Fish keep dying, not sure why

[Lisak1]

Although she has used a lot of algaecide in the past and hasn't drained it since. Is it possible that too much algaecide is the issue even if it's been a week or more between last use and adding fish?

Yes! I think you landed on the answer right there. That stuff can definitely kill fish and FAST.

 

[PondMomma]

Yes! I think you landed on the answer right there. That stuff can definitely kill fish and FAST.

Oh man I hope that's all that it is! Like I said she plans on draining today so that would fix that issue.

 

[mrsclem]

We are in southern Tn, and it's basically a full sun spot. If temp is the issue what could d? She did recently add some plants to the pond.

Shade fabric over the pond of some sort. Even a beach umbrella. Are any of the plants in the pond potted with some kind of soil? Most everybody uses plain cat litter.

 

[Fish Hunter]

I have a pond that is doing well, but I have a friend that needs help. I have tried everything I can think of. She has a small approx 250 gallon pond, one of the premade kidney shaped ones. She has tried several times to put small goldfish in 2 or 3 at a time but they all die pretty quick. She had a pump only and it was right under the waterfall so we added a second pump, this one with a filter box, that is attached to a spitter. So now she has 2 pumps and 2 areas feeding into the pond, one on each end. We also added plants, parrots feather and hyacinth. Went and got 2 small goldfish today and they only made it a couple hours. They seemed to be air hungry...but I don't know how because the pumps should be circulating the pond volume in less than an hour. Any ideas on what the issue is?

I have the same size preformed pond with a Tetrapond UV bio filter 1500 with a Pond Master 2000 prefilter and Lifeguard All in one filter. My pond is also shaded. My water would run high on nitrates all the time and I had to do frequent water changes. Also had hair algae growing in my stream. About a month after changing 1/2 of the water and filter/bio rinse, the nitrate would run high again and the koi’s were sluggish and would not eat and stay at the bottom of the pond and If I didn’t catch this, I would lose a few of them.

Frustrated I changed the bio balls inside my Tetra Bio filter. Low and behold, the water nitrates is now good and the hair algae that grew in my stream and on the edge of my water fall that feeds to my pond went away.

Never heard or knew of bio balls becoming toxic or contaminated. Anyone else experience this?

 

[PondMomma]

Y'all are great

 

[PondMomma]

Shade fabric over the pond of some sort. Even a beach umbrella. Are any of the plants in the pond potted with some kind of soil? Most everybody uses plain cat litter.

They are floaty plants, no potting.

 

[Lisak1]

I have the same size preformed pond with a Tetrapond UV bio filter 1500 with a Pond Master 2000 prefilter and Lifeguard All in one filter. My water would run high on nitrates all the time and I had to do frequent water changes. Also had hair algae growing in my stream. About a month after changing 1/2 of the water and filter/bio rinse, the nitrate would run high again and the koi’s were sluggish and would not eat and stay at the bottom of the pond and If I didn’t catch this, I would lose a few of them.

Frustrated I changed the bio balls inside my Tetra Bio filter. Low and behold, the water nitrates is now good and the hair algae that grew in my stream and on the edge of my water fall that feeds to my pond went away.

Never heard or knew of bio balls becoming toxic or contaminated. Anyone else experience this?

I'm going to recommend you post this as a new thread so you can get some answers that relate to your issue.

Welcome to the GPF!

 

[Lisak1]

Oh man I hope that's all that it is! Like I said she plans on draining today so that would fix that issue.

I am 100% convinced this is the issue - like I said, the speed at which the fish are dying points to some kind of toxic condition in the water. A small pond in particular would be very easy to overdose. Tell your friend to trash the algaecide. If it kills fish, imagine what it does to all the microscopic life in the pond. You'll never get a balanced pond without all those tiny critters populating the pond.

 

[PondMomma]

I am 100% convinced this is the issue - like I said, the speed at which the fish are dying points to some kind of toxic condition in the water. A small pond in particular would be very easy to overdose. Tell your friend to trash the algaecide. If it kills fish, imagine what it does to all the microscopic life in the pond. You'll never get a balanced pond without all those tiny critters populating the pond.

Oh I will! I so hope this is it and it makes sense. I've been trying to help her get the pond balanced by adding plants and a filter so she can get that good bacteria. She has been unhappy with how green the water is and I know from experience that more plants and more filtration/bacteria will fix that but I didn't even think about the algaecide staying in the water!

 

[Fish Hunter]

I am 100% convinced this is the issue - like I said, the speed at which the fish are dying points to some kind of toxic condition in the water. A small pond in particular would be very easy to overdose. Tell your friend to trash the algaecide. If it kills fish, imagine what it does to all the microscopic life in the pond. You'll never get a balanced pond without all those tiny critters populating the pond.

I agree, fish don’t like algaecide at all. Use with caution.

 

[Lisak1]

Small ponds can be more difficult to manage than big ones - small changes can have big impact. Encourage her to allow the pond time to balance on it's own, keep the fish load low, feed lightly, lots of plants, and she will soon have a pond she can enjoy! There are just no quick fixes in the pond world!

 

[poconojoe]

Don't add any chemicals...ever!
The pond will naturally balance itself over time. It's good she has plants. The more, the better.
The only thing I use is a dechlorinator for when I add my city water. And when I do that, I use a small hose attachment that measures how much water I'm adding.
Also, the smaller the pond, the quicker things can go wrong because there's so little water. Basically, it's easier to keep a bigger pond than a smaller one.
Changing the water and rinsing it out is a good start. Run the filter and add lots of plants. Wait a couple weeks, then add a couple feeder goldfish. If they do well, add a few more after a week.
A liquid test kit is also good to have. Maybe the Ph is way off?

 

[j.w]

@PondMomma I hope this time after getting rid of all that old water w/the algeacide in it that your friend will wait awhile to get more fish. Let the water cycle some and then add a couple fish. Algae comes and goes and fish don't mind it, just us.

 

[j.w]

Also on that ph I'd make sure it's ok by doing a test yourself like @poconojoe suggested. @addy1 had a very high or low ph that killed her fish at one time.

 

[PondMomma]

Do you all have a liquid test kit recommendation? I have always used strips but I know they can be faulty and I'm almost out anyways. I know pH, ammonia, nitrates are the major ones to watch for but anything else?