Goldfish dying?

[BennyLava]

Hi all. I have had two of my goldfish die in the past week. I have checked my ammonia, nitrates and PH and all are fine. I have koi in the pond as well, and they seem to be fine. The goldfish were roughly 4-5 years old, but as I understand it, they live to be about 20 years old so I don't think it was old age. I examined them, and they did not appear to have ich. Nor did there appear to be any parasites or anything on them. Not that I could see with the naked eye, anyway.

The only indicator is on the side of one of the fish, there seemed to be some purple discoloration, underneath his while scales. It looked almost like a bruise you might see on a person. But it was down under the scales, you had to see through the while scales to be able to see it. I guess they were transparent enough. There was nothing on the surface of the area, it looked just fine. Any ideas on what could be going on? I have plenty of air, with my aerator and waterfall combined. Plus the fish are never doing that thing where they come up to the top and work their mouths. So I know its not an air problem.

 

[vertigo72]

You mention ammonia, nitrates and Ph, but not nitrites. Perhaps you meant that though, as nitrates are harmless to fish, unlike nitrites.

Anyway, does it look anything like this?
http://www.petgoldfish.net/black-spots.html

Either way, it would make sense to take your goldfish (or koi) to a specialized shop for examination. Most parasites cant be seen by the naked eye.

 

[DrDave]

It could have been an injury from a predator attack. I lost a prised Sanke to a raccoon attack. The bruise was so bad, the fish didn't make it.

 

[BennyLava]

Yeah sorry I meant the nitrites. Ok well I came home today, only to find yet another goldfish dead. This makes 3. Something is killing them that I can't identify. But there really doesn't look like anything is wrong with their bodies. If it were a predator, out of the 3 I have found, he would have got at least one of them. Or at least shown more signs of a struggle. But all 3 are basically untouched on their skin and only that one had that very lightly colored spot. So that must have just always been there and I never really examined him closely enough to notice it. I try not to be picking my fish up and looking at them cause they don't like it.

It must be some disease. It seems to be only affecting my goldfish. Is there a goldfish specific disease that would not leave visible signs? Unless maybe I just don't know what I'm looking for...

Are there any native american plants that goldfish will eat, that are poisonous to them? My father in law brought us a bunch of plants that float on the surface of his natural pond in oklahoma.

 

[BennyLava]

Well, I forgot to salt the pond. Now that I've salted it, the deaths have stopped.

 

[talal101]

lol reading your story i honestly thought i was reading my own thread or that you copied mine because i have the exact same situation and set up and the one fish with the blackish bruising that is creepy lol..and mine are fine too now wow

 

[ndav73]

I'm just reading this thread, and it sounds very similar to what is happening in my pond. We have had our pond for 8 years, have both Koi and Goldfish and other than a few one time losses for various reasons (heron, caught in filter, etc.) we are suddenly losing all of our Goldfish. Our Koi seem good so far. We had our water tested for Ammonia and Nitrates and all is good. I'm concerned a contaminant is getting into the water somehow, but no one in my state (CT) seems able to test the water. We recently had our yard sprayed for Ticks but they did not go near the pond and they have many clients that have ponds with no issues. We have lost 5 goldfish within a 3 week time, no sores, no trauma, they just seem to die like a goldfish in a bowl....it's so sad...any help or advice would be appreciated!!!!

 

[addy1]

Have you done a water change? maybe start there, what is your nitrite level? and your ph

 

[ndav73]

Thanks for the suggestion!!! We actually diluted the pond twice...drained it halfway and refilled...so far we have only lost 5 goldfish...and the last few days all seems well. Now the pond seems to have some spawning activity, so it's hard to tell what's normal and what's not...everything else around the pond seems healthy...and our nitrite level and PH checked out perfect

 

[addy1]

Good let it sit and just monitor your levels.