"joe" wrote in message ...
My test kit says that levels of 0.25 mg/litre of ammonia can be lethal. I
don't have the conversion to PPM, maybe Ingrid or someone else can chime in.
There is no conversion. 0.25 mg./L is 0.25 ppm. You might be right about the
ammonia level. In addition, the higher the water temperature, the more critical
the ammonia concentration becomes. An ammonia concentration of 0.25 ppm might
be ok at 65 degress F. At 80, it could be toxic, indeed. Fish excrete ammonia
through their gills. That process becomes less efficient with increased ammonia
concentration in the water, thereby increasing the ammonia concentration in the
blood of the animals. Higher water temperatures can also impede this process,
making the same ammonia concentration at a lower temperature more toxic at
higher temperatures. I would temporarily add ammocarb to the filtration, and
add nitrifying bacteria to the pond immediately just to make sure this isn't the
problem. A 20% water change should also help reduce that concentration. And
just to be sure, I'd test the new water before adding it to make sure that it
isn't, for some reason, the source of the ammonia (although this is doubtful -
most likely your biological filtration isn't working properly). Adding the
nitrifying bacteria should get rid of the problem. Finally, As I stated
earlier, it seems to me that the temperature is a little high for this time of
year, so I'd check your pump(s) for overheating. A restricted outlet,
cavitation, or a failing bearing could cause the pump to overheat, which can
raise the water temperature in the pond.
My test kit also says that "As far as possible the nitrite concentration
should not exceed 0.20 mg/litre. At a level of 0.5 mg the fish will be
adversely affected."
Both ammonia and nitrite in high levels prevent fish from obtaining and
carrying oxygen.
Also:
This is a long shot, but has your community switched from chlorine to
chloramine in tap water? The latter takes way longer to dissipate (in fact I
can't find anything that says it ever dissipates) and I'm wondering if you
use a dechlorinator? If not, you might go get a jug of amquel. It will have
the side benefit of reducing your ammonia level. Would you consider your
filters effective? Poor filtering could lead to higher nitrite levels.
Sorry, don't know much about parasites, but many others on this list can
pipe in on the subject.
Joe
On 5/18/04 2:13 PM, "ray hucek" wrote:
Joe,
Thanks for the reply.
I tested the water and forgot to give the findings in my original posting.
Sorry--
PH -7.4-7.6
Ammon-- less than 1 PPM.
Nitrite-- .25
water temp- 80 degrees
Any help would be appreciated.
Ray
"joe" wrote in message
...
What are your water parameters (ammonia, nitrate, ph, etc)?
Joe
On 5/18/04 8:51 AM, "ray hucek" wrote:
I am in need of some advice and hope you could help.
I am having a fish die-off. They are goldfish and the pond is about 6
years
old. I have never had anything like this happen before. There aren't
any
appearant signs of infection on the fish. The only symptoms that I see
are
listlessness at the end of their life. They lose their appetite.
There haven't been any plant or fish additions to the pond. The only
connection that I have seen is this-toads come to mate in my pond as in
previous years. This year, I found a dead toad floating in my pond,
which I
took out. That was about 3-4 weeks ago. Later, all of the tadpoles
died
off. There currently are more and they seem to be doing all right. In
the
past week, I have had 1-3 fish die every day. Is it possible that the
toad
carried a virus that infected the fish?
I have done a water change this past weekend of about 30%. I medicated
it
twice with a combination of formalin and malachite green. The pond is
about
3,000 gallons and has an external filtering system.
I am at a loss. None of the diseases that I have seen described match
this.
I am hoping someone will have some suggestions.
Thanks,
Ray
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