Fish are dying

Zeddicus · Post by **Zeddicus** » Jun 13, 2005 7:20 pm

The second goldfish in two days. Water is crystal clear. The surviving fish seem lethargic, hardly moving. What can be the matter? The one I found today had reddish colouring from his mouth almost to his gills on the underside of him/her. Need help quick. Ron

jay dee · Post by **jay dee** » Jun 13, 2005 7:42 pm

Have you changed the water lately? If you use city water, they may have changed the chemicals to treat the water.

Have you sprayed any chemicals in the area where you could possibly have run off into the pond?

Making massive water changes and running carbon through the filters could reduce any chemical build up in the pond. By massive changes, I mean 90% of the pond water, daily, for a few days.

I know how you feel about losing the fish suddenly - we sprayed fungicide near our pond once and then had torrential rains and the run off went into the pond. Carbon and major water changes helped but hubby took the day off from work and reworked the sides of the pond so there would never be run off again - and quit spraying fungicides.

Good luck - jay dee

Zeddicus · Post by **Zeddicus** » Jun 14, 2005 5:32 pm

Changed the water, cleaned the filters, fish are now very perky. Thank you very much. Ron

jay dee · Post by **jay dee** » Jun 14, 2005 6:14 pm

Glad the fish are better. It is amazing how attached you can become to them.

jay dee

Post by **Chris_W** » Jun 14, 2005 7:46 pm

If you feed your fish, you might want to stop. Ammonia levels can build up quickly if you feed them. The goldfish in our old pond hadn't been fed in years and have been much healthier (and population control has been easier) ever since we stopped.

A biological filter will help with these problems too.

Hopefully your fish aren't too badly damaged by it. Good to hear that they are coming out of it

JoshS · Post by **JoshS** » Jun 14, 2005 10:10 pm

If they came out of it that quickly, it sounds like a water quality issue. Like Chris recomended, cutting down on feeding at least until you get things figured out is a good idea. Make sure you don't have a lot of rotting plant or animal matter on the bottom of your pond. Good circulation may help. If you have a heavy fish load, some type of bio filter may be needed. If your fish load is reasonably light, load up on plants...they will solve lots of pond issues.

If you continue to loose fish, you might do some reading on the KoiVet site. Lots of great fish health info there.

Zeddicus · Post by **Zeddicus** » Jun 15, 2005 6:47 am

Great advice from some great people. Thank you all.
I think the hot humid weather we have been having for the last seven days might have something to do with it also.

Ron

Old earth dog · Post by **Old earth dog** » Jun 16, 2005 2:10 am

Ron, do you have any type of aireators? (sp), or waterfalls that would help keep the water oxygenated?

Zeddicus · Post by **Zeddicus** » Jun 16, 2005 9:21 am

OED I have a watering can as a waterfall, Took the tip off yesterday and the staight stream of water seems to be doing a better job of airerating the water but as soon as the stores open today I will be getting an airerator. Thanks for the advice. Ron

Tundra_Queen · Post by **Tundra_Queen** » Jul 06, 2005 2:51 am

Ron, I don't come into this forum much so I just saw this post.

There is a gill disease that fish get, can't remember the name of it off hand,,,sorry, but there are meds u can get for it. One of my fish had it a few years ago and I just went to Walmart and got it and put it in the tank, it is a liquid.

Also, about changing a lot of the water, I would hesitate to do that. I was always told u only change 1/4 of the water weekly so that there is always the bacteria in the water to destroy the fish's waste product.

When u put the fish in the pond was the water still cold? Maybe your fish overwinter in your pond though, mine don't, so I always have to float them in a plastic bag until the water in the bag gets close tot he temp in the pond.

And I always feed my fish every day.

Take care
Debbie

JoshS · Post by **JoshS** » Jul 06, 2005 1:01 pm

Tundra_Queen wrote:Also, about changing a lot of the water, I would hesitate to do that. I was always told u only change 1/4 of the water weekly so that there is always the bacteria in the water to destroy the fish's waste product.

The nitrifying bacteria live in your filter media and on any surfaces in the pond. There are surely bacteria in the water, but not enough to process the fish and other organic waste.