Emergency Fish gulping at surface

Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Think I messed up and took so really bad advise. After adding 3 new fish to my pond I was talking to lady at fish store and she said even tho they seemed fine in quarantine they could still have flukes. Said just add it to pond since they are already in it. Everything seemed fine until 5th day which was yesterday I can home to one of my fish I had for years dead and another gulping at surface. All of them seemed slugish. I immediately checked water and had 0 ammonia 0 nitrite. Never had a fish death from water quality or issue with water quality so I'm assuming its prazipro overdose maybe. I immediately did a 50% water change pur air stones in it. But this morning they still seem the same. What else should I do? Please help I couldn't sleep all night .
 
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
1,230
Reaction score
908
Location
Florida
Country
United States
So Marsha, your pond fish were fine until you introduced three new fish? The three new fish were quarantined for how long? And they showed no signs of stress during quarantine? And now all of the fish are gasping or just the new fish? Really, it is best to treat the affected fish by dipping them if possible rather than treating an entire pond. How large is your pond and how many fish do you have? Flukes love overcrowding. Did you follow the directions on the Prazipro bottle? They also say not to use activated carbon or UV in a pond that is being treated so you might check that. Also, the type of your water conditioner is important. Are your sure about your water parameters? I would retest or take a sample to get tested for everything not just ammonia and nitrite. Have you tested the oxygen level of the pond? Most importantly, it is imperative to not overreact. Please help us with some more information.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Hi yes I had 6 goldfish that were in perfect health for many years new fish were quarantine d for 2 weeks seemed fine. Now one if my older fish is dead and the rest don't seem good. They were eating tho I did notice the night before yesterday they were not as active for food then next day I yesterday came home to one dead. I just now added a extra pump to pond to agitated water more instead of air stone that I felt were not moving enough water.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Sorry its close to 300 gallons 9 fish about 3 to 4 inches . Iv cheched ammonia and nitrite about 4 times now before and after doing water change oh is 9 checked kh is 8/143.2
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Sorry I'm need to slow down
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Ph 9
Kh gh 8/143.2
300 gallon pond with 600 gallon pond pump fountain bio balls
Nothing has change iv racked my brain all night except prazipro. Had pond a good 9 years never had water issues since cycled never lost a fish over winter only lost 3 last year that disapeared and caught a frog with one in its mouth that I saved so I know the 3 that disapeared were from very large frog. That's the only reason I got 3 more
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
O I also turned uv filter back on last night after doing water change and added active carbon to filter to try to inactive any left over prazi. Should I do another water change. I feel helpless right now and very guilty since its hard seeing them not doing good
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Also I noticed the dead fish which was orange seemed to have deeper orange slightly red blotches on scales . and its the largest fish that seemed to be the worst I don't know how to test oxygen level
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
1,230
Reaction score
908
Location
Florida
Country
United States
Well, the directions say to discontinue activated carbon and UV during a two-week period when using Prazipro. Are you sure your fish have flukes? Be very cautious when some clerk simply tosses you a bottle of medicine.
Sounds like a nitrite/ water quality issue to me. But it could be a parasite. Please do some research. How old are your test kits? I would take a water sample to a reliable pet shop for testing.
 
Joined
May 21, 2018
Messages
1,230
Reaction score
908
Location
Florida
Country
United States
I would look at a parasite or bacteria issue after you are absolutely certain it is not a water quality problem. Follow the instructions exactly as printed (I know, it takes a magnifying glass to read them) on the bottle. The type of water conditioner used is very important with Prazipro. One thing for sure, don't replace the dead fish until you are certain the situation is resolved. And, always quarantine new fish for 6 weeks. What size quarantine tank did you use? I personally wouldn't have but just a few fish in a 300 gallon pond. There is little room for error with that volume of water. Perhaps some of our other members can jump in with suggestions.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
I will recheck with an unopened bbb bottle. They both say 2022 but will try again with unopened bottle. No not sure about flukes. I was there to buy food and she said to use as preventive. I assumed she knew what she was talking about since she owned a fish store I guess I learned the hard way to leave well enough alone
@marsha When you say the KH is “8,” do you mean the actual reading is “8,” or is that how many drops you added until the color changed?
That's how many drops it takes.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
Ok I rechecked the dates on bottles and the nitrite bottle that I used before water change was faded and what I thought was 2022 is 2020 so I used wrong one instead of knew bottle. I rechecked with new bottle but it still says zero. I ran to store and got a new master test kit because I was wondering if they all could be bad from being outside over winter this is results

Ammonia 0
High range ph 8.2
Nitrite o
Nitrite 5.0
Is it possible that the nitrite was high but because the test solution was old it didn't register and then after the water change it brought it down.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2014
Messages
137
Reaction score
51
Location
Delaware
The big fish that was constantly at suface is about 12 inches down but still surfaces every once in awhile. Other fish don't seem to be at surface as much as they were . it just seems to much a coincidence that never had issues until 5 days after using prazi I hate to start adding more chemical s to try treating something that I'm not sure of. Should I try a salt dip on the big one. I worry that if its burns from medicine that salt might make worse tho. Or should I do another water change to try to remove more prazi that may be left
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
3,990
Reaction score
2,683
Location
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Hardiness Zone
6a
Sorry to hear about your problems. I hope you get it all straightened out soon.

With a pond that small, parameters can swing much quicker than with a larger volume of water.

You have to be real careful. It can become a slippery slope recovering.
Add this chemical to offset the previous chemical......try this, try that.....not good.

I don't fuss with anything. The only thing I ever add is dechlorinator when I very rarely have to add water. We have treated central water, so it has chlorine.
I actually can't remember the last time I added water. It's probably been a few years. I let mother nature take care of that.

I guess I've been lucky over the course of 12 years or so. I've never quarantined any fish I've added. I put their bag into the pond for a while to equalize the temperature, then just let them go.

I've had older fish die of course, but luckily no outbreaks of diseases. (Knock on wooden head)

I have found that my pond pretty much runs itself, especially with the new bog filter.
I just feed the fish and enjoy the pond.

I don't even test the water anymore. Every time I did it, the water was perfect.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
30,905
Messages
509,863
Members
13,114
Latest member
flintstone

Latest Threads

Top