First Dead Fish

[Sally]

I spotted one of my Goldfish lying on his side on the bottom of the pond today. I netted him and discovered that he was dead. It's quite sad, its the first one we've lost.

There is some sort of brown gunge in his mouth and around his face. I didn't notice at the time but in the photo it looks like the same gunge is present around his gills.

Does anyone know what this is and should I be worried about his mates?

Photo attached.

Regards

Sally

 

[sissy]

could he have eaten something that got washed into the pond .Chemicals maybe fertilizer or something in the water that you put in

 

[HARO]

Looks to me like a fungus infection that is dying off now that the fish is dead. If you can, try to check the other fish to see if any others were affected, and treat accordingly.
John

 

[Sally]

Thanks. I don't think anything has washed into the pond, it has a 2 foot wall round it. I'll see if I can net one of the others and have a look at him. The one that died was noticeably lethargic a month or so ago. We should have got him out and had a look at him but then he seemed to perk up just before I finished feeding. I thought it was the miracle of the doctor fish (Green Tench) that are in there!

If there is no evidence of fungal infection on the other fish, would it be wise to treat anyway or do a partial water change or something?

 

[HARO]

Sally; you will get different opinions on this, but personally I don't believe in treating something that doesn't exist. Harmful organisms can build up resistance to treatments, and when you REALLY need it, it may not work as well as it should. My opinion, anyway!
P.S.; Partial water changes are usually a good idea, and as long as conditions are similar, they can't do any harm.
John

 

[Waterbug]

John, I think that's very good advice.

See it often where people worried about something start throwing everything in the book at the pond which is a train wreck. And many treatments can't be used together.

Putting fish into a hospital tank allows for inspection, localized treatment, adding O2, etc. Unless it's a pond wide problem.

The stuff on the mouth could certainly could be from a funus infection. Given the bright eyes and the good condition of the rest of the fish I would guess it didn't form postmortem, but hard to say for sure.

 

[Sally]

Sounds like good advice to me. Now that I've decommissioned the filter the water is still and very clear, I've been able to have a look at the other fish (except the Green Tench because they're dark and shy!) and they all look fine. When I had the Goldfish in a tank indoors I was always a big fan of watching my fish and learning how they behave. It's easy to spot one that's a bit under the weather. The one that died was acting odd a while ago, I should have examined him then.

Since the first filling last summer I have done a 20% water change every couple of weeks and the water stats have been perfect. I haven't done any water changes since I stopped feeding and shut down the filter in December since there's no bacteria to produce nitrate. Was that the right thing to do?

 

[addy1]

I have not changed the water since the first of december, so far all tests are fine. You might just want to test your water to make nothing has gotten out of line.