CLEANING POND AFTER LOCAL BUSHFIRE

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to owning fish and only got my first ones 3-4 months ago (8 fish in an outdoor pond, all different breeds of goldfish). Recently we had a bushfire near our house and I think a lot of soot/dust got into the pond as I've noticed some fish have black marks on them that weren't there before and the pond is very dark. So I have two questions.

1. One of my fish has become really ill (isn't moving but I can see him breathing) and has black marks. Is he just sick for other reasons or could it be related? Do I need to get him away from my other fish?

2. My pond has no filter, only a water pump. I'm not really sure about how you're meant to safely move the fish from the pond so you can clean it.

Help with these 2 questions would be brilliant.

Thank you.
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
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Welcome to our group!

Do you have a large container you can put the fish in?

What kind of fish, how big?

If you drain the pond some you can catch them easier.

Make sure you have enough dechlor to treat the water if you are on city water.

If you have no way to catch them you could also start draining down and replacing the water. I assume there is a lot of ash in the water. Have you tested the water? Has the ph changed?

others might have better ideas.
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome!

Agree with @addy1 about trying to catch them and temporarily move to another container.

How big (gallons and dimensions) is your pond? What bothers me is the “black spots.” I guess this could be a result of the soot, but black spots can also be a sign of [a healing] injury — often from ammonia burn. So I’m wondering about your fish load — but more on that later. Right now, you need to get the fish out and the pond cleaned up.

Keep us posted!
 

sissy

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you can put quilt batting in your filters and even set up baskets with quilt batting in them with the hoses from the pumps in them .Depends on also how bad it looks in the water .
 

j.w

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Sorry about the fire and all the trouble it has caused. Good ideas from above posters and
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@Ellie West
 
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