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#1
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My fish are dying - please help
Hi all,
I have a mature pond about 8 years old, 800 gallons, about 50 goldfish ranging from tiny tiddlers to about 5" long, plus one really big ghost koi about 18" long. I have all the usual filtration (comprises two large drums containing filter brushes and 'foam' pads - these are cleaned 2-3 times a year), waterfall and oxygenating plants, UV light, water is nice and clean and clear and always has been. There is a drain/filter at the bottom of the pond which takes out the water and feeds it through the filter system and back up into a small top pond, over a small waterfall, and back into the main pond. I feed the fish about every couple of days - if they get too much they get frisky. I top up the pond every few weeks, as and when needed due to evaporation, from a tap and use a water conditioner at the same time. Big problem - In the last week I've found 3 of the larger goldfish just floating dead in the water. They have no signs of any disease and look perfectly OK otherwise, just dead. This is very distressing as I'm spending every moment checking the pond and expecting all my little friends to die. I put some medifin in the pond a couple of days ago (I treat it twice a year normally - Spring and Autumn), but I've had another death since then. The only thing that's changed recently (don't know if it could possibly be the reason) - I recently netted the pond because we were visited by a heron, then I realised that the frogs and newts couldn't get in and out so I put a length of wood into the water from the side. The wood is sapele (sp?) and is definitely untreated, but I know some hardwoods have funny substances in them - do you think this might have poisoned the water ?? I've removed the wood now of course. I have pond test kits and use them regularly - recent tests (a couple of weeks ago) gave the following results : - Ammonia less than 0.1 - no problem - Nitrate zero - no problem - PH 8.5 - acceptable. Thanks for any help, Carole |
#2
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My fish are dying - please help
Hi Carole,
Glad you found us! Is a much nicer place to ponder pond problems here :-) I was wondering if you could add something plastic to help out the newts and frogs (am a critter ponder). I've also used branches from cherry trees and they worked for me. You can see them in the picture labeled frog hunting in my slide show. k :-) http://tinyurl.com/6bguh ~ new pond keeper info http://tinyurl.com/yp64db ~ slide show of pond |
#3
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My fish are dying - please help
Yes - unfortunately I found the 'other' group first - but thankfully someone
called Jim sent me an e-mail diverting me here. Some sort of branch sounds a good option - although I guess they could contain sap or something else unsafe ? Don't really want to go the plastic route as it would look so tacky - even though this is my ornamental pond I want it to look as natural as possible Mind you - my greatest concern is for the fish and wildlife, so if necessary that's what I'll do. You might be interested to know that I have another pond down in the valley in my garden (I have an acre of rural garden in Wiltshire UK) - it's a huge wildlife pond in a natural water meadow. It's not lined with anything - it's fed from an underground spring,and I've constructed a small damn, so it overflows along a pebble bed and then into a stream which runs through the garden. It's a magnet for wildlife of course . The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea of green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a friend for life. :-)))) "k" wrote in message oups.com... Hi Carole, Glad you found us! Is a much nicer place to ponder pond problems here :-) I was wondering if you could add something plastic to help out the newts and frogs (am a critter ponder). I've also used branches from cherry trees and they worked for me. You can see them in the picture labeled frog hunting in my slide show. k :-) http://tinyurl.com/6bguh ~ new pond keeper info http://tinyurl.com/yp64db ~ slide show of pond |
#4
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My fish are dying - please help
Oooooo, love natural and wildlife ponds...
I went googling (one of my few vices...) and found this really good discussion about duckweed and UK solutions ~ http://tinyurl.com/2w4bk5 k :-) |
#5
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My fish are dying - please help
"Carole (UK)" wrote:
The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea of green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a friend for life. :-)))) Put in some Koi, they will eat it all up! San Diego Joe 4,000 - 5,000 Gallons. Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo. |
#6
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My fish are dying - please help
Well...I have stocked this pond 3 times with fish and lost every one of them
to the Heron...the little (big!!) devil sits on top of my greenhouse and swoops down for a huge meal...so, I'm afraid stocking it with fish is not an option :-(((( That's why I created another smaller pond for fish right next to the house...no heron visitations for many years, but this year he/she came.....now the top pond is netted It seems from the info available that the only death blow to duckweed is a very severe cold snap, but with global warming we just don't get it any more....aaah well......guess there are more important things in life (wonder how many people have starved to death while we've been having this discussion about our ponds.......) "San Diego Joe" wrote in message ... "Carole (UK)" wrote: The only unfortunate thing is that most of the year it's a complete sea of green - 100% DUCKWEED !!!!! Any tips to get rid of that will make me a friend for life. :-)))) Put in some Koi, they will eat it all up! San Diego Joe 4,000 - 5,000 Gallons. Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo. |
#7
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My fish are dying - please help
Duckweed seems to be one of those things that
have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks like it... I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have in there and provides places for other critters to hang out. That little pond will freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next year. I am impressed. Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts in the small garden ponds if koi are around. I will have to investigate the large farm pond on the family farm when I get up there this year. They have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese, so that might take care of any duckweed that shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese? They make great guard dogs... :-)) k |
#8
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My fish are dying - please help
And here I sit, thinking how lucky you are. With the fish and the RES,
duckweed doesn't last a week in my pond. Gabrielle k wrote: Duckweed seems to be one of those things that have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks like it... I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have in there and provides places for other critters to hang out. That little pond will freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next year. I am impressed. Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts in the small garden ponds if koi are around. I will have to investigate the large farm pond on the family farm when I get up there this year. They have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese, so that might take care of any duckweed that shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese? They make great guard dogs... :-)) k |
#9
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My fish are dying - please help
Geese ! - the resident fox would thank me for that tasty meal ! and if
he/she didn't get them my 4 cats would have a go(and probably come out worst of course) I don't mind the weed at all actually, it looks rather pretty, and it's a very natural pond intended for wildlife and critters, so it's doing it's job. "k" wrote in message oups.com... Duckweed seems to be one of those things that have both good, and bad, advantages. Ducks like it... I have it, and azola, growing in one of my little ponds on the deck. It shades the taddies I have in there and provides places for other critters to hang out. That little pond will freeze solid and the stuff still shows up the next year. I am impressed. Like most ornamental ponders it never lasts in the small garden ponds if koi are around. I will have to investigate the large farm pond on the family farm when I get up there this year. They have geese, both farm geese and Canada geese, so that might take care of any duckweed that shows up. Maybe you could hire some geese? They make great guard dogs... :-)) k |
#10
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My fish are dying - please help
On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:11:11 CST, "Carole"
wrote: Big problem - In the last week I've found 3 of the larger goldfish just floating dead in the water. They have no signs of any disease and look perfectly OK otherwise, just dead. This is very distressing as I'm spending every moment checking the pond and expecting all my little friends to die. I put some medifin in the pond a couple of days ago (I treat it twice a year normally - Spring and Autumn), but I've had another death since then. I converted a hot tub to goldfish pond this year and had a similar experience. I did notice as I was inspecting the dead fish the gills were dull red/purple and thought perhaps it was parasites. I used Anchors Away (dimlin) and in a few days the fish began moving around more and I haven't lost another fish since. I'm not good at figuring out what makes them die, goldfish just die, but this is not the first time I've improved the goldfish's life with parasite treatment. Another factor in my guessing parasites is that I can't keep birds out of the pond. (Not predators, just songbirds.) They aren't satisfied to drink and leave they have to bathe, drop and invite all their friends to share the water they just crapped in. The only thing that's changed recently (don't know if it could possibly be the reason) - I recently netted the pond because we were visited by a heron, then I realised that the frogs and newts couldn't get in and out so I put a length of wood into the water from the side. The wood is sapele (sp?) and is definitely untreated, but I know some hardwoods have funny substances in them - do you think this might have poisoned the water ?? I'm not familiar with the type wood you are using, but I doubt it has any noticeable effect on the fish. Some purists make strong claims about everything from treated wood to roofing liner and I've yet seen the proof of such claims in my pond. I use pressure treated wood in my filters as frames and some of it has been in place so long I'll soon have to replace it. I'd look for parasites or disease as the reason for the fish dying. I'll bet you don't have a microscope to view scrapings either, so I'd make the best guess and press on like most of us do. Regards, Hal |
#11
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My fish are dying - please help
I sent this last night, but I don't know where it went????
On Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:11:11 CST, "Carole" wrote: Hi all, I have a mature pond about 8 years old, 800 gallons, about 50 goldfish ranging from tiny tiddlers to about 5" long, plus one really big ghost koi about 18" long. I have all the usual filtration (comprises two large drums containing filter brushes and 'foam' pads - these are cleaned 2-3 times a year), waterfall and oxygenating plants, UV light, water is nice and clean and clear and always has been. There is a drain/filter at the bottom of the pond which takes out the water and feeds it through the filter system and back up into a small top pond, over a small waterfall, and back into the main pond. I feed the fish about every couple of days - if they get too much they get frisky. I top up the pond every few weeks, as and when needed due to evaporation, from a tap and use a water conditioner at the same time. Big problem - In the last week I've found 3 of the larger goldfish just floating dead in the water. They have no signs of any disease and look perfectly OK otherwise, just dead. This is very distressing as I'm spending every moment checking the pond and expecting all my little friends to die. I put some medifin in the pond a couple of days ago (I treat it twice a year normally - Spring and Autumn), but I've had another death since then. The only thing that's changed recently (don't know if it could possibly be the reason) - I recently netted the pond because we were visited by a heron, then I realised that the frogs and newts couldn't get in and out so I put a length of wood into the water from the side. The wood is sapele (sp?) and is definitely untreated, but I know some hardwoods have funny substances in them - do you think this might have poisoned the water ?? I've removed the wood now of course. I have pond test kits and use them regularly - recent tests (a couple of weeks ago) gave the following results : - Ammonia less than 0.1 - no problem - Nitrate zero - no problem - PH 8.5 - acceptable. Thanks for any help, Carole Hi Carole, Usually when it is the biggest fish dying there is an O2 problem. If that isn't the case.... your above numbers tell me the Ammonia could be have fried their gills so they aren't getting enough O2. The higher the pH the worst any ammonia in the water is. I highly recommend reducing your fish load.... but since you mentioned something about sapele, I googled for it, and it is a toxic wood. It can cause irritation, dermatitis and respiratory problems in people. Imagine what it would do to a fishes gills and slime coat. Thus, water changes, 25% every day, for 6 days. As far as a climb out for the critters, go to a fish store and look at real or fake drift wood for aquariums. HTHs, ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
#12
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My fish are dying - please help
dark red/purple gills are either parasites, but most likely toxic
water conditions. dimilin treats only lice or anchor worms. it would be easy to see those with the naked eye. On Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:39:23 CST, Hal wrote: as I was inspecting the dead fish the gillswere dull red/purple and thought perhaps it was parasites. I used Anchors Away (dimlin) |
#13
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My fish are dying - please help
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#14
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My fish are dying - please help
Carole wrote: Hi all, I have a mature pond about 8 years old, 800 gallons, about 50 goldfish ranging from tiny tiddlers to about 5" long, plus one really big ghost koi about 18" long. I have all the usual filtration (comprises two large drums containing filter brushes and 'foam' pads - these are cleaned 2-3 times a year), waterfall and oxygenating plants, UV light, water is nice and clean and clear and always has been. There is a drain/filter at the bottom of the pond which takes out the water and feeds it through the filter system and back up into a small top pond, over a small waterfall, and back into the main pond. I feed the fish about every couple of days - if they get too much they get frisky. I top up the pond every few weeks, as and when needed due to evaporation, from a tap and use a water conditioner at the same time. Big problem - In the last week I've found 3 of the larger goldfish just floating dead in the water. They have no signs of any disease and look perfectly OK otherwise, just dead. This is very distressing as I'm spending every moment checking the pond and expecting all my little friends to die. I put some medifin in the pond a couple of days ago (I treat it twice a year normally - Spring and Autumn), but I've had another death since then. The only thing that's changed recently (don't know if it could possibly be the reason) - I recently netted the pond because we were visited by a heron, then I realised that the frogs and newts couldn't get in and out so I put a length of wood into the water from the side. Well, I put up a frame and netted my whole pond! The frame is set up 5 feet from the pond, so the frogs and newts could get out - although I only have one large bull frog! The wood is sapele (sp?) and is definitely untreated, but I know some hardwoods have funny substances in them - do you think this might have poisoned the water ?? I've removed the wood now of course. I have pond test kits and use them regularly - recent tests (a couple of weeks ago) gave the following results : - Ammonia less than 0.1 - no problem Amazing with all the fish you have! - Nitrate zero - no problem Nitrites is what should be tested for in fresh water ponds! That can get to toxic levels - PH 8.5 - acceptable. Wow! I would say the highest you should go is 7.6! How does the PH very all day long! That should tell you something! ---------------- Oxygen level should be measured. You could have a high organic load with all those fish you have in 800 gallons! Thanks for any help, Carole |
#15
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My fish are dying - please help
On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 13:56:29 CST, Hal wrote:
Since I'm not seeing another problem your comments make me think I should look closer, but my pH= 7.8, Ammonia= 0, NO2= 0, NO3= 0, and I don't think checking salt, KH and GH is really applicable to my situation, but if you have other ideas, I hope you guys know I respect your opinion and am waiting to hear. Hal This is just a fyi.... KH (buffering) is actually more important than pH, since fish can handle pH of 6.5-8.5 (probably even slightly higher or lower), but if the pH is swinging due to low buffering, you can have serious problems. Not only are all those things hard on the fish, but even the bacteria, in the filter on pond surfaces, etc., processing the waste do not work as effectively. Latest info is leave the pH alone, keep the buffering solid. The bad thing about a high pH is it can make plants fail to thrive. ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
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