Lost 3 gold fish??

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Found another fish in a very lethargic state.It was just very still not moving so i touched it and it kinda rolled over and did not swim away.I removed it from the pond and very carefully gave it a good exam and found it to looked in great condition.Sorry i did not take a photo! The pond is about 700 Gal.I have two bubblers and one canister filter.I can only see 4 fish left that are about 3" in size. One is about 1" long and is the only one that is very active. I thought that if i removed the fish that are left clean all of the dead algae. off the bottom and the rocks and start over. If i loose another fish i will definitely take a photo.
 

mrsclem

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The problem with doing a complete clean out is you will be starting all over just like a new pond. What were the results of your water tests?
 
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New water test
 

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If water tests are good and dead fish appear good, and you've got aeration going.....I'm a little stumped, especially as multiple fish have all died. It's possible it's a parasite, although as that progresses the fish usually develop secondary ulcers.

There are some microscopic parasites, but without a microscope you'd never know.
 

mrsclem

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This has me totally puzzled. How large were the mosquito fish you added? Never heard of feeding goldfish other species. Are there any mosquito fish still in the pond? I'm thinking they may not have been eaten but were sick and died and that lead to your fish loss.
 
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Hi, sorry to hear your fish aren't doing well. Im relatively new here, so I may be missing some info if you've posted it elsewhere. Could you tell me - how many fish/what type, no. of gallons, what kind of filtration/aeration ?

Is the water as white and cloudy as it looks in the pics? Have you looked at pics of ich (aka white spot disease) - do your fish look like that? How do the gills look - nice and pink (good) or puffy and red(bad)?

Even if the fish have a specific disease like ich or gill flukes (problem I was having for a while), factors like poor water quality and over crowding would have be addressed along with doing the chemical treatement - those things can weaken a fish's immune system and make it more susceptible to disease. You could have several things going on at once. I would not get anymore fish until you get this sorted out.

BTw, there are things like dissolved organic compounds that can build up and are harmful to fish, and which wont show up in a water test. Have you done any water changes? You can in fact do pretty substantial water changes over a period of several days and it wont harm your beneficial bacteria since these live mostly in your filter media, sides of pond, tubing etc. (Of course any water added would have to be treated with a good dechlor like Prime or well water free of chlorine/chloramine.)

Anyway it would be helpful to have more info so we can get a better idea of what's going on. Otherwise its just guessing. Thanks, Catja in WI
 
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The second picture in your first post......that fish looks like it could have ice or some type of fungus on it. I can't be sure as the picture is blurry. Did that fish have white spots? You mentioned other fish that died looked normal.
 
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OK: I have decided to start all over.There are only 5 fish left that seem to be pretty active so i will put them in a 10 Gal fish tank for about 5 weeks while the new pond gets regulated.If the 5 fish survive i will add them back into the new pond water. I have three gold fish and two shubunkins left. Since i have no idea why they died i think i am out of options. Any better ideas would be very appreciated. Thanks
 

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I think since there is no obvious reason then starting over may be the best option. You say you have 5 fish left. What happened to the mosquito fish?
 
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I only found 1 mosquito fish dead at the bottom of the pond. Should i hose down all of the rocks that contain dead algae on it.
Are there any remedies to add to the fish tank to treat Ich? BTW: That mosquito fish was partially eaten.
Thanks
 

mrsclem

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There are treatments available for ick. Check pet food stores. Hosing down the entire pond isn't a bad idea but that's just my opinion. Maybe someone else will have some ideas. I have never completely drained my ponds .
 
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Wife thinks i should to see if the remaining fish also die. Or maybe i should just give them a Porcelain funeral.
 

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