Country Escape's 2nd pond - Goldfish only

[CountryEscape]

Kristi Kelty, see post #986 for the water clover pic ...

 

[CountryEscape]

And, Kristi, post #925 on page 62 has pics of the water lilies, but you can see the bog in the background, plants hanging over the edge.

 

[sissy]

guessing everything in your pond is back to normal again .

 

[CountryEscape]

Nope, not really, Sissy. The "dying" has been cut back to one fist every week or every other week, though, so I've not posted about it any more. Still losing fish every now and then. Have another sick one, probably will be a week or so and it will be dead. No new fish will be purchased by me for a very long time. Still not sure what happened, but the more I think and remember, the more I'm wondering about not only the fist, but other things dying or almost dying in my yard, always around the first of August. Always thought it was the heat, but this year it was not very hot, and I was watering the subject plants daily, and stuff in the ground weekly with good soakings. I have lost a Dogwood tree for 3 years in a row, planted in the same spot, always first or 2nd week of August. I'm now wondering about the fungicide killing those trees, too. Thought it was funny how it would grow, thrive, and then within 2-3 days all the leaves were dead. Boom! I thought it was the spot it was planted in, but now I'm wondering .... Will get it replaced one more time, and then I have to decide whether to plant it in the same spot, or move it. If I move it and it grows, then I won't know if it was the spot or because I'll cover it next year when they spray. Same thing with petunias. They all die within a week, from full bloom. Same thing. They are coming out of it and growing again now, so whatever it was didn't totally kill them. Just seems very strange to me. If it's not the fungicide, it's something that happens here every August. I have never had this concern before, and not all plants/trees are affected. Some say the fungicide should HELP plants, but I say not necessarily so! We shall see. My test will be covering things next year, and seeing how they fare.

 

[sissy]

Dogwood trees like bradford pears are prone to leaf wilt and die .They were over planted for years and the disease just spread and the trees are weaker because of bad root stock .My dad back when he was in the tree business had the same problem with the over planting of oaks at that time .The leaves never really form right and curl up and look funny .My neighbor just lost to of her bradford pears .I have them but I use tree fertilizer spikes with a disease inhibitor in them .It can spread through the ground to other plants also .I usually add lots of lime to my lawn and trees also as it sweetens the soil and helps kill back the disease .

 

[CountryEscape]

In this area, bradford pear trees grow really well ... until a big wind after they have gotten pretty large. They break right off, and it's not just a small branch, it is typically 1/3 to 1/2 of the whole tree that breaks off! They were the most popular tree in this area about 20 years ago, now everyone is very unhappy at the end result. A beautiful specimen tree, blooms beautifully in spring, great shape to the tree, fall red color to the leaves, but winds in spring and fall ... bam, now your tree looks terrible. Elm in this area have died due to an elm borer. I would love an elm, my absolute favorite fall color tree, but since they were banned about 15 years ago, no nursery has them available yet at a decent size, so the landscape places don't have them. The ban has been lifted, the borer evidently has been contained or something found to kill it and the trees are resistant to it now, or something. I've never heard of oak trees having a hard time around here! But, I appreciate all the info you gave, as I'm certain you know what you're talking about, and your father was obviously a wealth of info.
Here are some pics I took a few days ago of a "sick" fish. Just not happy, fins down, etc., so I caught it and took a few close ups of it. I don't see anything wrong, and have no microscope to do a scrape. I know, I should have gotten one a month or two ago when all the problems started ...
Does anyone see something here that is obviously wrong with this fish, that I'm not seeing? I do see a dark spot on his right side above the gill on the top view photo, but not sure what that could be.

Then, here is the fish that has had these "bumps" on it for about 6 months or more. He is one of the original fish put into the pond. I assume he is not contagious, but what do I know! No other fish have bumps on them. I've tried several times to catch him to get better close up pics, but to no avail so far.

If anyone knows what is the cause of these bumps, or more importantly, if he should be removed from my pond, possibly the cause of all the deaths in the last 2 months, please let me know! I guess just viewing him will not necessarily help you to identify the bumps, but maybe someone has an idea or clue what it could be, so I would know what to search for on the internet. Thanks!

 

[j.w]

Hey CE why don't you post this in the disease section of the forum and maybe someone can help you. Everyone does not read every thread on the forum so they might not see it here. Hope you can figure out what is killing your fish and I did not know some were still dieing. I think I have heard of a disease of Dogwoods called Dogwood Anthracnose (sp). Don't know what the symptoms are but hear it is bad.

 

[capewind]

My dad back when he was in the tree business had the same problem with the over planting of oaks at that time .The leaves never really form right and curl up and look funny .

Wondering if it was the same "bug" we have here now. I forgot the name of it, hubby just showed me the effects a few weeks ago at a clients. It is some type of borer that is only going after the red oaks in the area. All the white oaks are fine. He showed me a branch where you could see hundreds of holes where the bug enters the tree. In the early stages, a lot of the tree still looks great, but in other areas of the tree, specific branches, the leaves are small, still green-ish, curling, but turning brown ... He had said it is possible to treat the trees, and do extensive pruning, but most of the time, by the time a client calls, even with treating, the tree will be dead in another year or two, so most of the tree guys are saying to remove these trees as soon as possible, with the hopes of preventing these creatures from spreading to presently still healthy trees. In the last 5-8 years, it seems like we are being hit with one nasty bug after another. This is the first year of a hard hit issue to the red oaks, the last few years it had been the black pines (pine tip borers and there's another name I cant remember, turp beetles???), and before them, nearly all of the Hemlock trees in the area took a hard hit (wiped out about 75% of them) ...

 

[capewind]

In this area, bradford pear trees grow really well ... until a big wind after they have gotten pretty large. They break right off, and it's not just a small branch, it is typically 1/3 to 1/2 of the whole tree that breaks off!

That is the same result here. Best case, they live 12-15 yrs and then a wind storm will take them out. I wanted one, and hubby gave me a clear no:-(

Here are some pics I took a few days ago of a "sick" fish. Just not happy, fins down, etc., so I caught it and took a few close ups of it.

Poor thing ... I have no idea what is wrong with either fish ... I had read goldfish can have tumors, but never dealt with them, so I dont know.

 

[sissy]

bradford pears are really weak trees .Cities planted them because of there shape and are now cutting them down because of there weakness .I have a few and went for the cleveland pears after that

 

[Fishylove]

The Bradford's pear....it's foliage and branches grow much much faster than the supporting trunk. They are a pretty tree, but for the first several years they need A LOT of maintenance keeping the top trimmed down enough to let the trunk catch up with it. After that, it should be In better shape to handle strong winds. Bad thing is most people plant trees and such themselves, without knowing how or bothering to research how to take care of it or even how big it gets...then wonder why their beautiful full tree just fell on their house cause they planted it too close! Lol.

 

[Fishylove]

Sissy our city planted them too, downtown. You would think a professional landscaping business would know not to plant a tree on a walkway that almost gets wider that it gets tall :huh: I think the Gingko Biloba is a good walkway tree, it's a pretty tree, add interesting texture, grows slower and doesn't get real wide.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Well I must say CE, I don't every remember seeing those bumbs before on fish, not sure what to make of it! If the whole goldfish pond looks sick, I would say very very few will survive the winter! Maybe just close that pond down, bring the remaining few goldifsh inside to treat maybe with some salt? If you close pond down and dry out pond for winter, start fresh and clean next year with new fish....

 

[CountryEscape]

None of the other fish have the bumps, Colleen. I don't believe that is the problem with the pond. I think there is more likely a parasite or something like that, if it's not the fungicide. And, as Waterbug pointed out, if it had been the chemical, all the fish would have likely been killed, and all right away, not over 2 months time. So, back to thinking it's more likely to be something that has gotten into the pond, likely with new fish I put there without quarantining them. Never will do that again. Bad me.
Fishy, I've never seen a Bradford Pear trimmed or pruned. They have a beautiful shape, but you're right, the top is larger than the branches can hold. The trunks are fine, the branches that hold the leaves are what break around here win the wind. It usually takes out 1/3 to 1/2 of a tree, because the branched are so large and heavy. I think it's the person who created the tree that should have thought of that before marketing the tree.

 

[CountryEscape]

I decided the oak tree that was about 3' behind the goldfish pond bog was too close. It will eventually shade the whole pond, and I wasn't thinking that far into the future when I decided to leave it there last year. So ..... last weekend I dug the hole for where I wanted to move the tree to. This hole was 3' deep in the center, 2' on the outer edges, and about 40" wide.

Then yesterday morning at about 9 I got outside, assuming the rain predicted for around noon would end my work for the day (it didn't, only got a sprinkle, not enough to even drive me inside to stop work). This is the "before" pic, taken of base of tree behind the goldfish pond bog.

Found these grubs (and a ton more) while digging through the mulch layer. I kept putting them in this landscape stone cavity, and then the koi had a feast! As I found more throughout the dig, I tossed the extras to the goldfish, couple of koi in that pond, and even got the bullfrogs to eat a few precisely tossed meals.

I removed the landscape stones and transplanted the catmint and other plants that were in that area, then started digging around the roots. Not nearly as many roots as I thought there would have been. Went down 3' in the front of the tree, and at least 2' at the back of it. Didn't want to go too deep on that side, hoping instead to bring the tree forward when I used the tractor to bring it up. Here I got the tractor in position, strapped the tree to it and lifted it up! Viola .... well it wasn't quite that quick, as I wanted to make sure it didn't fall on me. JW, I was VERY careful. :blueflower:

When I got the tree over ready to put in the hole, I measured where the roots were, and had to dig the hole much wider at the top (about 5') to accommodate the shallow roots, plus deeper in the middle (4') for the VERY long tap roots (which looked completely undamaged).

Then ready to place the tree in the hole.

After backfill, water, tamp, backfill, water, tamp ... I finally got it filled back in and staked. Have a ratchet strap to help hold it in place during the backfilling. Will leave the "T" posts and ropes in place for at least a year, maybe 2, to make sure it continues to grow straight.

This shows where the tree is now, compared to where it had been, to the left in the pic, behind the cattails of the bog. It is now at least 40' farther away, back by the wildflower garden and the horse pasture fence. I left space for the mower to make 2 paths between the tree and the fence. :banana:

I'm very proud of this accomplishment. My sisters and I say, "Never say a Krueger (my maiden name) girl can't do something. Just makes her that much more determined to do so!" Well, I've gotten smarter in my advanced age (55), and never would have attempted this without my tractor and loader. Got the large hole backfilled, too. Didn't get back into the house until almost 5:30, so that was a full day's work, but very pleased with the outcome. Today I relax ... or transplant the lilies and irises by the new well house! :blueflower: