Just came home and found all of my gold fish dead. There was 1 7 in black moor, 1 tricolor goldfish and 6 feeder fish about 5 in. long. Can't figure out what happened. The pump is working fine. Added a couple gallons of water but treated first as usual. (just a small 100 gal or so prefab pond). The only thing new was a couple waterlilies from a recent co-op. They were planted in Schultz aqua soil which was well rinsed first. They all looked like they were covered with a white covering but I don't know if that's unusual with dead fish or not. Oh well. I guess I'll change out the water and keep it for a water garden only. I'm too upset about it to think of starting over until I get a better pond.
Dead fish
What a shame and what a mystery! That's a lot of fish for 100 gallons though. Do you check ammonia levels?
No I didn't check the ammonia levels but there is a small crack part way down so that I had to frequently add more water to keep the level up so I thought the frequent water changes would help with that, What stumps me though is I went out awhile ago to see if I could find the 3 little gambusa I couldn't catch last month when I moved the others last month and they were there happily swimmming around!!!
This message was edited Feb 21, 2008 9:10 PM
Huh! Something in the water must have changed, abruptly. The planting soil is not likely the culprit. Its either an abrupt pH change, high nitrite or ammonia levels. Don't get discouraged, please. Did you say you moved them?
All the goldfish died. I had a bunch of gambusa type minnows in but they needed their own space so I moved them last month to a wading pool water garden. I wasn't able to catch 3 of them which are the ones that survived whatever killed the goldfish. They are still in the goldfish pond and seem to be fine. I don't want to move them in with the other gambusa at this point but will put them in a small separate water garden while I empty and clean the goldfish pond next week.
This message was edited Feb 21, 2008 9:12 PM
It might help to grab an inexpensive test kit for ponds. One for pH, nitrite, nitrate and one for ammonia. Is it possible to patch that crack? Adding water all the time is a pain in the neck. I know. I've been there. And I've lost fish for no explicable reason too. It can sure take the fun out of it. But there is something about water gardening that just keeps you coming back and trying again.
I'm going to get some of the Aquascape silicone sealant and patch it. I tried with a liner type patch kit but it's in a rounded seam and wouldn't stay sealed. If that fails, I'll get a piece of liner and line the whole thing. I wanted to relocate it so this will be a good opportunity. I would love a big one in the back yard but my dogs love water and would use it for a swimming pool. LOL
I've used that! It's good stuff. It stopped a slow leak around my Savio skimmer/filter where it screws into the liner six years ago! Its held all that time perfectly. I have dogs too, but fortunately water is the last place they want to be. In the front yard I have a smaller pond that holds just goldfish. There is no fence. A neighbors black lab, on the rare occaision when he gets loose, heads straight for the little pond and in he goes. He's big, 120 lbs., and has a heck of a time getting out. One of these days he's going to puncture that liner. It's pretty funny watching him wallow around in there if you didn't know he was trampling on the fish and plants. It looks like everything was in a food processor after he's done. No fish fatalities yet though. If you have big dogs that like water having a pond becomes a matter of security engineering. I know people who have done it but they spent as much on fencing the animals out as they did on the pond itself. Only good thing is that they are grandkid safe too. Good luck with patching and relocating!
Has anyone sprayed weed killer in the area? Our tiny pond in Colorado was fine and suddenly we lost most of the fish, it turned out that weed killer that had been sprayed in the yard was probably the culprit. I'm sorry for your loss...
Brenda
Hi
No, one was has sprayed in the past few months. It seems that whatever it was also affected the little pond next to it with the gambusa and I went out last night and found about 3/4 of the population dead. The only thing in common with these 2 ponds was the added water and the new water plants and schultz aqua soil. I know I used plenty of dechlorinator and it's a brand I frequently use but perhaps there was a problem with it.
I caught up most of the remaining gambusa and put them in a 10 gal tank with new water treated from the same bottle so I will see what happens.
The 2 bigs dogs aren't the problem. This is the rascal who loves water!
Whoops, wrong pic. Here's the little dickens!
What a cute doggie! So sorry to hear of the further problems. That is a mystery. I can't imagine anything coming in on the plants or the soil. Let us know if you figure it out.
Brenda