Help! Husband cleaned the pond and fish died!

[rain city]

On Sunday, my husband cleaned our small, outdoor pond out and the next day, 6 of the eight goldfish were dead. The pond has a waterfall and a pump. He siphoned about 80% of the water out, cleaned out some of the mud and algae. Meanwhile he placed the fish in a big bucket of tap water. He filled the pond back up and added Algaefix, Ecofix, and Rid Ich since we noticed that the bigger orange goldfish had some white spots where it looked as if they had lost their scales (but they never acted sick). The next day, the fish were dead and there was a greasy-appearing film over the surface of the water. The only two fish that were still alive were down in their den, below the surface. Even then, they looked very sick and were not swimming well. I frantically scooped the film off the surface, replaced about half of the water and today the two fish are still alive but still not looking good, and there was again that same film over the surface, albeit much less than yesterday.

I have tried scouring the internet for help, but still not sure what happened. Is it the film on the surface of the water that killed them? If so, what is this greasy film from? He did not put anything new in the pond and never used detergents to clean it. Could it be from one of the three chemicals? We are so sad. We just moved into this house last summer and inherited these fish and have tried to take great care of our new pets. We thought we followed all of the directions that the previous owner had given us. To think we hurt and killed these otherwise healthy critters is so upsetting. But we'd like to know what we did wrong so we can buy some more and do it right next time. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on how to make our survivors better that would be appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

 

[rain city]

So I was just informed that he did use some brush to scrub the inside wall of the pond once the water was drained. He states the brush was in the shed and he wasn't sure what it had been used for prior - think it came with the house. He did not notice anything unusual about it otherwise.

 

[JohnHuff]

The hubby did it, in the pond, with a brush...

Seriously, welcome to the forum and sorry for your loss.
First of all, if the pond water isn't dirty, there is no real need to drain it and add all those chemicals. For now, it's best to put the survivors in a temp. pond and reclean the pond completely. But first, how big is the pond and is it lined, concrete, mud, pre-formed? Can you give us more info about your pond? What's in it, are there plants, how big is it, etc.? Pics are best.

 

[Waterbug]

Is your tap water chlorinated? That would kill them pretty good.

I can tell you Algaefix and Rid Ich separately are toxic to fish if too much is used or the fish are stressed like when moved to new water. Using them together...I don't know, guessing not good.

Given the white spots I would guess the greasy film is from fish flesh being dissolved, could also be from the dead bacteria in Ecofix, or a combination. I wouldn't worry too much about the brush. Most of the time it's a the "beneficial" stuff that kills them.

I'd ask what the water test results were, but guessing water was never tested?

Welcome to keeping a pond. First thing to learn...never ever trust anyone trying to sell you something. In general they sound good but know nothing about ponds. What they do know is what kinds of products people think sound good. If you go back to wherever you bought these products they will have a whole story to tell and a new batch of products that will "fix" the current mess.

Unfortunately finding good sources of info is very hard. 95% of what you'll hear is myth at best, harmful at worst. There's a video series at Koi Beginner I think is pretty good. Still a few myths mixed in there imo, but a good basic start. Here's a couple of videos from the site.

 

[addy1]

Sorry you lost your fish, I agree with the above, tap water is chlorinated, it will kill the fish. Scrubbing a pond removes the good algae on the sides, makes it go through new pond syndrome. Never use a brush or something you don't know what it was used for before.

don't beat your self up, we all have made mistakes that have hurt our ponds or fish. It is a learning curve, sometimes the learning is rough.

 

[Mmathis]

Sorry to hear! I think your husband needs a little educating. But at least his heart was in the right place.

 

[rain city]

Ok so posting photos doesn't seem so straightforward but I hope it works.

Pond is about 50 gallons maybe? Not sure about these things. It is lined, has a waterfall and a pump. No plants.

One fish died today. I took a photo of his gills. Not sure if it's telling or not in anyway but thought I'd include in case. The other fish is barely hanging on but looks worse than yesterday. He looks like he's covered in fuzzy white stuff, like he's shedding/sloughing. Not sure if this is ich but I added more Rid Ich just in case. The other dead fish didn't really have this fuzzy white stuff but they did have some white spots on them that I hadn't noticed before.

Thanks so much for the advice/sympathy! Think we'll go to Pet Smart and pick up some dechlorinator tonight and try to save the last poor soul.


https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1957-waterfall/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1956-pond/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1955-sick-fishy/



https://www.gardenpondforum.com/gallery/image/1954-gills/

 

[don't ask]

sorry rain city, hope your sole survivor makes it

 

[JohnHuff]

Do you want to take the survivors out and put them in a temp pond for now?

 

[rain city]

Not sure where I'd find a temp pond (does that mean 'temporary'?) Plus, the remaining one fish looks so weak I doubt he'd survive the transport/transfer . . .

 

[j.w]

rain city
Sorry about your fish and hope you are able to save the last one. Temp would be any container that would be sufficient in size to hold your fish comfortably while you fix the pond. If you lose the fish then don't give up hope. Try again and we can help you through any of the processes to get your pond as good as you can get it.

 

[fishin4cars]

Welcome aboard and so sorry for the loss. Here is what I recommend, get Hubby to join the site and start himself a thread! Seriously, that's a beautiful pond, so much potential. You've done what you thought was right, Now it's time to learn and decide what is the best thing for you, and your pond. that's getting educated and experience. It's so sad, but most of us have been down some what similar roads. if not we probably wouldn't have looked up a site to ask a question. I think your hubby will enjoy the pond even more when he feels comfortable with it. getting in that comfort zone can quite often mean talking to others and asking questions. I wish i could get my wife envolved in the forum as well. She joined but really doesn't get educated about them. But she sure likes picking out a knew fish or plant every now and then so I keep trying to teach her.
I have a few suspesions about the oily film, One was a sump pump used to pump out the pond, if so did he lift the pump up by the cord, if so it could have weakend the seal and allowed the oil in the pump to escape. they really aren't designed for ponds but get used quite often. Good thing is although the oil looks like it's a lot it's usually not as bad as it looks, second could be same scenerio happend to a previous owner and the oil was trapped in the stuff in the bottom of the pond. I have seen this happen as well. Third is did you account for all the fish? when a fish dies it too can produce oils that could leave a sheen if it is decaying hidden in the pond. last is, was a chemical unknowingly introduced by the brush, bucket, hose, etc. I have seen buckets, hoses, and such get used for many things around the house. Not thinking or being experienced it can be easily overlooked. Always, keep you pond equipment seperate from garage. It's a guy thing I guess, Honey throw me that bucket so I can change the oil. weeks later--- I can't find my blue bucket, oh there is one by the garage/washing cars/carrying plants and dirt/garden supplies etc I can use. Whoops! believe me, It's not that hard to do. I learned that mistake the hard way. Now white buckets get used in the garage, Blue in the Pond, No exception.

 

[rain city]

Just an update, so we had a big rain here last week and right after that the lone survivor looked a ton better. We also added some dechlorinator but I think that he was already getting better without it. Talked to some people who also have ponds and they agreed that it was most likely the chlorine that killed the fish. I also agree that the film on the surface was decomposing fish material. Soooo . . . .we were so thrilled and happy to have at least saved one of the eight fish. Yesterday no one saw him all day, but we didn't think anything of it since he has been hiding out in his little house a lot since his buddies died. So then today we decided to look in his little house to make sure he was still ok, and he wasn't in there - he disappeared!!! My husband said yesterday he found one of the rocks that keeps the edge of the mesh cover down had fallen into the pond and there was somewhat of an open hole as a result. So my best guess is a raccoon came, moved the rock and got to him. So we're sad all over again that we let our one survivor down and allowed him to be dinner for some dumb raccoon. This fish pond business can be so depressing sometimes :-(

Anyway, looks like we're starting from scratch. Thinking of heading to the pet store to buy some more feeder fish/goldfish. I read something about quarantining fish - is that necessary if they're all going to be newly introduced at once? The water was also obviously fine the last week for our lone survivor, so I don't think we need to do anything else to treat it. Any advice on how to go about re-stocking the pond, or is it as simple as bringing them home and putting them right into the pond?

 

[JohnHuff]

Any advice on how to go about re-stocking the pond, or is it as simple as bringing them home and putting them right into the pond?

Ya, since your pond has no other fish it will be the quarantine tank.

 

[Fishtanker]

Make sure you properly acclimate your fish to the pond. That means getting them used to the water temperature and conditions. Also, as someone who's rescued feeder fish before (guppies though, not goldies), feeder fish are usually kept in an very fragile state from being overcrowded and treated roughly, so they can die very easily. Since you've been having issues with your pond, I would suggest getting healthier fancy types instead. They also stay smaller, which is more suited for a small pond like yours.