Iv had my pond going for 5 months now and its come along great. However over the last 2 weeks 3 fish have died for no aparent reason. The dead fish still have a lovely colour and theres no marks or anything. I have loads of oxygenating weed in the pond but could having too much be the reason for the fish dying? thanks
Fish dying for no reason
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Mmathis
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When fish die "for no reason," there usually is a reason, but it may not be obvious. It's usually due to a problem with water quality which stresses the fish and can make them easy prey for diseases.
A little more information about your pond would be helpful.....
What size, gallons? How deep?
How many fish and how big are they? What kind of fish?
Have you recently added any fish?
Do you quarantine new fish?
What kind of filtration?
Do you test your water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH? What are these numbers?
A little more information about your pond would be helpful.....
What size, gallons? How deep?
How many fish and how big are they? What kind of fish?
Have you recently added any fish?
Do you quarantine new fish?
What kind of filtration?
Do you test your water for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH? What are these numbers?
sissy
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also how much do you feed your fish as it seems that is one of the reasons things go wrong also water temp would help and did you leave your water cycle and do you have city water and everything MM said .Lots of info needed to figure it out .Plants give off oxygen during the day but use up lots of it at night so when did these fish die .
Can you test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
As noted, whatever this oxygenating weed it was probably consuming oxygen at night.
What other source of oxygenation does your pond have?
Do the other fish seem to be breathing heavy or acting strange?
Have you done any water changes?
Have you poured anything into the pond besides water?
As noted, whatever this oxygenating weed it was probably consuming oxygen at night.
What other source of oxygenation does your pond have?
Do the other fish seem to be breathing heavy or acting strange?
Have you done any water changes?
Have you poured anything into the pond besides water?
I came across this some years ago now, on a very good but now sadly defunk koi website run in the UK I'm not saying this is what happened in your case but read through it and let us know if anything on this following report has happened to you of late and too your pond
"Catastrophic Oxygen Depletion and How to Avoid It"
During the warm spring and summer months, we receive an increased number of phone calls regarding sudden fish kills in ponds.
The typical history includes observing a very large number of fish dead in an otherwise normal pond following a rainstorm or summer thunderstorm.
Usually the owner is very concerned that the fish may have died due to "run-off" of farm chemicals into the pond.
Most of the time, these fish kills are a result of a phenomenon known as "pond stratification." Pond stratification is somewhat of a misnomer, since the stratification can also occur in lakes, creeks and some rivers.
The stratification leads to a catastrophic depletion of oxygen which almost always results in a very high mortality of aquatic animal life within 24-48 hours following the "de-stratification."
The scientific reasoning behind this phenomenon of pond stratification relates to the temperature of the pond. In the early spring, while the temperature of the pond is still relatively low, the dissolved oxygen is uniformly distributed throughout the pond.
As the atmospheric temperature increases, the pond begins to stratify, that is, become layered, with the surface water becoming warmer and lighter while the cooler and denser water forms a layer underneath.
Circulation of the colder bottom water is prevented because of the difference in densities between the two layers of water. Dissolved oxygen levels decrease in the bottom layer since photosynthesis and contact with the air is reduced.
The already low oxygen levels are further reduced through the decomposition of waste products, which settle to the pond bottom.
After a rain, or any other event which disrupts the two layers, a "de-stratification" or "turn-over" of the pond occurs.
This has the effect of releasing all of the dissolved oxygen from the upper layer of the pond into the atmosphere, hence, a catastrophic oxygen depletion.
Once stratification of a pond occurs, there is nothing that can be done to alleviate the situation. However, pond stratification can be very easily prevented by the use of supplemental aeration. Aerators come in all sizes and shapes as well as different power sources, i.e., tractor p-t-o, electrical, mechanical, etc.
It is important to aerate the pond properly, i.e. match the size of the aerator to the pond, since over-aeration is wasted and may even lead to oxygen supersaturation, known as "gas-bubble" disease and under-aeration will not prevent stratification.
In those cases where we suspect catastrophic oxygen depletion, all other possible pathogens including bacterial, viral, parasitic agents are eleminated from the differential diagnosis list.
However, the history of several days to weeks of warm weather followed by a sudden rainstorm are highly suggestive of this condition. If you suspect that you are dealing with a pond turn-over situation following pond stratification, it is imperative to have the pond owner take a water sample and have the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration evaluated immediately. This water sample should be collected in a clean glass jar or bottle with a screw-top lid and should be completely filled by completely submersing the sample and container and placing the lid on the container while it is still under water.
Seriously hope this helps both you and others who have unexplained fish deaths in the future
rgrds
Dave
"Catastrophic Oxygen Depletion and How to Avoid It"
During the warm spring and summer months, we receive an increased number of phone calls regarding sudden fish kills in ponds.
The typical history includes observing a very large number of fish dead in an otherwise normal pond following a rainstorm or summer thunderstorm.
Usually the owner is very concerned that the fish may have died due to "run-off" of farm chemicals into the pond.
Most of the time, these fish kills are a result of a phenomenon known as "pond stratification." Pond stratification is somewhat of a misnomer, since the stratification can also occur in lakes, creeks and some rivers.
The stratification leads to a catastrophic depletion of oxygen which almost always results in a very high mortality of aquatic animal life within 24-48 hours following the "de-stratification."
The scientific reasoning behind this phenomenon of pond stratification relates to the temperature of the pond. In the early spring, while the temperature of the pond is still relatively low, the dissolved oxygen is uniformly distributed throughout the pond.
As the atmospheric temperature increases, the pond begins to stratify, that is, become layered, with the surface water becoming warmer and lighter while the cooler and denser water forms a layer underneath.
Circulation of the colder bottom water is prevented because of the difference in densities between the two layers of water. Dissolved oxygen levels decrease in the bottom layer since photosynthesis and contact with the air is reduced.
The already low oxygen levels are further reduced through the decomposition of waste products, which settle to the pond bottom.
After a rain, or any other event which disrupts the two layers, a "de-stratification" or "turn-over" of the pond occurs.
This has the effect of releasing all of the dissolved oxygen from the upper layer of the pond into the atmosphere, hence, a catastrophic oxygen depletion.
Once stratification of a pond occurs, there is nothing that can be done to alleviate the situation. However, pond stratification can be very easily prevented by the use of supplemental aeration. Aerators come in all sizes and shapes as well as different power sources, i.e., tractor p-t-o, electrical, mechanical, etc.
It is important to aerate the pond properly, i.e. match the size of the aerator to the pond, since over-aeration is wasted and may even lead to oxygen supersaturation, known as "gas-bubble" disease and under-aeration will not prevent stratification.
In those cases where we suspect catastrophic oxygen depletion, all other possible pathogens including bacterial, viral, parasitic agents are eleminated from the differential diagnosis list.
However, the history of several days to weeks of warm weather followed by a sudden rainstorm are highly suggestive of this condition. If you suspect that you are dealing with a pond turn-over situation following pond stratification, it is imperative to have the pond owner take a water sample and have the dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration evaluated immediately. This water sample should be collected in a clean glass jar or bottle with a screw-top lid and should be completely filled by completely submersing the sample and container and placing the lid on the container while it is still under water.
Seriously hope this helps both you and others who have unexplained fish deaths in the future
rgrds
Dave
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Like the first post, I was going to say there is always a reason. The reason is just not seen at first glance. I'd start with testing the water.
John I agree wih that testing must always come first, however that had already been asked more than once already so not much help in asking yet again.
The above post was something that triggered a long forgotten report that I'd read and copied off years ago up
Thankfully my condition and drug regeme has not robbed me of my long term memory banks whch are fine.
Sadly its my its just my short term thats shot .Fibromyalgia on top of Mophine and other medication for chronic Ostio Arthritis has cruely robbed me of that
I know that pizzle84 has only lost three so far, not all his fish all of a sudden perhaps I should have just done a thread about it instead (to late now) but it serves as a warning ...
if anything it makes for very intersting reading and just may be a thing that folks can remember in the future if they suffer unexplained deaths in their ponds and prhaps just perhaps may be an answer to die off's especially unexplaned ones.
rgrds
Dave
The above post was something that triggered a long forgotten report that I'd read and copied off years ago up
Thankfully my condition and drug regeme has not robbed me of my long term memory banks whch are fine.
Sadly its my its just my short term thats shot .Fibromyalgia on top of Mophine and other medication for chronic Ostio Arthritis has cruely robbed me of that
I know that pizzle84 has only lost three so far, not all his fish all of a sudden perhaps I should have just done a thread about it instead (to late now) but it serves as a warning ...
if anything it makes for very intersting reading and just may be a thing that folks can remember in the future if they suffer unexplained deaths in their ponds and prhaps just perhaps may be an answer to die off's especially unexplaned ones.
rgrds
Dave
That is an interesting explanation but it leaves me wondering why the rain causes all of the oxygen to exit the pond.
Yup, if the pond is choked with submerged aquatics, the oxygen levels may have slumped towards dawn as the plants absorbed all the oxygen through the night.
Peaking at the pond just before dawn might reveal fish gasping at the surface, for air
An aerator or mist sprayer running for a couple of hours before dawn would increase the fishes chance of survival
Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
Peaking at the pond just before dawn might reveal fish gasping at the surface, for air
An aerator or mist sprayer running for a couple of hours before dawn would increase the fishes chance of survival
Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/