Preparing new pond

Question
I have a 600 gal. fish pond, fed from our deep well.  It gets about 3 hours of direct sun per day, otherwise quite shaded.  I installed 12 pots of arachnis and a 325 gph pump with Pondmaster 1000 filter and fountain running 24/7.  I filled, emptied and cleaned the pond 3 times.  After several days, I put in 10 comets and fed them 3 times/day.  They showed very little interest in the food, and within a week, they had all died.  How do I go about determinig whether there is something wrong with the pond, or with what I did or failed to do?

Answer
Hi Ed,
 There is no need to feed them more than once a day.

 What is the water temperature?  Goldfish can't take warm water.

 It is very possible that they weren't healthy to begin with; goldfish frequently aren't in good shape.  

 I am assuming that with the fountain there was adequate aeration, i.e., lots of air in the water.  Was the surface of the pond in motion all the time (it needs to be) otherwise it will go stagnant.  Signs of this would be the goldfish trying to breathe at the surface.  

 My best advice would be to try again, but with only a couple of fish and see what happens.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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