Any fish /pond people??

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timtune

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I built a pond/watergarden (3000 liters) for the Squeeze over 20 years ago. Added plants and feeder fish from the pet store and never looked back. They have flourished. Every once in a while a heron would hoover up some - back to the pet store. I estimate approx 120-140 inches of fish combined. This size pond should hold that. For all intents they are healthy. My Aquarium buddy listed 3 traits: Full intact fins and tails,Nice bright color and No sores or leisions. These guys pass with flying colors. Every few springs we find a small floater that didn't make it over winter.

This year since the spring we've found 3 dead fish - two good sized ones (3-4") and maybe our largest (6"). The deaths have been spread over this time not all at once.

Any thoughts??
 
timtune said:
I built a pond/watergarden (3000 liters) for the Squeeze over 20 years ago. Added plants and feeder fish from the pet store and never looked back. They have flourished. Every once in a while a heron would hoover up some - back to the pet store. I estimate approx 120-140 inches of fish combined. This size pond should hold that. For all intents they are healthy. My Aquarium buddy listed 3 traits: Full intact fins and tails,Nice bright color and No sores or leisions. These guys pass with flying colors. Every few springs we find a small floater that didn't make it over winter.

This year since the spring we've found 3 dead fish - two good sized ones (3-4") and maybe our largest (6"). The deaths have been spread over this time not all at once.

Any thoughts??
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Pump running often? Water temp? Any signs of damage on the dead ones? Tested water recently (ph, chlorine, do, tds, etc)?
 
timtune said:
I built a pond/watergarden (3000 liters) for the Squeeze over 20 years ago. Added plants and feeder fish from the pet store and never looked back. They have flourished. Every once in a while a heron would hoover up some - back to the pet store. I estimate approx 120-140 inches of fish combined. This size pond should hold that. For all intents they are healthy. My Aquarium buddy listed 3 traits: Full intact fins and tails,Nice bright color and No sores or leisions. These guys pass with flying colors. Every few springs we find a small floater that didn't make it over winter.

This year since the spring we've found 3 dead fish - two good sized ones (3-4") and maybe our largest (6"). The deaths have been spread over this time not all at once.

Any thoughts??
Click to expand...
I had a 1000l pond in the yard for years, the initial 24 feeder goldfish seemed to hold their population for years. I also had a 6” goldfish I caught in lake Simcoe.

Then raccoons discovered the pond. I’d put 24 in, within a day they were gone. After a good number of restocking I surrendered.

Pond is now a bed of hostas.
 
I have two ponds on my property I'd say both combined equal an acre.
Sadly have not touched them due to budget so they are covered in duck weed.
But 1000's of small fish, like minnows, saw a couple of small catfish, turtles and frogs for days. We get geese, ducks and heron every day. And plenty of mosquitoes.

People have asked to fish it but unsure if there are any large fish...
 
Aeration? How are the aeration plants doing (the submerged ones)? You can also get an algae bloom just the same as big lakes. To avoid that you can try to keep the water moving and aerated.

Fish flukes/parasites?

I've kept tropical and marine fish for years. My current pond isn't deep enough for overwintering fish however it's usually fine for my water lilies. Both of those died this year though so it was a weird winter!
 
It's cool watching the osprey nest in Kitchener right on top of the Grand River. Occasionally one of them with come back to the nest with a beautiful koi. Lol
 
GreyGhost said:
Pump running often? Water temp? Any signs of damage on the dead ones? Tested water recently (ph, chlorine, do, tds, etc)?
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A waterfall runs on a timer. Have never checked the water temp or tested the water. It's been going like this for over 20 years.
as for the dead ones - the Squeeze found and disposed of them. I assume they looked good or she would hve mentioned it.
 
JC99 said:
Aeration? How are the aeration plants doing (the submerged ones)? You can also get an algae bloom just the same as big lakes. To avoid that you can try to keep the water moving and aerated.

Fish flukes/parasites?

I've kept tropical and marine fish for years. My current pond isn't deep enough for overwintering fish however it's usually fine for my water lilies. Both of those died this year though so it was a weird winter!
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Like I said there's a waterfall that runs on a timer. In winter we run a bubbler.
Plants are mostly water sargents and water lillies. They appear to be doing fine although both are now above the surface. As for flukes - they appear quite healthly and are acting normal.
 
timtune said:
Like I said there's a waterfall that runs on a timer. In winter we run a bubbler.
Plants are mostly water sargents and water lillies. They appear to be doing fine although both are now above the surface. As for flukes - they appear quite healthly and are acting normal.
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Any pesticides used on the lawn/flowers nearby? Neighbours spraying?
 
Nothing I'm aware of. First fish was found much earlier in the spring. Hangover from a hard winter? Don't recall anything like this since the start.
 
timtune said:
Nothing I'm aware of. First fish was found much earlier in the spring. Hangover from a hard winter? Don't recall anything like this since the start.
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Could be, how deep is the deepest part of your pond?

Water is at its most dense at 4C which is how fish survive in a deep enough pond over winter (it’s 4C water at the bottom of the pond). If it's not deep enough or there’s a severe freeze then they lose that room.
 
It's about 3 feet in the deep end. Overwintering has never been a problem before going back over 20 years.
 
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