Hi all,
New to the forum and looking for help as we are getting desperate. We built a pond in July/August last year in our garden, and we had some goldfish and comets in(3 fish that were about 3-4 inches and around 7 very small ones). All was great and the fish were completely fine until Late december when the small fish one by one started dying. we did as much research as possible and also have a friend with a large well established pond who gave advice and so We had stopped feeding when the temp dropped below 10degrees but between Dec-Feb we lost all fish except 2 large goldfish. Some were floating upside down so we treated for swim bladder with no luck. we bought a pond heater and oxygen stone but it made no difference. The pond has a pump and fountain already.
In March the 2 remaining fish seemed fine and had grown so we bought 3 koi all of which died within 2 weeks. We assumed they were infected already with the original goldfish being fine and so we bought 7 small koi (1-2inches) and 3 larger koi(3-4inches) to refill the pond. Again one by one they started dying at a slower rate so now we are left with the 2 original large goldfish, 4 of the small newer koi and only 1 larger newer koi which has fallen ill today which has led to this post. We check the pond each morning, afternoon and night. The recent fish to die were fine one day and the next morning just lying on their side on the bottom of the pond barely breathing and by night had died. We did a full water change last week and cleaned the pond thoroughly and all was okay until today when we got home and the large koi was lying on his side on bottom of pond. We have quarantined him and he is just floating on his side, breathing but don’t think he will make it through the night. He was swimming okay this morning!!
what can possibly be wrong ?! We have tested the water multiple times throughout the deaths and all the tests Are fine and indicate no issues. We have treated the pond with a general medication course for parasites, fungus etc and have put pond salt in (to de-stress fish only rather than treatment level) but nothing is helping.
Does anyone have any ideas of what is happening?
Sorry for the long post but needed to get as much info as poss over. I have added some detail below. Thank you in advance for any help, it’s really appreciated
Water quality
* Ammonia Level (pond) - 0
* Nitrite Level (pond) -0
* Ph Level - 7.0
*phosphate - 0.25
* Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? - freshwater master test kit - drops (started with strips but changed to the drops)
Other useful information:
* Water temperature? 11degrees
* Pond size and how long has it been running? Since august 2020 - 1.6m L x 0.75m W x 0.6m deep
* What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Hose lock easyclear pump and filter
* How often do you change the water and how much? Have changed it 3 times, usually around 30% but lately did full water change to try to get to bottom of issue
* How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? About 6 days and full
* What do you feed your fish and how often? Flakes and normal fish food in summer, wheat germ in cooler months then nothing in winter
* Any unusual findings on the fish? One fish that died two weeks ago was white but had what looked like a red rash all over body. 2 of the small koi that died had fin rot. 1 fish had white fluff on him. These are all in the last 2 months the previous fish died with no signs of illness.
* Any unusual behaviour like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Yes they stay at bottom for a day before dying.
New to the forum and looking for help as we are getting desperate. We built a pond in July/August last year in our garden, and we had some goldfish and comets in(3 fish that were about 3-4 inches and around 7 very small ones). All was great and the fish were completely fine until Late december when the small fish one by one started dying. we did as much research as possible and also have a friend with a large well established pond who gave advice and so We had stopped feeding when the temp dropped below 10degrees but between Dec-Feb we lost all fish except 2 large goldfish. Some were floating upside down so we treated for swim bladder with no luck. we bought a pond heater and oxygen stone but it made no difference. The pond has a pump and fountain already.
In March the 2 remaining fish seemed fine and had grown so we bought 3 koi all of which died within 2 weeks. We assumed they were infected already with the original goldfish being fine and so we bought 7 small koi (1-2inches) and 3 larger koi(3-4inches) to refill the pond. Again one by one they started dying at a slower rate so now we are left with the 2 original large goldfish, 4 of the small newer koi and only 1 larger newer koi which has fallen ill today which has led to this post. We check the pond each morning, afternoon and night. The recent fish to die were fine one day and the next morning just lying on their side on the bottom of the pond barely breathing and by night had died. We did a full water change last week and cleaned the pond thoroughly and all was okay until today when we got home and the large koi was lying on his side on bottom of pond. We have quarantined him and he is just floating on his side, breathing but don’t think he will make it through the night. He was swimming okay this morning!!
what can possibly be wrong ?! We have tested the water multiple times throughout the deaths and all the tests Are fine and indicate no issues. We have treated the pond with a general medication course for parasites, fungus etc and have put pond salt in (to de-stress fish only rather than treatment level) but nothing is helping.
Does anyone have any ideas of what is happening?
Sorry for the long post but needed to get as much info as poss over. I have added some detail below. Thank you in advance for any help, it’s really appreciated
Water quality
* Ammonia Level (pond) - 0
* Nitrite Level (pond) -0
* Ph Level - 7.0
*phosphate - 0.25
* Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops? - freshwater master test kit - drops (started with strips but changed to the drops)
Other useful information:
* Water temperature? 11degrees
* Pond size and how long has it been running? Since august 2020 - 1.6m L x 0.75m W x 0.6m deep
* What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Hose lock easyclear pump and filter
* How often do you change the water and how much? Have changed it 3 times, usually around 30% but lately did full water change to try to get to bottom of issue
* How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? About 6 days and full
* What do you feed your fish and how often? Flakes and normal fish food in summer, wheat germ in cooler months then nothing in winter
* Any unusual findings on the fish? One fish that died two weeks ago was white but had what looked like a red rash all over body. 2 of the small koi that died had fin rot. 1 fish had white fluff on him. These are all in the last 2 months the previous fish died with no signs of illness.
* Any unusual behaviour like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Yes they stay at bottom for a day before dying.
