A few questions about pond animals and plants

[fishin4cars]

Pimafix should do fine. I have not used it but my dealer does and sells it. sure couldn't hurt and your doing right by doing in a seperate container salt you may could go that high but I would start at around .1-.3% and see how that does. Only water parameter that looks kind of off is the PH, for now leave it alone. see what it does for a week or two, it's not hard to bring it up a little but for now it's not going to hurt the fish and until the ammonia is fully under control the lower PH is probably better/safer than it being high for now anyway. your doing good, may not feel like it dealing with sick fish but really you are doing what is needed and not jumping the gun. The pond will settle down and act right soon, I assure you!

 

[max384]

I found one more dead fish. This one looks like it has been dead for awhile, so good thing I found it and took it out. I ended up finding one other sick fish and I have that in the quarantine tank with the other one. I seriously doubt either of them are going to make it. Neither one is moving and barely move if I try and touch them (because I thought they were dead). If these two die, that will mean that 8 out of the 20 feeder fish will have died. 60% survival rate isn't too good! On the plus side, the ones that are left don't have any signs of this infection and are pretty active when they're not hiding amongst the rocks.

All of the water parameters look good. The last two ammonia levels have been 0ppm.


My kids just scooped about about two dozen tadpoles from a nearby mud puddle to put in the pond. If they had gotten them from a pond, I would have told them to put them back, but the mud puddle's just gonna dry up anyhow. Do you think it's okay to put some of these tadpoles in? They're pretty small ones; not big bullfrog tadpoles for sure.

 

[sissy]

The bad thing about tadpoles out of a mud puddle you don't know what your bringing into the pond .You could have brought sick fish into the pond that killed some off also .

 

[fishin4cars]

60% survival rate starting a pond and using cheap feeder fish is actually pretty good. I've seen and heard worse for sure. Adding the tadpoles probably wasn't a good idea as Sissy posted, You don't know what else your adding. Their in there now so might as well leave them. remember, Don't add anything to the pond until you have isolated it and given time to make sure your not adding something unwanted along with what you do want, Plants, fish, tadpoles, anything living can introduce parasites, unwanted bacteria, and fungus types that may or may not be treatable. Buying from a store that has held a item such as a plant is one thing, getting it from the wild is totally different. tadpoles can bring in all kinds of things, Ever seen any tadpole medications? Nope they don't make any I'm aware of. So if the fish get something that the tadpoles bring in probabilities, You may not be able to treat it in your pond for fish either.

 

[addy1]

Watch you levels max, the tadpoles will produce waste. If all stabilizes and your pond does some nice cycling, the fish, that you have left do well you should be ok.

 

[max384]

I never actually put the tadpoles in the pond. I kept them in a gallon milk jug to hear what you guys said about it. I took my boys camping yesterday and we brought the tadpoles with us and found a pond nearby to dump them in. Good thing that I didn't put them in... I found eggs in my pond this morning when I got back from camping! I've never seen a single frog or toad around my house... but they sure look like frog eggs to me! Here's a picture of what I found:

Levels are unchanged from last time.

 

[fishin4cars]

Max, I like how you think! Good thinking! the eggs in the pond are frogs, funny how things work out, Those you know are straight from the frog to your pond, no additional additives. Also funny how frogs seem to find water, this time next year I bet you don't say you don't see any frogs! You did good, found a good home for the rescue tadpoles and got some safe ones at the same time. Happy Ponding! All is looking good and BTW your water is looking good and clear!

 

[sissy]

thats the problem once the frogs find your pond the level of sound goes up .At night now I can hardly here the waterfalls over all the different frog sounds noisy little devils they are LOL

 

[fishin4cars]

Sissy, When the frogs are quite my yard sounds like I live right on a mountain stream, It's so relaxing to listen too. We like sleeping with the window open so we can here it and cool the house off naturally when it's cool enough outside. The last few nights the Orchastra of frogs have really cranked it up and we had to shut the window as you couldn't hear the water fall. Well late last night I went to bed well after the wife as she has been taking meds for her foot since the surgery and sleeping alot. I had just dozed off and this frog started up that was extremely loud, She got up to close the window, and said my window is closed it must be yours, so I get up to close the window but it's already shut, oh well. get back in bed and it starts up again. I'm talking VERY loud! so I get back up thinking it must be on the window. get up put on clothes got outside and check, No frog by the window, Ok, figure it jumped off so I go back to bed. about 20 minutes later here it goes again! Now, I'm getting aggrevated, get up same routine, go outside to move this loud ass frog and I look at the window it's not on the outside, It's IN the house between on the window, LOL, no wonder he was so loud! well he's back out side and I finally got to go to sleep somewhere around 3am this morning!!!!!

 

[sissy]

poor frog and he may be a spy frog peeping on you .I had to close my windows last night as the sound could be heard even above the ceiling fan and other night bird noises .We have those little frogs with the sticky feet and they stick themselves right to the window and for there size there loader than the bigger ones

 

[j.w]

Ha Ha, too funny fishin...............I can just picture you.............and the frog just watching the whole thing w/ you going back and forth w/ a silly smile on his frog face

 

[blessedfamily]

That was funny.

 

[max384]

The three fish that I quarantined all ended up dying. All in all, 11 of the original 20 feeder fish have died. I only see about five of the nine that are left. They seem to be doing well though. They are swimming in a school sometimes and they are now actually coming to the surface and eating very soon after feeding. They move very fast and don't have any outward signs of infection.

The ammonia has been staying steady at zero. I still haven't seen an increase in nitrites or nitrates. I guess that'll be coming. All the levels have been staying pretty steady.

However, the one number that worries me is pH. The pH has rested around 6.2-6.8, though closer to the 6.2 color. From the research I've done on the web, it seems that goldfish like slightly basic water, however they can do well anywhere form 6-8. They seem to be doing well at this point, so I'm a bit apprehensive about changing anything. I also worry that if I raise the pH and my ammonia levels rise again, that will be more harmful for the fish. What do you guys think?

EDIT: I haven't checked the pH of my tap water yet. I just put some into a container to allow to equilibrate with the outside air, then I will check that.

 

[fishin4cars]

raising PH is simple and easy. the key is do it VERY gradually. 6.2-6.8 is a little low, not real bad but you will want to get it up some and buffer the water to keep it up.
baking soda raises PH. I use 1 tablespoon and mix it in a large cup of water until clear. Then add it in the pond water in several places. wait 24-48 hours and check PH again. That is for 2500 gallons! I may have to repeat this several times as it is a very low dose. I don't want to raise the PH more than .2 in any 24-48 hour period of time. Once the Ph is about 7.4-7.8 add crushed oyster shells to you system where there is good water flow, this adds buffering to the water and helps keep the PH more stable and locked in where you want it. Just remember when raising PH, If in doubt add less and test. raise the PH over several days or even weeks, the slower the better.

 

[max384]

I tested my tap water that I use to fill the pond with and it's pH is less than 6.2 (as low as the sticks measure. I guess I'll start with a small amount of baking soda every couple days.