Goldfish

[stobartrail]

Hi all im new here have been a ponder for 3 month now and recently my goldfish have developed white spotted lumps on there sides and some on there backs and they eventully burst and leave holes in them (photo attached below) could it be that i dont have an air pump in the pond at this time of year i have only a filter running during the day and off at night and i have bought an air pump on ebay and am waiting on it coming any other help and questions are welcome

Thanks

StobartRail

 

[pondlady]

Looks like ulsers to me. what are you water reading? Pong size and filter system. How many fish in this pond?.

 

[stobartrail]

Water readings i dont do any tests? never had any problems with the water pond size is 7 ft by 5 ft by 2 and a half feet deep theres 27 fish it it 4 7-8 inch goldfish and 23 4-5 inch goldfish the filter is Blagdon Filter Jet Stream 500 hope this helps

STOBARTRAIL

 

[bunnymp]

It looks like ulcers to me too.
You said you only had the pond for 3 months, so actually you do have a water problem. It just took 3 months for it to develop into a severe enough problem to make your fish sick. #1 - You must get a test kit and test for ammonia, pH, nitrites and nitrates. Tell us what the results are. #2 You must leave your filter on all day and night. Do not turn it off. #3 - The best way to treat a disease is to know what disease you are treating. Please explain if your fish are acting funny. Are they flashing or gasping for air?

 

[stobartrail]

weres the best place to get a test kit and how to test for diffrent things can you use the same 1 for difrrent tests the fish sometimes come up to the top of the pond as if the eating stuff but theres nothing there for them to eat could that be them trying to get air


darren

 

[pondlady]

Do you have any airation in the pond? Air pump. So your pond is 640 gals. or so, and you have 50 fish. Hummmmmm. Overstocked. not enough air input. Big problem. One test kit will test for several things.

 

[stobartrail]

HI pond lady the air pump is on its way got one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Airbox-water-...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

i only have 27 fish in the pond i have 4 7-8 inch fish and 23 2-3 inch fish so i dont know were 50 is coming from can you treat fish for ulcers is yes how

Thanks for all the comments

Stobartrail

 

[pondlady]

You need to net each one out and swab the areas affected with iodine on a Q tip. and up the salt in the pond to .3 , I also gave mine a overnight bath in a melafix salution. Following the instructions on the bottle. She healed very fast and now perparing to go into winter. You may need to do the swab thing more than once. A QT tank would make this easy. Three things to remember about ponds and fish, Airation, filtration and circulation. Hope this helps.

 

[stobartrail]

Thanks pondlady weres the best place to get it and how often to apply it as you mentioned you may need to apply it more than once i had a air pump before but it stoped working a few weeks ago

 

[pondlady]

I put it on once a week for3 weeks [iodine] The melafix I got from petsmart. Be very careful not to get the iodine in the gills it will burn them. A Qtip works great. Make a huge water change in the pond as well.Get the air going ASAP, clean the filter pads and test the water before returning the fish to the pond.

 

[DrDave]

Don't kill the anerobic bacteria that is just starting to develop by over cleaning the filter. I think your problem is the nitrate and nitrite levels have not peaked yet. A 30% to 40% water change to start with (Dechlorinated) should be your first line of defense.

A test strip that tests the nitrite and nitrate levels a day after the water change would be next.

50 small fish in that size pond is not bad if the water quality is established. In your case, you may have put too many fish in too soon.

If these were Koi, then the population would have to be less than 10 fish.:twocents:

Don't be too quick to add chemicals before you test the water. You may only be throwing your money away and compounding the problem.

 

[stobartrail]

i drain the pond about 4-5 weeks but drain it completly then refill could this be the problem as for chemicals dr dave i havent used any thing like that yet

 

[pondlady]

What kind of filter are you running. It may not be large enough to handle the load. And it needs time to cycle as well as the pond. I agree, don't use chemicals. I only use the melafix in a QT tank for 24 hours , air running as well, It did wonders helping heal them. Test the water, Do water changes and things will get better. Stay on top of it you will win!

 

[bunnymp]

You can purchase the fresh water test kits and pond salt at the pet shops.

I think you are overstocked for that sized pond and it is probably leading to poor water quality, causing the ulcers. You must have proper filtration, aeration and not too many fish to prevent this from reoccurring.

 

[DrDave]

I have a link on my web site to the University of Florida on the use of pond salt.