Distressed Goldfish

[Bill Oertell]

Early this morning one of our fantail goldfish was entangled in some string
algae. When I fished him out of the pond, I thought he was dead until he
twitched a little in the net. I put him back in the pond and tried to push him
around a little to get water to flow through his gills, but he wasn't really
responding. The water was really cold (38 degrees) so I thought maybe it was
too cold for the fish to resuscitate, as cold water doesn't store as much
dissolved oxygen as warm water, and I figured the fish was exhausted from trying
to free himself from the string algae and needed oxygen. I filled a large
container with water from the pond, put the fish in the water, and brought him
inside. There I pushed him around some more and blew air into the water to get
some more dissolved oxygen into the water. I also fed him a little.
He seems to be doing fine now. But now my question his: should I put him
back in the pond, after acclimating for several hours, or get an aquarium for
him until the spring? The fish is going to have gone from 38 degrees to
something like 68 degrees and back in a little more than a day, and I'm thinking
that may be too much stress for the little guy.
Opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.

[Derek Broughton]

Bill Oertell wrote:

> He seems to be doing fine now. But now my question his: should I put
> him
> back in the pond, after acclimating for several hours, or get an aquarium
> for
> him until the spring? The fish is going to have gone from 38 degrees to
> something like 68 degrees and back in a little more than a day, and I'm
> thinking that may be too much stress for the little guy.
> Opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.

He'd probably have done best in the pond - which would have been harder for
you :-) Definitely don't try to put him back in the pond now. They can
handle a rise in temp much better than a drop.
--
derek

[Crashj]

On or about Mon, 29 Nov 2004 21:18:30 -0800, "Bill Oertell"
> wrote something like:

> Early this morning one of our fantail goldfish was entangled in some string
>algae. <> The water was really cold (38 degrees) so I thought maybe it was
>too cold for the fish to resuscitate, as cold water doesn't store as much
>dissolved oxygen as warm water

Actually colder liquids hold more dissolved gasses. I know, it sounds
backwards, but thats the physics.

As for the fish, I think that since he slowly acclimated to the
cooling water over the Fall, you will have to repeat that process or
just keep him inside for the Winter.

You should also clear out the string algae if it bothers you. I trwirl
it up with a dowel and pull out the bigger clumps.
--
Crashj

[Phisherman]

On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 21:18:30 -0800, "Bill Oertell"
> wrote:

> Early this morning one of our fantail goldfish was entangled in some string
>algae. When I fished him out of the pond, I thought he was dead until he
>twitched a little in the net. I put him back in the pond and tried to push him
>around a little to get water to flow through his gills, but he wasn't really
>responding. The water was really cold (38 degrees) so I thought maybe it was
>too cold for the fish to resuscitate, as cold water doesn't store as much
>dissolved oxygen as warm water, and I figured the fish was exhausted from trying
>to free himself from the string algae and needed oxygen. I filled a large
>container with water from the pond, put the fish in the water, and brought him
>inside. There I pushed him around some more and blew air into the water to get
>some more dissolved oxygen into the water. I also fed him a little.
> He seems to be doing fine now. But now my question his: should I put him
>back in the pond, after acclimating for several hours, or get an aquarium for
>him until the spring? The fish is going to have gone from 38 degrees to
>something like 68 degrees and back in a little more than a day, and I'm thinking
>that may be too much stress for the little guy.
> Opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.
>

Large temperature changes to fish can be fatal. As long as the
temperature is kept constant and above freezing goldfish will be fine.
The larger the pond the more stable the temperature. Cold-blooded
animals' metabolism slows down when temperatures drop. If you put him
back into the pond, but do so such that the temperature drop is very
gradual, perhaps a few degrees per day--if you can't manage this kind
of change then keep him inside for the winter months. Below 50, you
should not have to feed.

Gases (including oxygen) dissolve better in cold water than warm water
(just he opposite of salts.)

[Nedra]

Go ahead and buy an aquarium for your little fishie! I can tell your
attached to
him already. I'd bring in another one from the pond for company. But that's
just me.

Nedra

"Phisherman" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 21:18:30 -0800, "Bill Oertell"
> > wrote:
>
> > Early this morning one of our fantail goldfish was entangled in some
string
> >algae. When I fished him out of the pond, I thought he was dead until he
> >twitched a little in the net. I put him back in the pond and tried to
push him
> >around a little to get water to flow through his gills, but he wasn't
really
> >responding. The water was really cold (38 degrees) so I thought maybe it
was
> >too cold for the fish to resuscitate, as cold water doesn't store as much
> >dissolved oxygen as warm water, and I figured the fish was exhausted from
trying
> >to free himself from the string algae and needed oxygen. I filled a
large
> >container with water from the pond, put the fish in the water, and
brought him
> >inside. There I pushed him around some more and blew air into the water
to get
> >some more dissolved oxygen into the water. I also fed him a little.
> > He seems to be doing fine now. But now my question his: should I put
him
> >back in the pond, after acclimating for several hours, or get an aquarium
for
> >him until the spring? The fish is going to have gone from 38 degrees to
> >something like 68 degrees and back in a little more than a day, and I'm
thinking
> >that may be too much stress for the little guy.
> > Opinions are more than welcome. Thanks.
> >
>
> Large temperature changes to fish can be fatal. As long as the
> temperature is kept constant and above freezing goldfish will be fine.
> The larger the pond the more stable the temperature. Cold-blooded
> animals' metabolism slows down when temperatures drop. If you put him
> back into the pond, but do so such that the temperature drop is very
> gradual, perhaps a few degrees per day--if you can't manage this kind
> of change then keep him inside for the winter months. Below 50, you
> should not have to feed.
>
> Gases (including oxygen) dissolve better in cold water than warm water
> (just he opposite of salts.)

[Bill Oertell]

Thanks everyone for your answers.

The wife wants to put the fish back into the pond, after several hours of
acclimation, of course. My vote is for an aquarium and getting the little fella
a companion from the petshop and then putting them all into the pond in the
spring. I know fantails aren't the best type of goldfish for an outdoor pond,
as they don't swim that fast. But it adds some diversity to a pond full of
comets.
The other thing I'm thinking about is that I really can't keep up on the
string algae all through the winter. It just grows too fast. So if I put the
fantail back in the pond, it just might get tangled up again.
No, I think it's going to spend the winter in an aquarium. I know it's used
to having 1,000 gallons of space to swim around in, but it's just going to have
to get used to a smaller hotel room for the winter.

[Phisherman]

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 22:10:48 -0800, "Bill Oertell"
> wrote:

> Thanks everyone for your answers.
>
> The wife wants to put the fish back into the pond, after several hours of
>acclimation, of course. My vote is for an aquarium and getting the little fella
>a companion from the petshop and then putting them all into the pond in the
>spring. I know fantails aren't the best type of goldfish for an outdoor pond,
>as they don't swim that fast. But it adds some diversity to a pond full of
>comets.
> The other thing I'm thinking about is that I really can't keep up on the
>string algae all through the winter. It just grows too fast. So if I put the
>fantail back in the pond, it just might get tangled up again.
> No, I think it's going to spend the winter in an aquarium. I know it's used
>to having 1,000 gallons of space to swim around in, but it's just going to have
>to get used to a smaller hotel room for the winter.
>

You could try adding a bale of barley to control the string algae.
Our local pond/aquarium shop sells the bales. Also, you could add
more shade to the pond such as lily pads. No concern about the fish
getting tangles in the algae, though. The goldfish is between a rock
and a hard place--reducing the temperature slow enough, or be
depressed in a hotel room. If you go the pond route, you could put
the fish in a closed Styrofoam cooler for 24 hours or more to help a
gradual decrease in temperature.

[~ jan JJsPond.us]

>On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 22:10:48 -0800, "Bill Oertell" > wrote:

> The wife wants to put the fish back into the pond, after several hours of
>acclimation, of course. My vote is for an aquarium and getting the little fella
>a companion

My fantails come in from the outside pond (1,000 gallons) every fall. 4
have a 55 gallon aquarium to swim in and 2 have a 20 gallon. If money is a
concern, a plastic tote tub would work with a homemade bucket filter. ~ jan

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


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[[email protected]]

In >, on 11/29/04
at 09:18 PM, "Bill Oertell" > said:

> Early this morning one of our fantail goldfish was entangled in some
>string algae. When I fished him out of the pond, I thought he was dead
>until he twitched a little in the net. I put him back in the pond and
>tried to push him around a little to get water to flow through his gills,
>but he wasn't really responding. The water was really cold (38 degrees)
>so I thought maybe it was too cold for the fish to resuscitate, as cold
>water doesn't store as much dissolved oxygen as warm water, and I figured

Cold water holds more oxygen, I thought. Trout require highly oxygenated
water, and they live in cool water.


Alan

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[Bill Oertell]

Well, the little guy is in an aquarium in the garage. We got him a
companion, and he seems to be pretty content in his new hotel room. Once the
pond starts to warm up in the spring we'll move them into the pond.
Our pond has water lilies, but it's too cold for much of anything but algae
to grow in the pond right now. And the pond doesn't really get a lot of
sunshine right now, anyway. Maybe two or three hours at the most.
There were two fantails in the pond, but one of them seems to be missing.
Either it's hiding really good, or it's gone, whatever the cause.