Large goldfish with bent tail-help

[Rick42wood]

When I uncovered my pond one of my goldfish (about 14" Long) has a bend in it's tail and it seems a bit sluggish. How can I treat this?

 

[Lisak1]

One high likelihood is poor water quality - do you test Your water?

 

[Rick42wood]

Not really, only the pH which is fine. I have 11 other fish in the pond and the rest seem to be just fine.

 

[Lisak1]

How big is your pond? All goldfish?

 

[Rick42wood]

Small pond, 200 Gal. 2 Koi, 10 Goldfish from 2 to 14 inches. 4 small, 4 med, 4 large

 

[Mmathis]

Small pond, 200 Gal. 2 Koi, 10 Goldfish from 2 to 14 inches. 4 small, 4 med, 4 large

Yeah, you really should check your water quality!

 

[Lisak1]

Too many fish in too little water. A single koi needs 1000 gallons - you're overstocked. Either start digging or start finding new homes for some fish. You have a goldfish pond, not a koi pond.

 

[Lisak1]

And yes - the other fish are "fine". For now. The tipping point is fast approaching where you will lose them all.

 

[secondpond79]

Too many fish in too little water. A single koi needs 1000 gallons - you're overstocked. Either start digging or start finding new homes for some fish. You have a goldfish pond, not a koi pond.

Yup you're right. Koi produce 3x as much waste as a goldfish. Water quality is a learning curve,it was for me anyway.nitrates and nitrites are tricky especially when you have that many fish in such a small environment

 

[Lisak1]

Koi produce 3x as much waste as a goldfish

It can be even worse than that. You will frequently hear the "inch of fish per gallon" rule, but the shear mass of a koi is so much greater than a goldfish. 30 inches of goldfish (which could be as many as 8-10 fish) produce far less waste than one 30 inch koi.

There's a chart available that demonstrates this - I'm just at the wrong computer right now or I would share it.