Meet the pond...

[Martinspuddle]

Pond looking great @Ruth ....everyone OK?

[Ruth]

Yes thanks! Even wee Eli is holding his own! I’ve stopped at 8 fish . They are very tame now and I just have to look in the pond and the wee faces start to appear from the depths! I’m getting quite attached to them.

[Ruth]

Here goes @Ric

So as above everything was great until about 4 weeks or so ago when our weather changed. It was dull and rainy Every day and I wasn’t seeing any fish. I thought it was just the weather and thought nothing of it. Then one day I found a floating fish. It clearly had some kind of bacterial infection and fin rot. I scooped it out and treated the pond. Then soon after that I found a dead fish in the plants. After that another fish looked on its last ‘legs’ and died soon after. I lost 5 big fish and I haven’t seen Eli so assuming the worst.

All I have left now are two healthy Shubunkin.

I had been testing my water with the indoor tester kits. One LFS shop says this isn’t suitable for outdoor and one says it is. Ammonia and nitrites were zero. Feel so bad for the fish. Especially for the wee rescued ones.

Don’t know why it was the Shubunkin fish that didn’t seem to be effected...?

A few weeks on and I’m still really annoyed about it

[Ric]

So sorry to hear of your losses, @Ruth

I can't imagine the change in weather having anything to do with it, unless you're collecting the rainwater directly for the pond and it might have washed in a lot of pollutants? Or one fish had died and that caused ammonia in the pond, affecting the others?

Not sure about the different fish species. Always thought shubunkin are simply a breed form of the goldfish and that they just get on with each other?

I hope the pond recovers now and stays stable.

[Ruth]

Thanks. I just don’t know what to do now. I know goldfish like a group, so would maybe like to have a maximum of 5 in there, but I scared now!!

[Gingerlove05]

Sorry to hear Ruth that’s really sad to hear
I cant make anymore suggestions other than what Ric has said, i dont know about the testing kits being much different unless the reagents are different for colder water

[Ric]

Just had a quick search for API master test kit and what I could find in terms of the type of water it tests. It only states it is suitable for freshwater and then says:
Suitable for tropical community fish, cichlids, goldfish and more

This, to me, indicates suitable for tropical, temperate and coldwater.

[Ruth]

Aye - so it it’s right then it def wasn’t ammonia. I tested the water a few times. Maybe a fish brought it in...?

[plankton]

Sorry to hear Ruth.
It does sound like contamination from somewhere or you've had a fish damager in......any cats in the neighbourhood??
(That may also show like bacterial/damage)

[Ruth]

Sorry to hear Ruth.
It does sound like contamination from somewhere or you've had a fish damager in......any cats in the neighbourhood??
(That may also show like bacterial/damage)

There are a couple of frequent cat visitors. That’s why I have net over the pond .... hmmmm I wonder....