Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Timothy Tom wrote:
... The pond temperature came down to 83 degrees. The
goldfish ... was acclimated to the pond temp and released ... After,
about 90 mins. I checked the pond again and found it floating ...
I have tested everything I can possibly test,
and ruled out everything that can be ruled out. One of the last things
I can do is take the pond water that just killed the fish and bring it
in to the house to further decrease the temp.

Another test you might want to do is to take a water sample to your
local extension, agricultural or water office and ask them to test the
water for toxic substances. It may cost a bit, but certainly less than
continually trying to replace the fish. I wouldn't want a pond that
couldn't support life -- I'd be afraid to put my hands in it or allow
other birds or animals near it.
--
Zk (sig compliments of BV)
3500gal pond, 13 pond piggies
Oregon, Zone 6

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Timothy Tom wrote:


There is not a whole lot else to test now.

Water from pond, in a bowl, cooled to indoor temperature.

Water from pond to water analyist or chemical analysis.

-D
--
"There is nothing so strong as gentleness, and there is nothing so
gentle as real strength." St. Francis de Sales

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

"Jim Brown" writes:


Timothy Tom wrote in message
. com...
I am really thinking about giving up on keeping fish in this pond. I
bought 3 bags of ice, and placed them in a large trash bag to prevent
leakage of water. The pond temperature came down to 83 degrees. The
goldfish taken from the bowl from the auto refill system, alive for
24hrs, was acclimated to the pond temp and released in the pond. After
release it looked fine. I watched it for about 10 mins, and once
again it looked fine. After about 90 mins. I checked the pond again
and found it floating. Unless someone tells me that 83 degree water
can kill a goldfish within two hours, I have nothing else to test. I
have no other theories. I have tested everything I can possibly test,
and ruled out everything that can be ruled out. One of the last things
I can do is take the pond water that just killed the fish and bring it
in to the house to further decrease the temp.

Using the pond water in the house won't give much of a difference with your
heat wave. Is it possible to rig up some shadecloth over the pond to see if
the water can be cooled a bit out of the direct sun?

Isn't inside the house out of direct sun :-)

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Another update:

A bowl of pond water which had just done in a goldfish was taken
inside the house and allowed to equilibrate to the same temp as the
other bowl of water containing kitchen faucet water. I was concerned
that the elevated temp of the outside pond water was responsible for
killing fish. I took one of the goldfish that had been living in the
kitchen faucet water for over 24hrs, and placed it in the
temp-equilibrated pond water. I stayed up for a couple of hours, and
although the fish had not died, it was clearly not doing well when I
went to bed. It was dead in the morning, while the fish in the bowl
with kitchen faucet water were fine.

After all the tests and dead goldfish, I believe that I have
determined a possible cause. When adding a large trash bag filled
with ice to cool the pond, I caused considerable waves in the pond. I
noticed that there was a small puddle next to the pond which moved in
sync with the pond water disturbance. I believe that there is a leak
in the pond somewhere (difficult to tell with this black preformed
liner) which is in equilibrium with water which has collected under
the pond. The water under the pond must have some toxic substance in
it which is contaminating the pond. This conclusion makes sense to me
since water taken directly from the auto-refill does not kill fish,
but water coming from the auto-refill system into a freshly cleaned
pond liner does quickly kill fish.

As far as the pond size, I believe I was incorrect in my original
posting that the pond is about 150 gallons. A landscaper installed
the pond, so I don't have the documentation on it. I went to the pond
liner manufacturer site and I believe I found the liner that matches
our shape and it is 250 gallons.

I plan to completely empty the pond to dryness, and thoroughly inspect
the pond liner to see if I can find any leaks.

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

TEST RESULTS of Deadly Pond Water:

O.K. I tested the pond water which killed a goldfish within two hours.
Please note that this water has been sitting there for over 48 hours,
so it is not exactly the same water that killed the fish.

The pH measured at 7.7 using Tetra test kit, the nitrate measured at
perhaps 1 PPM (color between zero and the 2 PPM color on the color
scale) using Salifert test kit, the total ammonia measured at between
..25 and .5 PPM using a Tetra test kit.

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Thanks Tim! Those numbers should reveal something is amiss.

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Timothy Tom" wrote in message
m...
"Nedra" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Please Tim ... You still have not answered the questions I have
regarding Ammonia? pH? NirItes?
What are these values in actual numbers?


O.K. Nedra, I will test those tonight.

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

Hi Tim, I just caught up with this thread going back to the 8th of Aug. See
my guesses below:

On 14 Aug 2003 14:46:44 -0700, (Timothy Tom) wrote:
TEST RESULTS of Deadly Pond Water:

O.K. I tested the pond water which killed a goldfish within two hours.
Please note that this water has been sitting there for over 48 hours,
so it is not exactly the same water that killed the fish.

The pH measured at 7.7 using Tetra test kit, the nitrate measured at
perhaps 1 PPM (color between zero and the 2 PPM color on the color
scale) using Salifert test kit, the total ammonia measured at between
.25 and .5 PPM using a Tetra test kit.

Nitrate is definitely not the problem. Since your test measures from 1 to 2
ppm I'm sure it is nitrate and not the nitrite test which measure in 0.00.
A nitrite number would be nice. With no fish for 48 hrs and a reading of
ammonia either means you have chloramines that you're not detoxing with the
right product and after 48 hours those number are lower than what they
originally were when first filled and treated with just a dechlorinator. If
you don't have chloramines in your water system, then I'd definitely say
that leak you've found, is adding fertilizer and who knows what.

Last year there was a mystery fish kill of a pond that a vendor ran a story
on. Turned out it was the feather rock in the pond, all these fine
microscopic glass particles coming off the rock and ripping the fishes'
gills up. ~ 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

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

After all the tests and dead goldfish, I believe that I have
determined a possible cause. When adding a large trash bag filled
with ice to cool the pond, I caused considerable waves in the pond. I
noticed that there was a small puddle next to the pond which moved in
sync with the pond water disturbance. I believe that there is a leak
in the pond somewhere (difficult to tell with this black preformed
liner) which is in equilibrium with water which has collected under
the pond. The water under the pond must have some toxic substance in
it which is contaminating the pond. This conclusion makes sense to me
since water taken directly from the auto-refill does not kill fish,
but water coming from the auto-refill system into a freshly cleaned
pond liner does quickly kill fish.
I think you have probably found the problem. I had preformed ponds for my
first two ponds, hooked together with a short stream. The ponds cracked on
the third season. My ponds were located above the septic system leach
field, and I was having a lot of problems that I think may have come from
the exchange of water between the pond and leach field. If this is the
case, then you could be getting significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide in
the water which is very toxic to the fish, and is not one of the usual tests
that we perform. Check for the leaks.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html

Fish pond water kills all fish within 24 hours.
 

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 01:32:37 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

After all the tests and dead goldfish, I believe that I have
determined a possible cause. When adding a large trash bag filled
with ice to cool the pond, I caused considerable waves in the pond. I
noticed that there was a small puddle next to the pond which moved in
sync with the pond water disturbance. I believe that there is a leak
in the pond somewhere (difficult to tell with this black preformed
liner) which is in equilibrium with water which has collected under
the pond. The water under the pond must have some toxic substance in
it which is contaminating the pond. This conclusion makes sense to me
since water taken directly from the auto-refill does not kill fish,
but water coming from the auto-refill system into a freshly cleaned
pond liner does quickly kill fish.
I think you have probably found the problem. I had preformed ponds for my
first two ponds, hooked together with a short stream. The ponds cracked on
the third season. My ponds were located above the septic system leach
field, and I was having a lot of problems that I think may have come from
the exchange of water between the pond and leach field. If this is the
case, then you could be getting significant amounts of hydrogen sulfide in
the water which is very toxic to the fish, and is not one of the usual tests
that we perform. Check for the leaks.

3rd yr. huh... bummer.

Well, ......*sigh*........I guess i will have to dig another pond in
the next 18 months. You know, with a liner and all...SEG