Dissolved oxygen

[Faebinder]

I recently had two medium-big fish die together after a storm. They were not sick before. I thought about run offs but the area around the pond is just mulch and bricks with no pesticides. I do have a lot of floating plants and the summer they grew and now they cover half the pond so I am thinking I have a dissolved oxygen problem even though I have a four outlet aerator, a submerged sponge filter and the falls from the main filter.

Is there a kit to check this out?

How else would i improve the oxygen content without losing the plants or changing the aerator

 

[crsublette]

@Faebinder , Salifert makes a good oxygen test kit.

 

[Faebinder]

I think I found that. Meyers had recommended it in another post. I ordered one.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I recently had two medium-big fish die together after a storm. They were not sick before. I thought about run offs but the area around the pond is just mulch and bricks with no pesticides. I do have a lot of floating plants and the summer they grew and now they cover half the pond so I am thinking I have a dissolved oxygen problem even though I have a four outlet aerator, a submerged sponge filter and the falls from the main filter.

Is there a kit to check this out?

How else would i improve the oxygen content without losing the plants or changing the aerator

I would tend to think that you do not have a DO issue given your described system set-up.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

@Faebinder How many gallons is your pond? How many fish do you have in the pond?

 

[Faebinder]

1000 gallons pond, with a bog that is 3 feet by 7 feet. There are 30 goldfish in it.

Floating plants cover half the pond. Only other suspicious thing is leaves falling and covering the bottom of the pond cause release of gases but that I am not sure how to test for.

 

[Mmathis]

This is the test kit I use.

And I started testing for DO2 under similar circumstances: losing goldfish after storms. There was never an issue with any water parameters -- all were WNL and consistent pre and post storm. I have lots of water movement including aeration. Not overstocked but probably over-filtered. I could only come up with 2 conclusions: either there was a lightening strike that got the fish, or there was an injury caused when water reached overflow stage. The DO2 levels are WNL, as well. Will be curious to see what you come up with.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Okay so a goldfish only pond with 1000 gallons of water and 30 goldfish is about 33 gallons per fish.

Do you have a vacuum? Or can you net the leaves out of the pond? If these are fancy goldfish (I think I remember you having several different types of fancy goldfish) then they are not as hardy or well suited to live in a pond environment. They also require a higher level of oxygen than the more hardy single tail common goldfish.

 

[Faebinder]

Okay so a goldfish only pond with 1000 gallons of water and 30 goldfish is about 33 gallons per fish.

Do you have a vacuum? Or can you net the leaves out of the pond? If these are fancy goldfish (I think I remember you having several different types of fancy goldfish) then they are not as hardy or well suited to live in a pond environment. They also require a higher level of oxygen than the more hardy single tail common goldfish.

Both dead fish were single tailed fish actually.... A hibuna (common) and an opal shubunkin... This pond is newly made deeper with new liners June 8th.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Well then that shoots that theory either way it stinks to lose your fish.

Since you recently changed the liner have you tested your water for ammonia or nitrite? I wouldn't think you would have much build up of leaves in a month or two unless it was in the Fall.

 

[Faebinder]

Yes ammonia is 0.1. Lower than my tap water. Went down after the bog and floating plants flourished.

 

[Faebinder]

Another thing I guess that is possible is the pea gravel. I pour them straight out of the bag to the bog. Maybe they had too many chemicals. I had poured three bags 3 days prior to the death.

 

[Mmathis]

Another thing I guess that is possible is the pea gravel. I pour them straight out of the bag to the bog. Maybe they had too many chemicals. I had poured three bags 3 days prior to the death.

Pea gravel shouldn't contain chemicals, though I'm sure there are contaminates present. I rarely rinse mine, and @addy1 doesn't either -- she has a massive bog.

Do you have any rocks in or around your pond, like as edging? I have rocks along the shelf edge. I wonder sometimes, when we have a really big, fast rainfall, when the rain is too much for the over-flow and water pours over in a few spots.... I wonder if a fish gets temp trapped against a rock, causing injury. And yes, we really do get those kinds of rain -- scary!

 

[Faebinder]

Nitrites 0, nitrates 0-20. PH 7-7.5

 

[shellena]

Nitrites 0, nitrates 0-20. PH 7-7.5

My guess is the new liners may have a chemical or a mold or something on them to cause the deaths???!?? You said they were new ? What kind of liner did u use? I by all means am not pretending to know this answer I'm just guessing. I hope you don't lose any more!!