-fos on the trunks of the trees (with a 2 in. foam brush) as a systemic fungicide treatment -- being careful not to spill any, especially in the pond (some trees were close by).

The plot thickened: it seems that she had left the hose running over night in the pond to bring the water level up -- the local water has nearly no chlorine, but is very cold. Also, the pond guy (there is also an irrigation guy and landscaper that all work there) had recently treated the pond for algae with an algacide.

Regular Agatha Christy "Whodunnit"

I was able to argue that whatever I had applied (a solution of phosphoric acid salts plus Pentrabark that had soaked into the bark of the trees a month earlier, with the intervening time to dilute any drop or two that had hit the ground) would not have affected the Koi a month later. I did wonder (to the property manager) if the cold water could have shocked the fish. Finally, it turned out that pond guy had treated the pond with the full dose of algacide, instead of testing a small amount first while checking oxygen levels, and so he had probably lowered the dissolved oxygen enough to kill the larger fish (the smaller ones survived).

It didn't help that one of the two pumps to the pond wasn't working. He added suspicion to himself by taking away the dead fish immediately and disposing of them (because they were "rotting"), so they could not be tested. He claimed that the oxygen levels were normal, when he tested them (which was a day after he had added the algicide, giving time for the waterfall to put more oxygen in the water).

Whew...

Don't know what happened to pond guy -- around five big Koi went belly up

 

[KenJax Tree]

KOI is a fancy name for a Carp and they are nasty bottom feeder and will eat $hit ans whatever else is available so how can a little oil and saw dust kill them?? Did you ever see the water they live in in the wild??

 

[treeclimber101]

KOI is a fancy name for a Carp and they are nasty bottom feeder and will eat $hit ans whatever else is available so how can a little oil and saw dust kill them?? Did you ever see the water they live in in the wild??

They have no tolerance for that they are not wild ... When you suddenly change the water or contaminate it you have a major problem waiting to happen .

 

[Treespotter]

Koi have a flotation balloon in their body that is extremely fragile and sensitive for shocks. Using a chipper next to a pond or dumping wood on the ground is asking for trouble. The balloon breaks and the fish will die.
As for the oil spill. Years ago I started using 100% pure Canola oil as bar oil in all my saws. Your Koi will love it. No negative side effects. O yes, one negative side effect of mineral oil disappeared. There's no more excessive wear on the bars and chains.

 

[treemandan]

A bit off topic , but I was taking out a huge oak one day , the neighbor a nice above ground pool , after a few cuts I noticed the wind was carrying a lot of dust to his pool , I knocked on his door he answered , I told him your pool is getting filled with sawdust , he laughed and said I am so glad he is cutting that tree that cleaning the pool one last time because of it is no sweat . 2 days later he called and demanded I pay 200 dollars for chemicals since it went green .

Not really off topic. And Beasty, boy, do I feel bad about this. This is exactly what I meant about you going crazy working with all those different companies. It is definatley not you fault nor your problem, you were just the underpaid tree climber they sent out to do what they can't. They should have known better( so should of you) and it was a long time ago i learned about ******* and their fish but I forget all the lessons too so thanks for putting your ass on the line and posting about it so we all remember.

 

[Wow]

thats why they invented bar lube made out of vegetable oil, for wetlands and protected property. skim it off quick, it blocks 02.

I was thinking Cooking Oil around wildlife. Years ago I read about a man cutting meat with a small electric chainsaw. People eat that meat. He was using cooking oil. If I remember correctly it was Conola oil. How he flushed the system I have no idea. Maybe, remove the bar and chain and wash in Dish detergent. With bar off maybe run saw with soap and water through the system? My guess is after the saw has been trained on Vegetable oil they never run regular bar oil again.