We moved in last year, and there was a pond (in the garden, complete with
liner, but no water. We filled it, (it's 3750 litres - is this medium or
large?) and left it for about 2 weeks then introduced plants.

We then added 15 goldfish and a pond pump. The fish seemed OK - we lost one
to ulcers over the last summer. Frogs, newts, snails and water boatmen all
took up residence, so we assumed we had created a good habitat.

However, from September to March, we lost 3 fish to ulcers. I did ulcer
treatments after we lost the first one, but it didn't seen to do much good,
so I did it again, then we lost 2 more.

In March, I salted the pond (1% dilution) and everything seemed OK for a
little while, so we got 10 more fish, making the total 21.

But since then, we have lost 6 fish in quick sucession. Some we can see had
ulcers, but 2 of them didn't have a mark on them. Today I can see that there
are 2 with ulcers that aren't going to survive for long, and one of those is
one of the new ones. I checked the new ones over before I put them in the
pond, and they had no signs of disease, so I can only assume it's the pond.

I feel awful, as I feel I'm just putting fish in there, and condemning them
to death. I have put a Medipad in yesterday, to see if that will help, but I
don't know what else to do. The pond is reasonably clear, and all the other
wildlife is surviving, indeed the snails and frogs bred this year.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. I thought goldfish were
reasonably low maintenance, compared to Koi, and that they were more
tolerant of fluctuations in condition. If they keep dying, I'm just going to
have to have a pond without fish, because I don't feel like putting any more
in there, just for them to die.

Sadly yours
Tracey

Tracey, I feel your pain! Very frustrating to have your fish dying. Have
you been getting them all from the same place?

I would try buying a couple of good sized shubunkins. Add Stress Coat to
the water while they are still floating in bags getting used to pond
temp. Make sure you do partial water changes in the pond about every
week, at least 20% of the water. Fish make a mess in ponds and you have
to keep amonia level DOWN.

I am sure others here will have some good suggestions for you. Good luck
and hope to hear things are doing better in your pond.

Denise

Visit my gardens:

http://web1.in4web.com/mtcdrc

Your pond seems large enough to handle even the 40 goldfish you had in it.
It is 950 gallons+.

You might try koivet to see about the repeated ulcers. I suspect others
will have direct suggestions about treatment.

Have you checked your water to see about its chemistry? Have you a veggie
filter or pump?

Best to you.

Jim
______________________________________________
See our pond at: home.bellsouth.net\p\pwp-jameshurley
Check out Jog-A-Thon fundraiser (clears $140+ per child) at: jogathon.net
______________________________________________
"Smith" wrote in message
...
We moved in last year, and there was a pond (in the garden, complete with
liner, but no water. We filled it, (it's 3750 litres - is this medium or
large?) and left it for about 2 weeks then introduced plants.

We then added 15 goldfish and a pond pump. The fish seemed OK - we lost
one
to ulcers over the last summer. Frogs, newts, snails and water boatmen all
took up residence, so we assumed we had created a good habitat.

However, from September to March, we lost 3 fish to ulcers. I did ulcer
treatments after we lost the first one, but it didn't seen to do much
good,
so I did it again, then we lost 2 more.

In March, I salted the pond (1% dilution) and everything seemed OK for a
little while, so we got 10 more fish, making the total 21.

But since then, we have lost 6 fish in quick sucession. Some we can see
had
ulcers, but 2 of them didn't have a mark on them. Today I can see that
there
are 2 with ulcers that aren't going to survive for long, and one of those
is
one of the new ones. I checked the new ones over before I put them in the
pond, and they had no signs of disease, so I can only assume it's the
pond.

I feel awful, as I feel I'm just putting fish in there, and condemning
them
to death. I have put a Medipad in yesterday, to see if that will help, but
I
don't know what else to do. The pond is reasonably clear, and all the
other
wildlife is surviving, indeed the snails and frogs bred this year.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. I thought goldfish were
reasonably low maintenance, compared to Koi, and that they were more
tolerant of fluctuations in condition. If they keep dying, I'm just going
to
have to have a pond without fish, because I don't feel like putting any
more
in there, just for them to die.

Sadly yours
Tracey

In a fit of sanity: Smith picked up the keyboard and pecked out:
::
:: However, from September to March, we lost 3 fish to ulcers. I did
:: ulcer treatments after we lost the first one, but it didn't seen
:: to do much good, so I did it again, then we lost 2 more.
===============
My goldfish and koi were bothered by ulcers too. I lost many until I
started using LymnoZyme in the spring. Within that first week of using it
the ulcers started to heal up. Haven't seen one on a fish now in several
years. I can now get it locally but .....
.......I believe these places sell it:

www.goldfishconnection.com and
www.koivet.com
--
Carol.......
Ponding on the cheap........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{@

Ulcers are a sign that something is breaking through the slime coat of the
fish and allowing in bacteria. It could be from scraping themselves on
rocks, but most likely it is parasites. The use of KoiZyme (previously
Limnozyme) will help reduce the number of pathogenic bacteria, but will not
reduce the number of parasites. If you can, take one of the fish to a good
pet store that has a microscope and someone that knows what to do with it,
or contact a koi club in your are and see if they have a person familiar
with the microscope that can diagnose which parasites you have. Once you
know, then you can work on a remedy for the parasites.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Smith" wrote in message
...
We moved in last year, and there was a pond (in the garden, complete with
liner, but no water. We filled it, (it's 3750 litres - is this medium or
large?) and left it for about 2 weeks then introduced plants.

We then added 15 goldfish and a pond pump. The fish seemed OK - we lost
one
to ulcers over the last summer. Frogs, newts, snails and water boatmen all
took up residence, so we assumed we had created a good habitat.

However, from September to March, we lost 3 fish to ulcers. I did ulcer
treatments after we lost the first one, but it didn't seen to do much
good,
so I did it again, then we lost 2 more.

In March, I salted the pond (1% dilution) and everything seemed OK for a
little while, so we got 10 more fish, making the total 21.

But since then, we have lost 6 fish in quick sucession. Some we can see
had
ulcers, but 2 of them didn't have a mark on them. Today I can see that
there
are 2 with ulcers that aren't going to survive for long, and one of those
is
one of the new ones. I checked the new ones over before I put them in the
pond, and they had no signs of disease, so I can only assume it's the
pond.

I feel awful, as I feel I'm just putting fish in there, and condemning
them
to death. I have put a Medipad in yesterday, to see if that will help, but
I
don't know what else to do. The pond is reasonably clear, and all the
other
wildlife is surviving, indeed the snails and frogs bred this year.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated. I thought goldfish were
reasonably low maintenance, compared to Koi, and that they were more
tolerant of fluctuations in condition. If they keep dying, I'm just going
to
have to have a pond without fish, because I don't feel like putting any
more
in there, just for them to die.

Sadly yours
Tracey

.. If you can, take one of the fish to a good
pet store that has a microscope and someone that knows what to do with it,



uh, there is SUCH a thing as a GOOD pet store???

in one, there were 4 dead koi in the tank,, I asked if I could wait till the
next shipment for some ( they were on sale last month),, nope,, I was told,
fish die...PLUS they tell me they never feed the fish in certain tanks, as
the food just gets sucked up the filter!

in another store........ there was a BIG ulcer 'hole' on the top of a fish,,
I asked,, uh , shouldn't that be quarantined?? I just got a shrug..........

You see the qualifiers in that statement. GOOD, someone that knows... I
have seen a few, but not in the larger shops, and not all of the small shops
by any means.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"*muffin*" wrote in message
...
. If you can, take one of the fish to a good
pet store that has a microscope and someone that knows what to do with
it,



uh, there is SUCH a thing as a GOOD pet store???

in one, there were 4 dead koi in the tank,, I asked if I could wait till
the
next shipment for some ( they were on sale last month),, nope,, I was
told,
fish die...PLUS they tell me they never feed the fish in certain tanks, as
the food just gets sucked up the filter!

in another store........ there was a BIG ulcer 'hole' on the top of a
fish,,
I asked,, uh , shouldn't that be quarantined?? I just got a
shrug..........