New member

[kevindsingleton]

Howdy!

I'm in western Pennsylvania, and we have a small fish pond between the house and garage. We had four fish, when we first moved to this location, but there are about thirty, now.

The pond was in place when we bought the property, and I've since added a skimmer and improved the pump system. I don't know, for sure, but I would guess it's about 400 to 500 gallons, and gets about half a day of direct sunlight, in the summer. We keep a floating tank heater in the pond, over the winter, with the pump running, constantly. There is no additional aeration.

I've enjoyed reading some of the posts, and I'm looking forward to learning more about ponds, pond systems, and the critters that live in them.

 

[sissy]

welcome and we love our ponds and find them relaxing .The most fun you can have legally :cheerful:

 

[Shard MacD]

Welcome, I am also new here. The folks on this forum are great, and have some of the prettiest pond... :fish2: :goldfish: I have enjoyed reading and learning. Very much enjoy my pond.

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! We would love to see pictures of your pond, if you have any. Do you have plants? Any plans for expansion? Any interesting "pond" stories? [can you tell that I'm just fishing for things to talk about....? ]

 

[Waterbug]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[DrCase]

Welcome to the Forum

 

[capewind]

welcome!

 

[j.w]

Kevin

 

[kevindsingleton]

Thanks, everyone! I don't have any current pictures, but there are some on Facebook from prior seasons. We're just getting out of winter, this week, so it's still early, yet.

The reason I joined is because I have a sick fish, and I'm looking for answers to some questions. Once we get things going in the right direction, again, I'll get a few pics posted, here. We don't have any plans to expand the pond, this year. It's located such that it won't be easy to expand, and, with 25+ acres to manage, I want the pond to be as maintenance-free as possible.

I will ask whether y'all (I'm originally from Texas!) think we need to thin out the fish population, given that we've only got about 500 gallons and about 30 fish. It seems pretty crowded, to me!

 

[capewind]

30 fish sounds like a lot in 400-500 gallons, and if you think things LOOK crowded, they probably are. The truest answer to if you are over populated or not can be answered by testing the quality of the water. Do you test your water? There are multi tests that you should be doing, but the two I am personally most interested in are Ammonia and Nitrites. If you dont have the test kits, you should be able to walk into most stores that sell fish (tropicals or pond) and get them to test the water for free, or cheaply. IF you have to have someone else test your water, write down the results to tell us .. dont let them ONLY tell you SOMETHING is high or low, ask for the actual numbers ... and dont let them sell you chemicals til posting back here. With a sick fish, not know what its symptoms are, the first place you need to look at is the water ... You dont say what kind of fish you have, but going from 4 to 30 sounds like you have some type of goldfish ... which tend to be very hardy, and usually, if they have an issue, back to the water quality ...

 

[kevindsingleton]

Most of the fish are very small (1-2"), but some are 6", or more. There are frogs, too, but only a couple, so far, this season.

I do test, capewind, but only with the little test strips. The numbers are all within the "ideal" range, at this point, particularly the ammonia and nitrites. I was surprised, given my experience with aquarium fish, from years ago, but I doubt the test strips are very accurate, either. The "pond store" we've been using just opened back up for the season, so I'll take a sample to them, and get the current specs.

The sick fish is isolated in a hospital tank (plastic tub!) with his own circulation and basic filtration. These aren't koi, they're just goldfish. The sick one is bloated, with scales protruding. He seems comfortable, and still eats. The wife researched and diagnosed "dropsy", so we're treating with anti-biotics. I don't have the package with me, at the office, but I can add that info, if it helps to answer some questions. I will say that it's a yellow powder in foil packets, which may fill in some gaps for you.

30 fish sounds like a lot in 400-500 gallons, and if you think things LOOK crowded, they probably are. The truest answer to if you are over populated or not can be answered by testing the quality of the water. Do you test your water? There are multi tests that you should be doing, but the two I am personally most interested in are Ammonia and Nitrites. If you dont have the test kits, you should be able to walk into most stores that sell fish (tropicals or pond) and get them to test the water for free, or cheaply. IF you have to have someone else test your water, write down the results to tell us .. dont let them ONLY tell you SOMETHING is high or low, ask for the actual numbers ... and dont let them sell you chemicals til posting back here. With a sick fish, not know what its symptoms are, the first place you need to look at is the water ... You dont say what kind of fish you have, but going from 4 to 30 sounds like you have some type of goldfish ... which tend to be very hardy, and usually, if they have an issue, back to the water quality ...

 

[sissy]

Do you want to make the pond bigger or stay with what you have .You could put an ad for free fish for ponds on craigslist or a free paper in your local area and meet other ponders .That's what I did and got rid of fish and meant some nice people also .

 

[kevindsingleton]

Do you want to make the pond bigger or stay with what you have .You could put an ad for free fish for ponds on craigslist or a free paper in your local area and meet other ponders .That's what I did and got rid of fish and meant some nice people also .

No, I don't have any intention of making it any bigger. I'm hesitant to offer the fish, even for free, while I've got a sick one that came from that pond in an isolation tank. I'd be afraid of spreading an infection.

 

[CometKeith]

Hey kevin, Welcome to the forum. It sounds like your sick fish may have a digestive problem. Try feeding it only greens such as peas. Is it a fancy by any chance? They are much more prone to these sort of illnesses. The key to keeping a maintenance free pond is controlling your bio-load. it seems like you have considered that. It is possible to keep a very high bio-load in a pond if you follow certain procedures but for the average ponder it can be too much work. i have the same problem as you. My pond zoomed from 11 adult fish to over 30 with all the babies that were born last year in it. I don't have the heart to get rid of them so I am planning a pond addition!

 

[kevindsingleton]

Hey kevin, Welcome to the forum. It sounds like your sick fish may have a digestive problem. Try feeding it only greens such as peas. Is it a fancy by any chance? They are much more prone to these sort of illnesses. The key to keeping a maintenance free pond is controlling your bio-load. it seems like you have considered that. It is possible to keep a very high bio-load in a pond if you follow certain procedures but for the average ponder it can be too much work. i have the same problem as you. My pond zoomed from 11 adult fish to over 30 with all the babies that were born last year in it. I don't have the heart to get rid of them so I am planning a pond addition!

I don't know if it's a fancy. It's just a big goldfish, I think. It's mostly white, with a little orange, and some black spots. It could be a digestive problem. I've been treating with antibiotics (maracyn two, I think). I've made sure the water is warm, and I've been changing about 50% of it, every other day. The fish seems to be happy, but I'm sure he'd be happier with all his friends. So far, I can't say that I can tell any difference, but it's possible that he's improving.