husband cleaned pond, killed fish

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Hello there :)

Yesterday my husband thought it would be nice to clean out my 300 gallon stock tank pond for me. The problem is, he took all the water our and filled it with the house without adding anything to the water to make it safe for the fish. This morning most of my poor goldfish and minnows were dead. I have two goldfish left and a few minnows, but they are swimming at the top of the pond. Is there anything I can do to save them? I put water conditioner in when I found out what had happened. I also went out and got some feeder goldfish that are inside in a Q tank until it gets warmer so i can put them in the pond. I miss my big goldfish :(
 

addy1

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The water conditioner helps, also if you have an aerator get it running. The chlorine does dissipate.
 

Meyer Jordan

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Hello there :)

Yesterday my husband thought it would be nice to clean out my 300 gallon stock tank pond for me. The problem is, he took all the water our and filled it with the house without adding anything to the water to make it safe for the fish. This morning most of my poor goldfish and minnows were dead. I have two goldfish left and a few minnows, but they are swimming at the top of the pond. Is there anything I can do to save them? I put water conditioner in when I found out what had happened. I also went out and got some feeder goldfish that are inside in a Q tank until it gets warmer so i can put them in the pond. I miss my big goldfish :(
The Chlorine or Chloramine that is used to disinfect municipal water is caustic and burns the gills of fish rendering them unable to take up Oxygen, much as you would burn your lungs by inhaling Chlorine gas. If this happened yesterday, the damage has been done and any surviving are struggling to breathe.This is why they are at the pond's surface. They are not likely to survive any length of time. Mark this up as a sad and tragic lesson.
 

j.w

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Maegan
Sorry this happened and hope you can go on and get more fish and train your hubby on the does and don'ts. He was just trying to be helpful and bet he is really sad about it too.
 

addy1

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I killed off our first batch of fish put into the pond. We are on a well, never even considered what the ph of the water was, very acidic. Our well water is around 5.4 ph. Poor fish.....

Called lessons learned, sometimes the hard way.
 
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Ouch! A lesson learned the hard way! We all make mistakes, right? Let's hope the rest of your fish live to tell the story!
 
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My last two goldfish are hanging in there and a few of my minnows are ok. I also have 3 crayfish in the pond that I didn't even know I had! I think they may have come from my father's pond when I was getting tadpoles. They are big! I am leaving some of the dead minnows in there so they can eat them :(
 

addy1

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When I lost the first load of gf, I tossed them out into the back yard, they were gone the next morning. Food for something, recycled.
 
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Sadly accidents happen when your cleaning and ,maintaining the pond, sad for you yes but you'll learn from this so that it doesnt happen again .

Dave
 
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So sorry to hear this! Yeah... my husband enjoys the pond very much with me. He even built the darned thing! And I give him tons of credit for eagerly learning more and more about ponding, and the koi varieties and such. But when it comes to pond maintenance, we both know that's my area, and he does not try to do water changes or treatments ever without me.

In your case, sounds like an opportunity for your husband to learn more and maybe take an interest in fish-keeping with you? Trying to make a positive outcome. I know how sad it is to lose all your fish friends. :(
 

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