"ray hucek" wrote in message
...
George,
Thanks for your thoughts.
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

All of the above seem to be descent. PH is a little high, but seem to be
acceptable. What do you think?

Chemical Poisoning-- it would have to be airborne because I don't do any
fertilizing or pesticides in my back yard. And there is no risk of runoff
into the pond. I thought of that when I did the water change. I was
hopeful that doing the water change would have diluted any poisoning taking
place. It didn't seem to work as I lost 3 fish today.

I am going to increase aeration to try to deal with oxygen.

Any ideas about bacterial infections and how to treat them? There isn't any
outward signs on the fish.

Any help would be appreciated.
Ray


If it is a bacterial infection, there should be external signs. Honestly, if I
suspected a bacterial infection, I'd isolate the sick animals in a separate
holding tank, and treat it instead of the pond. Having said that, if all of
your fish are affected, then you are going to have to risk treating the pond,
which can be expensive. There are two types of bacterial infections,
gram-positive, and gram negative. Depending on the symptoms the fish are
exhibiting, you may have one or the other. It is also possible that you could
have both. Try this link and see if you can diagnose the illness.

http://www.bettasrus.com/disease/diagnosing.htm

This flowchart usually works well for me. I haven't lost a fish to disease in
several years using this flowchart as a guide. My catfish got a skin infection
last fall that also affected his gills. It was determined, based on this
flowchart that the fish had septicemia, or similar infection. In my case, none
of the other fish were affected. I isolated him for two weeks in a 50 gallon
tub, and treated the water with marycyn II, adding aeration to the water. When
it appeared that he was behaving normally, and started eating again, I placed
him back in the pond. After a couple of days of adjustment, he was fine. This
guide is actually allegedly taylored to Bettas, but believe me, many fish are
susceptible to many of the same diseases, so the flow chart should work fine for
you so don't worry about that. It is the same flowchart that comes with the
mardel labs medications recommended for the two types of bacterial infections
outlined above. In addition, if bacterial infection is not the problem, it may
help you isolate any other possible cause.

Finally, I posted earlier my recommendation about ammonia and the water
temperature. You should read that post as well. I would eliminate all other
causes before initiating a potentially expensive antibiotic treatment.