Hi all, I appreciate any advice on this one, thank you.
1. One of my shubunkin has developed a growth or wound on their forehead. Yesterday (photo #1 and #2) it looked white and raised, with perhaps a small trailing bit of skin. Today (photo #3) it has become red around the edges, but the centre is still definitely raised a bit higher than what would be normal. Perhaps it was irritating the fish and they scraped at it? I don't believe it is just a colour change (if that is possible at 2 yrs). This particular fish is still energetic and is one of the most eager when I'm feeding them. All the other fish seem healthy.
2. The fish is two years old, and came from either two shubunkin parents (calico patterned), or one of these and an all orange 'comet'. It is all black in colour so I'm unsure if it's technically a black shubunkin or a black comet
. I have 5 all black fish now, which I read is quite unusual?
3. I'm designing my new pond to have at least 100 L per adult shubunkin. I've come across many conflicting figures online. Is this sufficient?
Background
I don't think the details on my tanks below is very sufficient for now, but this is a temporary set-up while I design a larger garden pond (I originally planned to have 4 fish, then they had 23 fries ). Although I'm open to advice if there is anything I need to change in the short term. Also I'm soon going to give away 10 or 15 fish because their growth is starting to take off now and I feel the tanks are too small.
* Water temperature? Winter - about 10 to 15 degC
* Pond size and how long has it been running? 450 L and 350 L - each running 2 years
* What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Sponge filter on pump intake - temporary setup until garden pond is designed
* How often do you change the water and how much? 25% once a month for first year, second year never. I only top-up with treated water due to evaporation. There are plants and water quality tests have been OK. Fish seem healthy.
* How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? 1 year ago.
* How many fish in the pond and their type? 450 L - 15 x 2yr old shubunkin, 350 L - 10 shubunkin (2 are 3yrs old, 5 are 2yrs old, 3 are 6 months old)
* What kind of water additives or conditioners have you used? Prime Concentrated Water Conditioner when topping up.
* What do you feed your fish and how often? Once per day, or two smaller feedings twice per day. Floating red/green pellets from pet store, occasional broccoli/peas/greens. They also eat the lily leaves and other plants, and any worms or critters they find growing on the pumps.
* Any new fish added to the pond recently? No
* Any medications added to the pond? No
* List entire medication/treatment history for fish and pond. Nil
* Any unusual findings on the fish? Sometimes long attached poos on some fish. I feed them more greens when I see this. Bellies seem a bit large on some fish when looking from above, perhaps from overfeeding - but then the smaller fish (same age) are OK so I think the fat ones are a bit greedier? (see photo #4)
* Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Fish seem energetic and hungry. Only odd behaviour is they are easily spooked. While feeding they are scared to come to the top, and immediately after feeding they seem to hide. Apart from that they swim around asking for food and splashing when they see me (I think that's their skittish behaviour coming in). A while back I found one fish had jumped out of the pond and died (the water level was at the top), or perhaps a neighbourhood cat fished it out and left it there? This is the only death so far.
Regards
1. One of my shubunkin has developed a growth or wound on their forehead. Yesterday (photo #1 and #2) it looked white and raised, with perhaps a small trailing bit of skin. Today (photo #3) it has become red around the edges, but the centre is still definitely raised a bit higher than what would be normal. Perhaps it was irritating the fish and they scraped at it? I don't believe it is just a colour change (if that is possible at 2 yrs). This particular fish is still energetic and is one of the most eager when I'm feeding them. All the other fish seem healthy.
2. The fish is two years old, and came from either two shubunkin parents (calico patterned), or one of these and an all orange 'comet'. It is all black in colour so I'm unsure if it's technically a black shubunkin or a black comet
. I have 5 all black fish now, which I read is quite unusual?3. I'm designing my new pond to have at least 100 L per adult shubunkin. I've come across many conflicting figures online. Is this sufficient?
Background
I don't think the details on my tanks below is very sufficient for now, but this is a temporary set-up while I design a larger garden pond (I originally planned to have 4 fish, then they had 23 fries
). Although I'm open to advice if there is anything I need to change in the short term. Also I'm soon going to give away 10 or 15 fish because their growth is starting to take off now and I feel the tanks are too small.* Water temperature? Winter - about 10 to 15 degC
* Pond size and how long has it been running? 450 L and 350 L - each running 2 years
* What is the name and size of the filter(s)? Sponge filter on pump intake - temporary setup until garden pond is designed
* How often do you change the water and how much? 25% once a month for first year, second year never. I only top-up with treated water due to evaporation. There are plants and water quality tests have been OK. Fish seem healthy.
* How many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change? 1 year ago.
* How many fish in the pond and their type? 450 L - 15 x 2yr old shubunkin, 350 L - 10 shubunkin (2 are 3yrs old, 5 are 2yrs old, 3 are 6 months old)
* What kind of water additives or conditioners have you used? Prime Concentrated Water Conditioner when topping up.
* What do you feed your fish and how often? Once per day, or two smaller feedings twice per day. Floating red/green pellets from pet store, occasional broccoli/peas/greens. They also eat the lily leaves and other plants, and any worms or critters they find growing on the pumps.
* Any new fish added to the pond recently? No
* Any medications added to the pond? No
* List entire medication/treatment history for fish and pond. Nil
* Any unusual findings on the fish? Sometimes long attached poos on some fish. I feed them more greens when I see this. Bellies seem a bit large on some fish when looking from above, perhaps from overfeeding - but then the smaller fish (same age) are OK so I think the fat ones are a bit greedier? (see photo #4)
* Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.? Fish seem energetic and hungry. Only odd behaviour is they are easily spooked. While feeding they are scared to come to the top, and immediately after feeding they seem to hide. Apart from that they swim around asking for food and splashing when they see me (I think that's their skittish behaviour coming in). A while back I found one fish had jumped out of the pond and died (the water level was at the top), or perhaps a neighbourhood cat fished it out and left it there? This is the only death so far.
Regards
