Fish dying

next time do a quick physical, especially looking at slime coat and gills.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical
when nothing shows on outside and no symptoms it is "sudden death" and this is fast
changing water parameters, like loss of oxygen or toxic spike ... or, it could be
internal bacteria. Ingrid

JGW wrote:

In the last month, I've found two of my goldfish in my outdoor pond
dead. The water chemistry is fine except for the hardness being too
low. I added a bunch of dolomite lime almost a month ago after the
first fish died, and the hardness is improving, although the pH today
was still on the low side. I don't know of any toxins that could
have gotten into the water, and the fish showed no obvious sign of
injury. Is there something else I should be doing or thinking about
to protect my remaining fish?

Thanks.

Joan
___________________




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Thanks for responding. I did look quickly at the fish, and I noticed
a purplish discoloration around her abdomen. I couldn't tell if she
had been injured or was sick, or whether maybe she had been dead a
while and the color change meant she was beginning to decompose. Any
thoughts about that?

Thanks for the link to the Fish Physical website. That's great to
have!

Joan

next time do a quick physical, especially looking at slime coat and gills.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical
when nothing shows on outside and no symptoms it is "sudden death" and this is fast
changing water parameters, like loss of oxygen or toxic spike ... or, it could be
internal bacteria. Ingrid

Internal spawning injuries and/or infected eggs would account for what you see.
spawning bruises most certainly would look purplish. Ingrid

JGW wrote:
Thanks for responding. I did look quickly at the fish, and I noticed
a purplish discoloration around her abdomen. I couldn't tell if she
had been injured or was sick, or whether maybe she had been dead a
while and the color change meant she was beginning to decompose. Any
thoughts about that?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Again, thanks for responding!

Today I found another fish dead. :-(

Again, I checked the water chemistry. pH 7.4, nitrite and ammonia
negative, hardness as before. I added a little more lime to the
filter and cleaned the pumps and checked to make sure the air pump and
waterfall are working okay.

I did find some aphids on a couple of the pond lily leaves. Removed
those I found.

I went to the website you recommended and did my best to do a
post-mortem physical exam. I also checked a could of websites that
tell you how to sex a fish. As far as I am able to judge (granted, I
am really new at this) the fish appears to be female. I saw no
bruising this time. The gills were not gloppy or gooey and the tissue
didn't look like raw hamburger or anything. I guess it's hard to
judge the color in a dead fish, but the color was a deep pink, about
the color of healthy gums in people. The consistency of the belly
felt normal, as far as I was able to judge. I couldn't express
anything from the anal port. The mouth looked okay--no redness, no
white strings. I was aware of a slime coat but it didn't feel
particularly mucousy or thick on my fingers after I let go of the
fish. The fins and tail looked okay, no evidence of trauma or
unusual coloration or texture. The eyes looked normal as far as I
could see. There were a few scales missing, but I don't know if that
happened after the fish died or not.

I don't know why my fish are dying. It's very scarey. Anybody have
any thoughts about any anything else I ought to be doing?

Thanks.

Joan

Internal spawning injuries and/or infected eggs would account for what you see.
spawning bruises most certainly would look purplish. Ingrid

Try adding some activated carbon. Something is telling me that it may be
some kind of poisoning. It may be low level, but carbon will remove the
poisons. There doesn't appear to be any other explanation that hits me,
based on the information you have posted.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"JGW" wrote in message
...

Again, thanks for responding!

Today I found another fish dead. :-(

Again, I checked the water chemistry. pH 7.4, nitrite and ammonia
negative, hardness as before. I added a little more lime to the
filter and cleaned the pumps and checked to make sure the air pump and
waterfall are working okay.

I did find some aphids on a couple of the pond lily leaves. Removed
those I found.

I went to the website you recommended and did my best to do a
post-mortem physical exam. I also checked a could of websites that
tell you how to sex a fish. As far as I am able to judge (granted, I
am really new at this) the fish appears to be female. I saw no
bruising this time. The gills were not gloppy or gooey and the tissue
didn't look like raw hamburger or anything. I guess it's hard to
judge the color in a dead fish, but the color was a deep pink, about
the color of healthy gums in people. The consistency of the belly
felt normal, as far as I was able to judge. I couldn't express
anything from the anal port. The mouth looked okay--no redness, no
white strings. I was aware of a slime coat but it didn't feel
particularly mucousy or thick on my fingers after I let go of the
fish. The fins and tail looked okay, no evidence of trauma or
unusual coloration or texture. The eyes looked normal as far as I
could see. There were a few scales missing, but I don't know if that
happened after the fish died or not.

I don't know why my fish are dying. It's very scarey. Anybody have
any thoughts about any anything else I ought to be doing?

Thanks.

Joan

Internal spawning injuries and/or infected eggs would account for what
you see.
spawning bruises most certainly would look purplish. Ingrid

Thank you!

How much? How do I add it? Just dump it in the water? Put it in the
filter? I have dolomite lime in the filter. Will it mix okay with
that?

Where do I get it? Drug store? Is that the same as activated
charcoal?

Thanks so much.

Joan, worried about her fishies

Try adding some activated carbon. Something is telling me that it may be
some kind of poisoning. It may be low level, but carbon will remove the
poisons. There doesn't appear to be any other explanation that hits me,
based on the information you have posted.

Filter charcoal, activated carbon, can be gotten at the fish store, or call
one of the water treatment companies. They use it to remove bad tastes from
the water. I put several pounds of it in the leg of panty hose and drape it
across the spill way of the water fall/ stream/ or filter return. At the
fish store the price will be a little high, but if that is what it is, it
will be worth it.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"JGW" wrote in message
...
Thank you!

How much? How do I add it? Just dump it in the water? Put it in the
filter? I have dolomite lime in the filter. Will it mix okay with
that?

Where do I get it? Drug store? Is that the same as activated
charcoal?

Thanks so much.

Joan, worried about her fishies

Try adding some activated carbon. Something is telling me that it may be
some kind of poisoning. It may be low level, but carbon will remove the
poisons. There doesn't appear to be any other explanation that hits me,
based on the information you have posted.

call Jo Ann and discuss this with her. 1-251-649-4790. Ingrid

JGW wrote:


Again, thanks for responding!

Today I found another fish dead. :-(

Again, I checked the water chemistry. pH 7.4, nitrite and ammonia
negative, hardness as before. I added a little more lime to the
filter and cleaned the pumps and checked to make sure the air pump and
waterfall are working okay.

I did find some aphids on a couple of the pond lily leaves. Removed
those I found.

I went to the website you recommended and did my best to do a
post-mortem physical exam. I also checked a could of websites that
tell you how to sex a fish. As far as I am able to judge (granted, I
am really new at this) the fish appears to be female. I saw no
bruising this time. The gills were not gloppy or gooey and the tissue
didn't look like raw hamburger or anything. I guess it's hard to
judge the color in a dead fish, but the color was a deep pink, about
the color of healthy gums in people. The consistency of the belly
felt normal, as far as I was able to judge. I couldn't express
anything from the anal port. The mouth looked okay--no redness, no
white strings. I was aware of a slime coat but it didn't feel
particularly mucousy or thick on my fingers after I let go of the
fish. The fins and tail looked okay, no evidence of trauma or
unusual coloration or texture. The eyes looked normal as far as I
could see. There were a few scales missing, but I don't know if that
happened after the fish died or not.

I don't know why my fish are dying. It's very scarey. Anybody have
any thoughts about any anything else I ought to be doing?

Thanks.

Joan

Internal spawning injuries and/or infected eggs would account for what you see.
spawning bruises most certainly would look purplish. Ingrid




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Thank you!!! I will!

Joan

call Jo Ann and discuss this with her. 1-251-649-4790. Ingrid


Again, thanks for responding!

Today I found another fish dead. :-(

[snip]

Thank you!!!

I did call her. She is wonderful! Very knowledgable and helpful.

Joan

call Jo Ann and discuss this with her. 1-251-649-4790. Ingrid