Deaths in the pond...

[JohnHuff]

I was visiting relatives in California for 10 days. I decided not to feed the fish because:
1) I have new neighbors and didn't really know them well
2) The last time I was out of town for 5 days, the fish seemed to do ok without food and
3) The general consensus in the forum seems to be the fish can do ok with food for awhile, especially since I have a planted pond full of plants.

However when I came back, the next morning I found two dead goldfish in the morning, and two more in the afternoon. The next day I found 2 more. All 6 of these floaters were indigenous goldfish/comets that were born in the pond. All were about 4.5 inches long. Not sure how old they were, but maybe 3-4 years old. All of the store bought koi and shubunkins were ok. There were no marks on them and all seemed well fed (the dead ones).

I had about a dozen fish or more (never could get a good count), now I can see maybe 6-8. Most of the pond bred fish seem to be missing. After I got back I did feed them, but just a 1/4 teaspoonful or so of pellets. My usual amount is about 3/4 flat teaspoonful only. I did a small water change and I can't find my water testing stuff, will have to wait next week til the kids come back to find them. I plan to do a bigger water change and clean out the mechanical filters then. Since we have a lot of plants biofiltration has never appeared to be a problem, even when there were a lot more fish. Water appears pretty clean.

Worse is that the fish no longer come to the surface anymore to feed or when someone is around. They seem shy, but this seems to be the usual when I go away for a few days. So anyway, it's a mystery why the fish died. Here are a few pics of them. The fish seem freshly dead by the color of their eyes:

Here are 2 of them:

The one above seems pretty pissed.

The one below seems to have been dead longer. Both appear to be healthy and well nourished.

I have pics of them all, but they all appear to look the same. Sniff, sniff. RIP guys...

 

[fishin4cars]

No visual sign, I would double check the water. I've read and seen first hand, In most ponds that are well seasoned and plant growth goldfish can live, thrive, and reproduce without adding food. Those fish are by far are not lacking in nutrition. If anything they are well fed and very plump. I have had similar die-offs like this happen in the fall before and found that my lack of water changes and increased rains had changed my water parameters and the PH started fluctuating drastically. Many years ago I would have been dumping everything I could buy in the pond to fix the problem, not knowing I was actually just making matters worse. As I learned how different adjustments even ever so slightly took place and how they effected my fish I also learned the importance of testing and understanding why water does what it does. If it were my pond I would be checking KH and nitrates right off the bat. Then checking the PH in the morning and evening. Of course checking ammonia would also be high on the list as well.
As I'm sure your well aware of one fish could be just something happened, multiple fish there is something wrong somewhere and all your fish sooner or later could be effected. I'd be interested in seeing what your readings are, IF they are all ok, next step I would recommend is scraping and scoping the fish.

 

[Mmathis]

I'm sorry to hear about your fish

 

[addy1]

Darn bummer! With fish missing I would think heron here.

I lost one fish this year, just found it floating, looked a little beat up, think It might have been a female, wiped out during spawning.

 

[j.w]

Very sorry John and hope your readings will give you an idea of what went wrong. I lose a fish now and then that I can't see anything wrong w/ but have never lost a bunch at a time.

 

[JohnHuff]

Hi:
Sorry, I'd forgotten about this thread. So I'd tested the waters and everything came back normal, ammonia and nitrites = zero. Nitrates 20ppm. Don't remember what the pH and KH were. But I didn't think it would be ammonia or nitrites because I hadn't fed the fish for 10 days. And because some fish were missing and the rest were afraid pointed to predators.

In retrospect, I think the biggest mistake I made was that I didn't do any water changes. I had 2 fish each die 3 days in a row. From now on, if there are any unexplained deaths, I think no matter what, the first thing I should do are water changes.

 

[dieselplower]

Wow this is very strange. Nice looking fish for sure.
What do you consider to be too high a level of Nitrates?
How much water do you plan to change in the future and how will this help?
Since the fish looked fine, do you think the predator scared them to death?
Did the remaining live fish show any signs of lack of oxygen, such as rapid breathing or gulping at the top?

 

[JohnHuff]

I was just reading several articles. I think they said anything under 45ppm was ok for fish.
I usually change about 20%. How won't it help?
I doubt if fish can be scared to death, I think it's two different events. Maybe the predator took a big crap into the pond...
Nah, the other fish were all ok.

Wow this is very strange. Nice looking fish for sure.
What do you consider to be too high a level of Nitrates?
How much water do you plan to change in the future and how will this help?
Since the fish looked fine, do you think the predator scared them to death?
Did the remaining live fish show any signs of lack of oxygen, such as rapid breathing or gulping at the top?

 

[dieselplower]

I was just reading several articles. I think they said anything under 45ppm was ok for fish.
I usually change about 20%. How won't it help?
I doubt if fish can be scared to death, I think it's two different events. Maybe the predator took a big crap into the pond...
Nah, the other fish were all ok.

I would imagine a bit of clean water is always good, I was just wondering if there was something I was missing.
Big crap... LOL

 

[Carolyn22]

John

where these fish your larger fish? I am wondering if perhaps there was an oxygen crash. Anybody at the surface trying to get air? Perhaps while you were gone there was a power outage. Have you talked with your neighbors to see if there were problems with power?

I really don't think it was lack of food - they look well fed to me.

 

[j.w]

How come these things seem to happen when we are gone on vacation? Happened to CE too. I haven't gone anywhere all Summer and all my fish are fine. Now if I leave in September and come back to dead fish.......................hmmmmmmmmmmmmm,maybe they just miss us to death :bye2:

 

[JohnHuff]

Sorry, I forgot about this thread again. I'm going to track it.
I didn't ask if there were problems with power, but it's very rare in the Summer.
They do look well fed.
It could be an O2 crash, but I've never had a problem like this before. One thing I'm definitely planning to do next year is to add my extra filters which I didn't do this year because it never got hot.

John

where these fish your larger fish? I am wondering if perhaps there was an oxygen crash. Anybody at the surface trying to get air? Perhaps while you were gone there was a power outage. Have you talked with your neighbors to see if there were problems with power?

I really don't think it was lack of food - they look well fed to me.

 

[Dave 54]

John did you happen to check on the goldfishes gills at all, if so what colour where they please ?
I ask because the colour of them may indicate just what went wrong with your pond or is that too late now as youve gotten rid of the bodies ?
It'd be interesting to know if you checked them when you found them.


rgrds

Dave

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Have the fish the fish started coming to the surface to feed again?
You need to get yourself a inexpensive Digital Surveillance system so you can keep and eye on your pond (and house) while your away, and review recorded video files and find out if anything was lurking around your pond. For less than a $200 it's a cheap investment. I don't know anybody who has installed one who thinks they were a waste of money. Modern electronic technology has made these things so affordable, they should be standard features on every home.

 

[JohnHuff]

John did you happen to check on the goldfishes gills at all, if so what colour where they please ?
I ask because the colour of them may indicate just what went wrong with your pond or is that too late now as youve gotten rid of the bodies ?
It'd be interesting to know if you checked them when you found them.


rgrds

Dave

Ya, it's too late. I didn't check the gills, but they didn't look abnormal to me.