Fish dying

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

Thanks

Joan ... Thanks for the specifics!
Okaaay Here goes ...
If it were me I would remove the lime and start (in the morning) to add
baking
soda ---

[snipped for bandwidth]

Hi! Thanks so much. I'm glad to know about the baking soda, and also
about the rain. We have had a lot of rain lately.

Joan

You can put the dolomitic lime in your filter instead of the sock.

Oh that is a good idea! I never thought about adding it directly to
the filter. It won't clog it up?

but it seems it
has done the job of adding a buffer. Baking soda may increase the pH quickly (not
desirable), but it wont provide lasting stability cause the bicarb breaks down to CO2
and leaves the pond. That is where the dolomitic limestone comes in. It slowly
releases on demand as needed, almost like having limestone in the pond. anything
above 50 is OK, altho higher is better.

Oh, okay. Thanks. I added some more today, directly to the filter.

It is expected that pH is low in morning as the CO2 has been removed during the night
by plants in the water. During the day CO2 and O2 levels increase with pH peaking
right before sunset. But the more plants (algae) in the water, the larger the swing
... do you have green water? It could be if your water is green and warm then the
plants are using up the oxygen... especially if you dont have sufficient oxygenation.

Ah. Well, we have had an enormous amount of algae this year. It just
started to come under some degree of control within the last month.
The water itself isn't too green. But the algae have been clogging up
the pumps a lot. We do have a good-sized air bubbler in the pond.
It's about the size of a regular pump and it runs 24/7. Plus we have
a waterfall that runs most of the day. So I think there should be
plenty of oxygen, but who knows? Is there a way to find out? Should
I be adding hydrogen peroxide to the water??

[snipped for bandwidth]

Thanks so much for your input.

Joan

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'll get some tomorrow!

Joan

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.

"JGW" wrote in message
...
snip
Hi! Thanks so much. I'm glad to know about the baking soda, and also
about the rain. We have had a lot of rain lately.
snip

Lots of rain? What's your runoff situation like? Could something nasty be
running into the pond?

BV.