Fish Gone??? Help

[Bette E]

Could my fish be hiding, or are they dead?
My clear pond water turned dark and murky three days ago, now I can't
see any fish. They appear to be gone?
There are no dead fish floating-- no racoon prints.
(I already had a pond cleaning scheduled, and am having a bio falls
installed, but they couldn't come before the first week in May)
About two and a half weeks ago, I took out the winter bubbler, started
the falls and began scant feedings. The water temp was 58 to 60 degrees.
The water in the pond was reasonably clear then, to a depth of least 18
to 20 inches. There is a lot of muck on the bottom.
The pond is 30 inches deep, and 8' W X 20' L in size. There were 40 +
goldfish of assorted sizes. One third being the smallest at about 4
inches, 1/3 being the largest, at 12 inches (counting tail.)

[Mark Swinkels]

We had a similar experience. The water turned dark two weeks ago and we
couldn't see any of the fish. My wife was sure that they were all gone.
Since then we have seen at least some of the fish swimming around near the
bottom and assume that they are all there but hiding. We hope that once the
higher plants kick in the water will clear up and the fish will re-appear
(fingers crossed). Maybe some of the more experienced members will chime in.
This is my first spring so I don't really know what's normal.

-- Mark

"Bette E" > wrote in message
...
> Could my fish be hiding, or are they dead?
> My clear pond water turned dark and murky three days ago, now I can't
> see any fish. They appear to be gone?
> There are no dead fish floating-- no racoon prints.
> (I already had a pond cleaning scheduled, and am having a bio falls
> installed, but they couldn't come before the first week in May)
> About two and a half weeks ago, I took out the winter bubbler, started
> the falls and began scant feedings. The water temp was 58 to 60 degrees.
> The water in the pond was reasonably clear then, to a depth of least 18
> to 20 inches. There is a lot of muck on the bottom.
> The pond is 30 inches deep, and 8' W X 20' L in size. There were 40 +
> goldfish of assorted sizes. One third being the smallest at about 4
> inches, 1/3 being the largest, at 12 inches (counting tail.)
>

[Mark Swinkels]

We had a similar experience. The water turned dark two weeks ago and we
couldn't see any of the fish. My wife was sure that they were all gone.
Since then we have seen at least some of the fish swimming around near the
bottom and assume that they are all there but hiding. We hope that once the
higher plants kick in the water will clear up and the fish will re-appear
(fingers crossed). Maybe some of the more experienced members will chime in.
This is my first spring so I don't really know what's normal.

-- Mark

"Bette E" > wrote in message
...
> Could my fish be hiding, or are they dead?
> My clear pond water turned dark and murky three days ago, now I can't
> see any fish. They appear to be gone?
> There are no dead fish floating-- no racoon prints.
> (I already had a pond cleaning scheduled, and am having a bio falls
> installed, but they couldn't come before the first week in May)
> About two and a half weeks ago, I took out the winter bubbler, started
> the falls and began scant feedings. The water temp was 58 to 60 degrees.
> The water in the pond was reasonably clear then, to a depth of least 18
> to 20 inches. There is a lot of muck on the bottom.
> The pond is 30 inches deep, and 8' W X 20' L in size. There were 40 +
> goldfish of assorted sizes. One third being the smallest at about 4
> inches, 1/3 being the largest, at 12 inches (counting tail.)
>

[BenignVanilla]

"Bette E" > wrote in message
...
> Could my fish be hiding, or are they dead?
> My clear pond water turned dark and murky three days ago, now I can't
> see any fish. They appear to be gone?
> There are no dead fish floating-- no racoon prints.
> (I already had a pond cleaning scheduled, and am having a bio falls
> installed, but they couldn't come before the first week in May)
> About two and a half weeks ago, I took out the winter bubbler, started
> the falls and began scant feedings. The water temp was 58 to 60 degrees.
> The water in the pond was reasonably clear then, to a depth of least 18
> to 20 inches. There is a lot of muck on the bottom.
> The pond is 30 inches deep, and 8' W X 20' L in size. There were 40 +
> goldfish of assorted sizes. One third being the smallest at about 4
> inches, 1/3 being the largest, at 12 inches (counting tail.)

This time of year is murk-time. Until our filters grow some bio bugs, and
until the plants kick in, the water will murk over. This is especially true
if you have a large number of fish in ratio to your amount of water. Feeding
just makes matters worse.

BV.

[BenignVanilla]

"Bette E" > wrote in message
...
> Could my fish be hiding, or are they dead?
> My clear pond water turned dark and murky three days ago, now I can't
> see any fish. They appear to be gone?
> There are no dead fish floating-- no racoon prints.
> (I already had a pond cleaning scheduled, and am having a bio falls
> installed, but they couldn't come before the first week in May)
> About two and a half weeks ago, I took out the winter bubbler, started
> the falls and began scant feedings. The water temp was 58 to 60 degrees.
> The water in the pond was reasonably clear then, to a depth of least 18
> to 20 inches. There is a lot of muck on the bottom.
> The pond is 30 inches deep, and 8' W X 20' L in size. There were 40 +
> goldfish of assorted sizes. One third being the smallest at about 4
> inches, 1/3 being the largest, at 12 inches (counting tail.)

This time of year is murk-time. Until our filters grow some bio bugs, and
until the plants kick in, the water will murk over. This is especially true
if you have a large number of fish in ratio to your amount of water. Feeding
just makes matters worse.

BV.

[Bette E]

Thank you both for sharing your info. I've been doing this for 4 years
now, but it has never been so bad. (I'm sure that you are right---- the
feeding, sparce as it was, combined with the number of fish, made it
worse.) I was lucky enough to contact a gal who has a lot of experience
with these "events." She said the fish are hiding in the debris at the
bottom, due to a cold snap we had. She is coming tomorrow to clean the
pond and put a veggie filter in above the falls.
Bette

[Bette E]

Thank you both for sharing your info. I've been doing this for 4 years
now, but it has never been so bad. (I'm sure that you are right---- the
feeding, sparce as it was, combined with the number of fish, made it
worse.) I was lucky enough to contact a gal who has a lot of experience
with these "events." She said the fish are hiding in the debris at the
bottom, due to a cold snap we had. She is coming tomorrow to clean the
pond and put a veggie filter in above the falls.
Bette