More dying fish
"Mark Ellwood" wrote
in message
...
I just got back from a week long canoe trip
to the wilderness in northern
Ontario and discovered my own back yard
wilderness has suffered. My pond is
400 gallons or so (4 feet wide by 8 feet
long and anywhere from 12-30 inches
deep). I've got lots of oxygenating plants
that have blossomed, but the
fish, which a neighbor saw thriving on
Tuesday, have died over the last
three days.
My first thought was that numerous pears,
which have been dropping in from
an overhead tree have changed the chemical
composition of the water. The
plan was to snatch them out every day,
which I was doing. (They float, at
least for a while) But in my absence a
whole bunch came down. Some have
already been chewed on by ravenous
squirrels. I noticed also the rocks under
the small waterfall are a bit slimy.
Would a lot of pears adversely affect the
chemistry of the pond? My plan for
next year will be to put up a sloped
netting during pear-dropping season to
avoid this problem.
(By the way, I don't think our power
shortage problem up here in the north
east was the cause, though perhaps it may
have contributed. The oxygenators
are plentiful and the pump / waterfall was
probably only off for about 10
hours.)
Mark
Mark,
Check the water quality. Do a 1/3 water
change and yes, even a small change in oxygen
can affect the fish.
Did the fish have any marks on them? How did
the scales look?
Anything that enters the water can change the
water composition. I don't know if pears
would be fatal. Oxygen is a ~huge~ element
for fish and even too many plants can harm
them too!!!
Its a balancing act all the way around.
I am sorry for your loss. I wish you the
best for the future.
Jeannette
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