2 of my goldfish died last night

[Mmathis]

That is the correct dosing for low level of salt, 1 tablespoon per five gallons of water (pre-dissolved so you don't burn the gills) make sure to use air stone and if you have a heater I would use that as well to keep water somewhere between 74-78 degrees.

Thanks, Maria!

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Fish jumping out of the pond also points to Ammonia and/or Nitrite issues.The gill color would have told us much.

 

[Tula]

I believe the "hole" you're referring to, is a vent. I don't know definitively if it's enlarged. Could you take a picture of the gills.....slightly raise one, with your fingertip?

 

[CometKeith]

I'm sorry about your fish. The first year I started the following spring I lost all my fish except for one. I could feel how lonely that fish was but now 6 or 7 years later it has grown and is the king of the pond and has dozens of new friends. I can't say for certain which caused your problems, but some of the mistakes I have noticed: 1) Pond never really did cycle.I don't know how your test strips showed zero but something is wrong with how you are doing it. Maybe you should bring in your water to a fish store to get it tested. 2) Gulping at the surface indicates either burned gills or low O2 in the pond. I recommend to treat water and let it sit for 24 hours before adding it to the pond. Also you can never have enough water circulation. The higher the water temperature the less O2 the pond will hold so I recommend shading it as much as you can. Also too big of a water change can lower O2 if you are taking it from the surface. I recommend 10-15% water changes at one time at the most. 3) No filter media for biofiltering. This will make it very difficult for enough beneficial bacteria to grow in order for your pond to cycle so you need to pick up a decent biofilter. 4) Any fish under $1 is considered a feeder.These fish are not kept in ideal conditions because they are bred to be fed to other fish and reptiles.Commonly they will have a variety of diseases even if they look okay at first. If you watch out for these mistakes I think your next batch of fish will do much better as long as you don't overcrowd them and start slowly with one or two fish until your pond cycles. I can always tell when my pond cycles because all the string algae dissapears overnight. Good luck!