My fish:

[Cathy Raphael]

I have an 850 gallon hand-dug pond that is 20 yrs old. I never got a filter, but use plants and enzymes to keep it clear. Originally I used to empty it out - but we are older now and that is a little harder for us. I had 3 hatchings of a LOT of babies last year - but when I tried giving them to neighbors, they were too quick to catch. Another neighbor answered an ad for free fish & got only 18. I don't know what happened to the rest of them - but they were 3 different sizes. I have goldfish - but apparently I have a koi in there and I also have a fantail which I adore & wish could reproduce herself. The koi is white with a red head (aka "Lucy"). Last year she had a few babies that looked like her - which made me realize she must be a koi. My fantail is quite fat and when I had the net off for about 3 or 4 days in the spring, wouldn't you know I had a blue heron visitor. My biggest comet (with the longest tail) was eaten - and then after that my fantail had a bunch of black spots on her. Watching her carefully, I noticed she would swim up to the top, take a gulp of air, and drift backwards down to the bottom.Then do that over and over. Then one of the black spots grew to be a stripe - and I asked an ichthyologist friend, and he said she needed methylene blue treatment. We got a fresh tub and kept the chlorine out (by evaporation for a few days) and then mixed up the methylene blue (very dark). The directions called for a 10 second dip. We did it and she did appear better. (Also I put some pond salt in the pond.) She still comes up to the top and flips over - and drifts backwards down to the bottom. Her spots disappeared - but her color appears a little darker. What does anyone think is the problem? Cathy in Newark, DE

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Phaewryn]

I have an 850 gallon hand-dug pond that is 20 yrs old. I never got a filter, but use plants and enzymes to keep it clear. Originally I used to empty it out - but we are older now and that is a little harder for us. I had 3 hatchings of a LOT of babies last year - but when I tried giving them to neighbors, they were too quick to catch. Another neighbor answered an ad for free fish & got only 18. I don't know what happened to the rest of them - but they were 3 different sizes. I have goldfish - but apparently I have a koi in there and I also have a fantail which I adore & wish could reproduce herself. The koi is white with a red head (aka "Lucy"). Last year she had a few babies that looked like her - which made me realize she must be a koi. My fantail is quite fat and when I had the net off for about 3 or 4 days in the spring, wouldn't you know I had a blue heron visitor. My biggest comet (with the longest tail) was eaten - and then after that my fantail had a bunch of black spots on her. Watching her carefully, I noticed she would swim up to the top, take a gulp of air, and drift backwards down to the bottom.Then do that over and over. Then one of the black spots grew to be a stripe - and I asked an ichthyologist friend, and he said she needed methylene blue treatment. We got a fresh tub and kept the chlorine out (by evaporation for a few days) and then mixed up the methylene blue (very dark). The directions called for a 10 second dip. We did it and she did appear better. (Also I put some pond salt in the pond.) She still comes up to the top and flips over - and drifts backwards down to the bottom. Her spots disappeared - but her color appears a little darker. What does anyone think is the problem? Cathy in Newark, DE

Not having a filter. Too many fish. Poor water conditions.
https://animals.mom.me/happens-gold... patches on a goldfish,up and burns fish skin.
https://thegoldfishtank.com/goldfish-info/diseases/black-smudge-black-spot-goldfish/

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

Have you tested the water recently?