On Sat, 05 Nov 2005 22:11:57 GMT, "Sean Kerns" wrote:

5'x7'x2" deep backyard pond with a liner.
I've had it about 5 years.
fish are garden variety goldfish, 1.5" to 6".
50F, I've tapered off the feedings
I did treat a week ago with permanganate.

Now to my troubled fish.
He's a goldfish, about 6" or 8" long.
I would guess he's about 3 years old, born in the pond.
For the last few weeks, he's seemed very sluggish, not swimming or eating
much, hanging out at the plant shelf, which is about 10" deep.
he was nearly vertical at one point, then leveled out, swam some more,
and then drifted back to nearly vertical.
The only thing I can physically see on him is that his scales look maybe,
for want of a better word, unkempt. A little rought and un-lustrous,
maybe.

Any ideas? Do these guys just not live any longer, or is there something
else wrong? As I said, I've seen no other sigsn of anything wring in any
of the other fish. The nitrites, Ph, and Ammonia levels in the pond all look good.
Sean

Sounds like his swim bladder is going and dropsy might be setting in. These
things happen most often when the temps are changing in fall & spring. To
save this one you would need to bring it inside for the winter and keep it
warm, and that's no guarantee. See:
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/home.html Diseases and Treatments.

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~ jan

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
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