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PLEASE HELP. Sorry about the caps but this is urgent.
Please help.
We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. |
On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 14:23:56 GMT, Anthropy wrote:
Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. You need to check the water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. Take a sample of water with you and see if they can test it there and if the ammonia is high you can buy something to bind it while you are at the shop. Over 90% of fish deaths are due to poor water quality. It's likely you will need to change quite a bit of water so get a tapwater conditioner ready for that, you normally put it into the pond before the fresh water so that it treats the water as it goes in. Let us know how things go and what the water tests were. I take it there isn't any filtration, if so what type is it and is it clean? If it has a biological section you mustn't clean that in tapwater since the clorine will kill the biobugs, rinse it in old pond water. Do you have a pump/fountain to increase the oxygen content? Can't really say anything more without more info but it could be that you have a layer of detritus on the bottom of the pond and the warmer temperature has started it to breakdown and deplete the oxygen. If you do have a lot of muck in the bottom don't scoop it out with a net at the moment. It will just release poisonous gasses into the water and make things worse. Everything is just guesswork at the moment but I've given you some starting points. -- Regards - Rodney Pont The from address exists but is mostly dumped, please send any emails to the address below e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk |
On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 15:08:52 +0000 (GMT), "Rodney Pont"
wrote: On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 14:23:56 GMT, Anthropy wrote: Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. You need to check the water parameters, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph. Take a sample of water with you and see if they can test it there and if the ammonia is high you can buy something to bind it while you are at the shop. Over 90% of fish deaths are due to poor water quality. It's likely you will need to change quite a bit of water so get a tapwater conditioner ready for that, you normally put it into the pond before the fresh water so that it treats the water as it goes in. Let us know how things go and what the water tests were. I take it there isn't any filtration, if so what type is it and is it clean? If it has a biological section you mustn't clean that in tapwater since the clorine will kill the biobugs, rinse it in old pond water. Do you have a pump/fountain to increase the oxygen content? Can't really say anything more without more info but it could be that you have a layer of detritus on the bottom of the pond and the warmer temperature has started it to breakdown and deplete the oxygen. If you do have a lot of muck in the bottom don't scoop it out with a net at the moment. It will just release poisonous gasses into the water and make things worse. Everything is just guesswork at the moment but I've given you some starting points. Thanks for the help. I will certainly take a sample of water and have it tested. Will the petshop do it? or some kind of kit where I could do it myself? The pond is very basic. It's in the garden and we tend to leave it alone other then feeding and cleaning. It has no filtration system nor any kind of pump or fountain. Also, here in England right now it's winter but the temperature has been erratic. On the occasional warm day I have fed the fish a small amount of food. I know not to feed them under 55f which I haven't. Could the feeding be the cause? Is it significant that only (so far) the smaller fish have died? Thanks. |
Any pet shop that sells fish should be able to
test your water for you. They probably also sell test kits (check the expiration date before purchasing). I would not feed the fish at all during the winter months to be on the safe side. Your pond may have gotten overstocked over the years and this is why you are having water quality problems at this point. Do you have a lot of plants in the pond? Plants help with filtration but usually only in a lightly stocked pond. Some pet shops will take excess fish off your hands. It is the law in some parts of the US to keep people from releasing fish into the wild. I advertised my excess fish with a local club in our area and my fish were caught and adopted by new pond keepers. good luck and hope things settle down for you! kathy |
On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 15:39:23 GMT, Anthropy wrote:
Thanks for the help. I will certainly take a sample of water and have it tested. Will the petshop do it? or some kind of kit where I could do it myself? The pond is very basic. It's in the garden and we tend to leave it alone other then feeding and cleaning. It has no filtration system nor any kind of pump or fountain. Also, here in England right now it's winter but the temperature has been erratic. On the occasional warm day I have fed the fish a small amount of food. I know not to feed them under 55f which I haven't. Could the feeding be the cause? Is it significant that only (so far) the smaller fish have died? As Kathy says you shouldn't really feed on the occasional warm day since the fish need to be active for long enough to digest the food. That may happen occasionally down south there but it's unlikely up here in Yorkshire. A larger specialist shop is more likely to test the water for you than a small pet shop and you should be able to find a larger range of test kits and water treatments there as well. Stocking should be low on an unfiltered pond. The Practical Fishkeeping website http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk has a stocking guide and pond volume calculator that's worth looking at. -- Regards - Rodney Pont The from address exists but is mostly dumped, please send any emails to the address below e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk |
The PetSmart shop chain certainly do free water tests, and most aquarium shops will also test a water sample for you if you ask. You won't need much (50ml?) but try and take it fresh and also in a clean sealed container with as little air space above the water as possible (ammonia is volatile). And if they use the Tetra test sticks (a little stick that says it tests everything) bear in mind that these can be very inaccurate for nitrite (I've switched back to using liquid test kits). Good luck! -- fidhw |
Rodney Pont wrote: On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 15:39:23 GMT, Anthropy wrote: Thanks for the help. I will certainly take a sample of water and have it tested. Will the petshop do it? or some kind of kit where I could do it myself? The pond is very basic. It's in the garden and we tend to leave it alone other then feeding and cleaning. It has no filtration system nor any kind of pump or fountain. Also, here in England right now it's winter but the temperature has been erratic. On the occasional warm day I have fed the fish a small amount of food. I know not to feed them under 55f which I haven't. Could the feeding be the cause? Is it significant that only (so far) the smaller fish have died? As Kathy says you shouldn't really feed on the occasional warm day since the fish need to be active for long enough to digest the food. That may happen occasionally down south there but it's unlikely up here in Yorkshire. A larger specialist shop is more likely to test the water for you than a small pet shop and you should be able to find a larger range of test kits and water treatments there as well. Stocking should be low on an unfiltered pond. The Practical Fishkeeping website http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk has a stocking guide and pond volume calculator that's worth looking at. -- Regards - Rodney Pont The from address exists but is mostly dumped, please send any emails to the address below e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk The pond is definitely overstocked. You need to reduce the number of fish soon even in winter the water quality will be poor. Never be tempted to feed the fish on nice warm days in the winter because they can't digest the food which then rots in their stomachs killing them. Good luck. |
On Sat, 05 Feb 2005 14:23:56 GMT, Anthropy wrote:
Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. It could be a number of things. Taking a couple water sample to be tested begins troubleshooting the problem. Fish can be very sensitive to many substances such as paint, adhesives, pesticides, detergents, etc. which are seemingly non-toxic to humans. If anything, changing the water or moving the fish to a temporary tank might save them. Goldfish can tolerate cold water well, but can be traumatized with fast temperature changes. Have you always had 40 fish in about 350 gallons? "Do not exceed one inch of goldfish to one gallon of water," or in your case all of your goldfish can be up to 8.75" and your capacity is reached. Please let us know how the goldfish are doing. |
When you say the temperature was over 55 deg. did you mean the air or
the water? The water temp is the one that matters to fish. Don Anthropy wrote: Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. |
yOU NEED TO CLEAN POND MUCK OUT AT LEAST once a year. And add a veggie
filter. http://community.webtv.net/rebeljoe/POND |
On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 03:00:12 GMT, southernbc
wrote: Anthropy wrote: Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. When you say the temperature was over 55 deg. did you mean the air or the water? The water temp is the one that matters to fish. Don Firstly thanks to everyone for your help. Another fish was dead this morning. I noticed it looking poorly yesterday. When I took it out the pond it's eyes were white and it had a red patch on its underside. Once again, one of the small ones. The other fish look fine. I'm afraid to say the 55f I was referring to was the air. It seems obvious now you've mentioned it that I should have been measuring the water temperature. I've stopped feeding them completely now even though they were quite lively this morning and obviously wanting food. We're also going to remove some and take them to the pond in the local park. Would it be better to remove the big ones or the smaller ones? I shall get the water testing kit tomorrow and post the results. Once again, thanks for your help. |
When we clean our pond, in the spring, we drain it down by opening
a valve which sends the water underneath a very happy pine tree instead of down our water fall. We net the fish out and store them in a 150 gallon stock tank (many time pond keepers clubs will have large tanks for loan for this purpose). This tank is filled with pond water and a net is secured over the top. It is mostly in the shade. We run an air pump attached to a bubbler stone in the tank. Plants are taken out. Placed in the shade, divided or repotted if needed. We have no rocks in the pond. The muck is scopped out. Dumped around trees for food. We do not scrub the sides. No chemicals are used in cleaning. Put the plants back in. We fill the pond from the hose, adding water slowly over the day. Add the right amount of dechlor (available at petstores - also important to know if your water system adds chloramines which require a different product). When the pond temperature is the same as the tank temperature (within 10 degrees) we put the fish back in. A veggie filter is a setup where you run your pond water through a plethora of plants. In our setup we run the water through a tank filled with water hyacinth (which I don't think are available in your area) and then into a waterfall filled with watercress. The plants filter the fishy waste and use up a lot of the nutrients that single cell algae thrives on and keep the pond clear. The roots of the plants catch a lot of the mulm and dirt. kathy :-) |
I have both a large koi pond and a goldfish pond of similar size to your
own, I never feed any of them from when it gets cold october'ish until late March / early April and have never seen any ill effects. As regards the goldfish I have plenty of plants in their pond and never feed them at any time, they seem to thrive on this neglect as the original 12 have now multiplied in to! well I loose count but well past the 40 in your own. As for maintenance I usually just cut all the plants hard back in October and net as much rubbish of the bottom as possible and as for the rest of the year I just top up for evaporation. A doddle after sorting out the complicated system in the koi Pond. Jon Doncaster "Anthropy" wrote in message ... Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small and appear to be a silvery \gold type colour. We don't do anything to the pond other than feed the fish and clear off the leaves and stuff off the surface and until now all has been fine. We haven't changed the food nor put anything in the water. The bigger fish seem to be OK but 5 have died in the last week. There is no residue or anything usual about the pond. The fish are a bit slow but that is just the cold (It's winter here England, Brighton) Could it be something to do with the fluctuating temperature we're experiencing this winter? Please, if you can help or recommend anything we'd be most grateful. Thanks. |
"Anthropy" wrote:
Please help. We have a pond, about 3 x 4 x 4 (feet). We've had it for about 5 years and everything was great. It contains about 40 goldfish but recently they have begun dying. The dead ones are small Since it is the smaller ones dying, imo, your pond has hit what I call "critical mass". My suggestion would be to get a large tub, 20 gallons and fill with clean (before you stir it up) pond water. Catch 4 of the largest, nicest looking goldfish and put in this tub. Now catch the rest to take to the pond store (not to the local pond unless you have permission). Being one of the volunteer workers at a similar "local pond" I'm not happy with people that do that. Completely drain the pond and muck it out as Kathy mentioned. A shop vac, if you have one, works quite well. I will repeat, rinse sides, but don't scrub. Put plants back in, refill with needed water treatments and place tub, with the 4 keeper goldfish, in the pond *do not turn them loose yet* add some of the fresh pond water to the tub. Let tub float around pond overnight, and release them in the morning... or if the evening is warm add an airstone. To prevent critical mass from happening again, don't feed these fish ever! They will keep their own population down within the means of the pond providing. I'd also figure out a way to cover the pond in the fall to keep leaves and such out. You can see how I do that with my ponds on my website. ~ jan See my ponds and filter design: http://users.owt.com/jjspond/ ~Keep 'em Wet!~ Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a To e-mail see website |
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