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Does Anyone Know Anything About Fish??

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doggy182

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Hi,

I have recently done up my garden and yesterday we put some fish into our pond.

The pond is quite small but very deep. We have got 10 2" fish in it. We also have a big clump of an oxygenating plant, think its called parrots feather, that they have been hiding under today.

It has been absolutly scorching all day and now all of the fish are 'gulping' near the surface, I am so worried that they are dying or something because they do not have any air. Been searching like mad on the net and read so much different info, that goldfish breathe like that and its normal, and that they don't have enough oxygen and will die!

Please help, I would hate to think I have hurt them in any way and I'm so scared I will wake up tomorrow to a pond full of floating fish.

:unsure: :(
 
Don't worry your fish will be fine. They do come to the surface every so often.

As long as they have cover ie plants to hide from sun, cats & herons. :thumbsup:
 
try changing some of the water maybe. it sounds a bit like theres not quite enough oxygen in the water though as the previous post states in the heat they do come to the surface quite a bit. theres a syndrome called "summer fish kill" and its caused by very small levels of dissolved oxygen in the water. i had koi years ago and in the heat of summer i found leaving a hose pipe trickling onto the surface always helped the fish. if youve got a fountain or anything that moves the ponds water keep it on during the day. oh yeh..and dont feed them if its too hot as this messes their metabolisms about.

are you still awake... -_- lol

good luck.... john
 
Thanks for the advice.

We are getting another plant tomorrow to help get some more oxygen in.

Might try leaving a hose in it, the only prob is we don't have an outside tap so would have to leave a window open all day.....

And whippets aren't the best guard dogs... plus ours isnt arriving til July :lol:

Will let you know how they are

Hope I don't sound too silly! :b
 
My guess would be not quite enough oxygen, I keep marines and that's what they do when there isn't enough oxygen. How about trying those bubble stones? Could also be something to do with temperature?

Emma xxx
 
What is a bubble stone? :b

It has been so so hot today but is cooling down alot now.

I can't even look after a few fish, what am I going to do with a puppy!!

Am quite attatched to them now :unsure:
 
Thanks for the website.

We don't have a pump, no.

My mum does not have a pump, she has given us loads of advice, and she has had many fish in her pond all fine. She does have a very thick covering of plants though which may be our problem.

If the fish still look like they are struggling we may have to get a pump tho.

Just been out to watch them for a while and they are not surfacing so much, but it is a lot colder outside now.

Thanks again :)
 
You'll probably find looking after your dog more straighforaward than looking after fish!

It could be any number of problems:

New pond syndrome - introducing 10 fish at one time could be just too much for your pond's eco system to cope with.

Shortage of oxygen - as already mentioned - best remedied by adding a fountain - don't forget at night the plants remove oxygen from the water!

Diseases already in situ triggered by a change in the fishes environment - putting them into a new pond.

Toxins could be entering your pind via surrounding cement, overhanging plants etc.

Do you have a filter in operation?

The possibilities are endless.

Try googling into this website - KOI CHAT - sorry, i don't know how to make a link. Also look on British Koi Keepers Society website and look up you nearest section - don't be put off if you don't acutually own koi, most of them probably started off with a little pond and some goldfish before being bitten by the koi bug. They are usually a friendly bunch who are happy to give you advice.
 
doggy182 said:
What is a bubble stone?  :b
It has been so so hot today but is cooling down alot now. 

I can't even look after a few fish, what am I going to do with a puppy!!

Am quite attatched to them now  :unsure:

Click to expand...

You can get them from most pet stores, its basically a stone that gives off bubbles when put in water. I've seen them for indoor tanks.... i'm sure they do them for ponds aswell? My OH who is big into his fish says they do?

Aww don't be daft, these things happen... you're going to be a fab mum to your little girl :thumbsup:

Emma xxx
 
TTT said:
You'll probably find looking after your dog more straighforaward than looking after fish!
It could be any number of problems:

New pond syndrome - introducing 10 fish at one time could be just too much for your pond's eco system to cope with.

Shortage of oxygen - as already mentioned - best remedied by adding a fountain - don't forget at night the plants remove oxygen from the water!

Diseases already in situ triggered by a change in the fishes environment - putting them into a new pond.

Toxins could be entering your pind via surrounding cement, overhanging plants etc.

Do you have a filter in operation?

The possibilities are endless.

Try googling into this website - KOI CHAT - sorry, i don't know how to make a link.  Also look on British Koi Keepers Society website and look up you nearest section - don't be put off if you don't acutually own koi, most of them probably started off with a little pond and some goldfish before being bitten by the koi bug.  They are usually a friendly bunch who are happy to give you advice.

Click to expand...
I agree! Fish are much more complex!! Everytime we have a problem in our tank there is so many things it COULD be so we never know where to start and then when the problem is solved we are never quite sure which method worked??!!

Emma xxx
 
Just to add that you need to have the hose spraying so it disturbs the surface tension of the water and thus introduces air into water. The other reason for spraying is that it helps reduce the chlorine content from the tap water. Like's been said, plants remove oxygen from the water in the night so it's probably best to do the spraying on an evening and again in the morning, that way you don't have to worry about keeping your windows open when your out.

Any of you fish fanatics got any piks to share? I used to keep tropicals and koi but had to leave them behind when I split with the ex. Really peeves me off because I had a massive pond setup and the koi was about 2ft long when I left. :(
 
wild whippies said:
Just to add that you need to have the hose spraying so it disturbs the surface tension of the water and thus introduces air into water. The other reason for spraying is that it helps reduce the chlorine content from the tap water. Like's been said, plants remove oxygen from the water in the night so it's probably best to do the spraying on an evening and again in the morning, that way you don't have to worry about keeping your windows open when your out.
Any of you fish fanatics got any piks to share? I used to keep tropicals and koi but had to leave them behind when I split with the ex. Really peeves me off because I had a massive pond setup and the koi was about 2ft long when I left. :(

Click to expand...
that was such a shame... :( getting all the fish to this size and standard..then having to leave them...
 
Ok thanks, will get the hose going this evening.

We have two koi that are tiny, a ghost koi and a butterfly koi.

My OH took some pics so I'll try to put them up if you want.

So step one...... HOSE

Step two.......... PLANT

Step three........ REHOME SOME GOLDFISH!!

If this doesnt work we will look into installing a pump and filter.

After this pond palava a puppy will seem like no trouble at all :- "
 
We have Koi and Marine fish, and they do take quite a lot of looking after, although I think they are worth the effort. :sweating: My OH has responsibility for the Koi, and I look after a small marine tank with a pair of Clown fish :wub: among other things.

I think that the surface area of a pond is quite important, so although your pond is deep, you said it was not very big, so maybe not a large enough surface area for the fish to gain oxygen, so you may need to install a pump.

We get attached to all the fish, and it's sad to lose any. We recently lost 2 Koi to a heron, so now have a net over the pond. It is a straight-sided square brick built pond, so we didn't think a heron would be able to wade in as it is too deep, but somehow it managed to catch a couple. :- "

Good luck with your fish. :luck:
 
i've a 2500+ gallon pond with a few koi,(and gawd knows how many baby fry) it's just a puddle compared to large natural ponds and lakes with rivers to feed them, so it needs artificial help by way of pump and filter in order to reduce the biological load.

if you want fish to thrive in a natural pond that relys solely on plants you'll need very very low stock levels,to avoid excess amonia, nitrites, nitrates etc, especially in summer.

fish have to breath in what they excrete

as an aquatic guru once so eloquently said to me when i asked the usefullness of aquatic plants, "if you poop on a cabbage how long will it take to use the nutrients" :x (he didn't say poop)

when i first started out i got a cheap pump to start with and made my own filter from a small plastic header tank and some filter material :thumbsup:

if the fish are gasping in the summer months then put your thumb over the hose pipe and blast the water serface to cause aggitation to the water surface, you'll probably find the fish flock to the aggitation point to make the most of the fresh water

hope this helps,

good luck with your fish :cheers:

becka
 
Thanks for your replies.

Three of our fish have now gone to a better place.......

My mums pond!! They ate some food straight away and seem to like it in there. We thought that less fish means more oxygen for remaining fish.

We also brought back loads more plants for the fish. They seem ok but still quite worried about them.

Hopefully in a couple of days they will get better.

Breathing your own poop, never thought of that, ewwwwww!! :x
 
So we went out to check on the fish about half an hour ago and one was dead.

:(

We just did a quick rescue mission and got all the rest of the fish over to my mums and into her pond.

I think they stand a much better chance there. One looks rather poorly though, I hope he makes it.

We are gonna get some more plants and stuff into our pond and leave it be for a while then hopefully pick up some of the fish in a couple of months when the pond is a bit more established.

I'm just quite upset at the moment :unsure: :'( , I know they are only fish but feel responsible.

Hope it works second time round.

Thanks for all your advice, I will let you know how they get on later in the summer, will have puppy pics by then.....

Carla x
 
Carla you might be best getting a water testing kit and some filtration. Really keeping fish is more about keeping water in balance.

This link might be helpful to you.

http://www.pondsolutions.com/water-quality.htm

It's frustrating and disheartening when you start out and fish are dying on you. I went through the same with my first tank but once your clued up on maintaining water quality, looking after the fish becomes so much easier. :thumbsup:
 
This is interesting because I have just come on the net to look for pond advice and I came up with this!

My dad keeps a lot of koi and other types of carp and loads of other fish which I've never heard of. He went out yesterday to find 8 big ones dead. He is obviously quite upset about this as they're his pride and joy so I'm going to direct him to some of those links to see if he can find out whats wrong. He seems to think the water is lacking oxygen but I'm not so sure as they are not gulping, although he does find it hard to keep any plants at all because the fish eat them :rant: He has a waterfall and fountain though and I've seen him messing about with hoses from time to time :lol:

Anyone got anymore good links? Or any advice on plants which won't be eaten?
 
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