Why are my fish dying?

[TheFishNovice]

Since moving house 8 weeks ago iv'e inherited a fish pond containing around 20 fish, which is 270cm in length, 130cm wide, and 35cm deep in the middle. It uses a Hozelock Cyprio Ecopower Plus 5000 Filter which has a maximum flow rate of 2250 LPH.

Here is a photo, it looks a bit busy to me with all those lillies?

I have never owned fish before, so reading the instructions on the back of the fish food the previous owners left behind it said to feed them 3 times a day, as much as they can eat in a few minutes. I felt this was a lot, because they only manage one cup in a few minutes and talking to others it would seem to be. So i have been feeding them once a day, usually around 6pm. They have one cup full of this(the cup is in the picture)...

This morning 5 of the fish are dead and i am concerned that there is something wrong with the pond water, pond itself, or the feeding pattern.

At least one of the fish in this picture looks swollen, or is that normal?

I looked in the filter and can see lots of insects that look like black maggots inside moving around (those black things on the foam)....

Could there be a problem with the filter? should there be insects/life inside?

The fish that are alive don't appear to be interested in the food today (you can see it floating on top of the water in the first picture).

Also is the pond too busy? there are quite a lot of lilly pads, and the plant towards the bottom end on the right has grown significantly recently. Could the fish be getting trapped or stuck in one area of the pond?

Behaviour wise, they seem to congregate by the water inlet, gulping at it. And often come to the surface and just gulp, ignoring the food. One of them is constantly swimming on its side in a shallow area, which is unusual.

Any advice greatly appreciated, as i am concerned that more will die if there is a problem with environment they are living in. There is clearly a lot to learn about keeping fish.

To summarize the key concerns...

Do one or more of the dead fish look swollen?
What kind of fish are they?
Should the filter have life/insects in it? and is it dirty looking?
Is the pond overstocked?
Should they be gulping at the surface?
Is the feeding pattern ok?

 

[dieselplower]

Wow a lot going on. Welcome to the forum! First, that does seem like a HUGE amount of food for that small pond, even once a day.

I would really like to know more about the pond. Can you tell us the size? Depth? Gallons? What is the gallons per hour of the pump? What kind of filter is on it? ETC

Yes, those fish look very swollen and their scaled are pineconing. Those are effects of dropsy, which is usually a symptom of an infection. I would say you have huge problems in that pond.

Can you get a water test kit? You will want to test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Those 3 are the most important. It would also be good to be able to test PH and Hardness. I think the API master test kit has those tests included in it. Everything I get for my pond I get off of Amazon.com because it has good prices and shipping is free over $35.

Those look like common goldfish to me. No the filter should not have insects on it. I think a pond should be stocked 50 gallons per fish. No they should not be gulping.

This pond needs major help. There will be other members to chime in to help. The best advice can be given after you test the water parameters but I am confident to say a large water change is needed. Be sure to dechlorinate the water if you have city water.

Yes Sir that pond needs help and we are here to help you.

 

[dieselplower]

By the way the reason i mention the amount of food first is because heavy feeding leads to high ammonia levels which is also toxic to the fish. The test kit is your best friend right now. We also need to figure out what sort of infection the fish have. Search "dropsy" if you have time. I am not expert on fish disease but those fish are obviously dead....

is it possible those black things are snails? I can't see it very well. Snails in a pond are not generally a concern.

 

[TheFishNovice]

thank you for the help and advice, its appreciated.

I will pick up a test kit tomorrow in town, as i feel like the clock is ticking for the rest of the fish if there are problems with the water.

the black things are very small, like maggot size.

 

[Kevin Koloff]

Great reply from dieselplower. I do know over feeding is an issue. Also test ph, that should be nuetral or close to it (7). Goldfish are hearty, that is a small pond for that amount of fish. I am renovating one at a school, and have done a ton of study on stocking it, I was involved with it originally. Mine has a waterfall, that is good for airiation. The black insects, could they be tadpoles?

I too, am new to this, and hope to gain knowledge to sustain the pond at the school courtyard

 

[TheFishNovice]

I have updated the first post with information on the filter and pond size, will test the water tomorrow.

The pond is 270cm in length, 130cm wide, and 35cm deep in the middle. It uses a Hozelock Cyprio Ecopower Plus 5000 Filter which has a maximum flow rate of 2250 LPH.

took a better shot of inside the filter too.

 

[Kevin Koloff]

Great, I use English, so I have to convert to metric. I honestly think it is overstocked, with that, did the previous owner have that issue, and why?

 

[shakaho]

The pond is small for the number of fish you have. I feed 1/16 cup of food daily to that many goldfish, and they are fat. Basically you are poisoning the fish with food. Goldfish will eat as much as you give them. Excess food will produce excess ammonia in the water and this will kill the fish. The filter has microbes that will use the ammonia, but there aren't enough of them to handle the amount of ammonia these fish are producing.

Here's what you need to do.

Get a tub and fill it half full with clean water. Add dechlorinater if there is chlorine in your tap water.
Scoop out the survivinging fish and put them in the tub.
Remove all of the water from the pond. If there is muck in the bottom, rinse the pond with water and remove as much as you can. Don't scrub the pond. The stuff growing on the sides is good for the fish.
Fill the pond with fresh dechlorinated water.
Return the fish to the pond.
Empty the filter and rinse the contents in dechlorinated water. Return the cleaned filter to the pond and start it up.

I know some people worry about shocking the fish by transferring them to clean water. Goldfish can handle a complete change of water. They may not like it much, but the water in the pond now is killing them.

Give your fish a day without food, then feed no more than 1 tablespoon (15 ml) a day.

 

[Priscilla]

Oh no! I agree with the above, seems like a lot of food.

Have you ever done any pond maintenance? Cleaning filters, small water changes?

Good luck to you.

 

[TheFishNovice]

Give your fish a day without food, then feed no more than 1 tablespoon (15 ml) a day.

wow, they have been getting more than 10 times this every day. I was worried that they were not getting enough, how wrong could i be.

Thank you very much for the detailed steps on changing the water, this is something i have been reading about and clearly need to do ASAP.

regarding the previous owner - they left us no information about the fish or the pond. Just a note saying 'we fed them before we left the house'.

maintenance wise - we have literally only been in the house 8 weeks so im learning more as i go. I just hope there are some fish left alive after all this.

I think it will be a good idea to try and do the water change tomorrow evening

 

[ashirley]

I agree that seems like alot of food. Good luck, hang in there and welcome to the forum. Don't feel like you have to learn everything at once. I have had my pond for 6 years and I am constantly learning.

 

[JohnHuff]

Welcome!

The others have already covered a lot of what I was gonna say.
Just a quick summary of the pond. Fish live and poop in the same space. The more you give them to eat, the more they will pollute the pond. My first thought of that pic was that the fish died of overeating and then drowned in their poop.

I think the first things you need to do is cut way down on the food, do small water changes for now and clean the filter.

Bacteria in the pond neutralizes the poop. A bio-filter is simply something with a lot of surface area. The bacteria will naturally colonize the surface area. All you need is a good flow of water over that surface area and they will detox the water as it flows over them.

A users' guide to your filter is here: http://www.hozelock.com/aquatics/fi...nd-filters/ecopower/ecopower-5000-1348-2.html

I definitely would not recommend taking the fish out. There is no need to do that and will stress the fish. Just do the water changes and clean the filter.

 

[j.w]

FishNovice
For the first several years I never fed my goldfish at all. They ate what bugs or worms fell or flew over the pond. They will eat algae, fish eggs, small fry and plant roots too. No need to even feed them but most people want to feed them so they will become friendly. I would cut way back on food as it also can lead to over population and pollution. Now I decided I want to feed mine now and then so they will come running when they see me. I only feed a little food every so many days and my fish have been living just fine like that for years. I like the idea of doing water changes to get your water in better condition too. Hope you have good luck with the rest of your fish staying alive.

 

[dieselplower]

@shakaho would you say I am on the right track that the fish are showing signs of dropsy?

 

[addy1]

to our group! good advice above