2 out of my 6 fish have died, please help

[Debra4]

 

[pebbleoz]

I am very upset to admit that I once killed all our fish in a pond (no pump or filter but it did have an aerator fountain and plants) by replacing 30%-40% of the water with tap water.
I know you said you treated your water but you never know what councils do to the mains supply (in Australia anyway!).
We only use tank water in the pond now and I test it regularly.
If I didn't have tank water I would only replace 10% of the water at a time or sit buckets aside for 24 hours before putting the water in.

 

[Debra4]

I am very upset to admit that I once killed all our fish in a pond (no pump or filter but it did have an aerator fountain and plants) by replacing 30%-40% of the water with tap water.
I know you said you treated your water but you never know what councils do to the mains supply (in Australia anyway!).
We only use tank water in the pond now and I test it regularly.
If I didn't have tank water I would only replace 10% of the water at a time or sit buckets aside for 24 hours before putting the water in.

I feel very sad, I'm not sleeping well, just keep thinking about what we could have done differently..... Our pond has a pump and filter system, we clean it regularly. I fear that we have either overstocked or have a bacterial infection that has got out of hand. Either way I think we will lose all our fish

 

[Debra4]

I feel very sad, I'm not sleeping well, just keep thinking about what we could have done differently..... Our pond has a pump and filter system, we clean it regularly. I fear that we have either overstocked or have a bacterial infection that has got out of hand. Either way I think we will lose all our fish

 

[pebbleoz]

I feel very sad, I'm not sleeping well, just keep thinking about what we could have done differently..... Our pond has a pump and filter system, we clean it regularly. I fear that we have either overstocked or have a bacterial infection that has got out of hand. Either way I think we will lose all our fish

I feel your pain. I felt like a mass murderer when I did it. It happened so quickly after I'd replaced the water that I definitely knew the cause. I hope you work it out.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm so upset that our local aquatic centre happily sold us these fish knowing that our pond wasn't big enough!!

So sorry about your fish... we all know the feeling, sadly.

And I have said that exact thing so many times - shame on the people who sell these fish to people for not even making an effort to educate them on the environment they will need to grow and thrive. It's sad.

When fish start to die quickly like that, I would suspect water quality issues. Water changes are a bit of a controversial subject in the pond world. It's kind of a carryover idea from the aquarium hobby. Many people swear by them; I haven't ever done an intentional water change. (Occasionally during a heavy rain, the pond will overflow and get a natural "water change" or we'll top off the pond due to evaporation.) When your pond water is fully matured, it's really better to just leave it alone.

Having said that, you do have a small volume of water - more container than pond really at 80 US gallons. But I keep a small patio pond as well - it's around 40 gallons - and we never change that water either. We generally only keep two or three of the pond babies in their for a season, though. It's not a permanent home for any of our fish. And it's LOADED with plants. Do consider adding plants to your pond, as that will help maintain the natural eco-system that you should be trying to develop. We can definitely help with suggestions!

 

[addy1]

I wiped out my first install of fish into my pond. Put them in, they were all floating within a hour. Felt horrible. Found out then our well water is like a acid bath to the fish. Ph 5.3. I let the pond sit empty for a year until the ph stabilized. Now it sits around 7.6