fish still dying

[g. mcclean]

In a previous post I mentioned dying fish. Still losing a fish or two a day. Now I suspect a disease, but what one and how to treat? Fish mouth is open, but not exhibiting breathing motion,just like its mouth is "stuck" open. They lay on the bottom for extended periods and then swim away. My pond shop has been no help and I hate to medicate with the wrong medication. Research on the web does not seem to help except possibly to suggest gill fluke. Our pond is immaculate as far as water chemistry. I have used no chemicals. We did buy four new fish in the spring because a heron had depleted our stock. By the way, the fish are shebunkins. Any suggestions?:(

[TJcanada]

There are a few sites that deal with Koi and goldfish health problems...

PureGold - http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/puregold/
Koivet - http://www.koivet.com/index.php
FishDoc - http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/
my fav site - http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_Fish - several good articles pertaining to fish care and health

Do you own a microscope? if not, do you have a Watergarden or Pond club near you? Have you taken a look at the gills of the shubunkins? Before and after death? If so, what colour were they and what texture? What does their slime coat look like? Any red streak or areas on the fins/body? What exactly were the water tests you did and what were the results? Crystal clear water isn't necessarily "good" water. Is this city water or well water? Has anything changed in or around the pond before/during this happening? Were the new fish that were added quarantined before addition to the pond?
This sounds like it could be some sort of toxin or fast "bug"... gill flukes do not make the fish react the way you describe in that short of time. Costia/Trichodena/Chillidenella(sp?) on the other hand can devastate a ponds population rather quickly given the right environment. Chlorine and Chloramines have this effect on fish. Toxin leached from treated timber can have this effect as well.

Sorry, I don't have a clear answer to your problem... just more questions. Hope to help if I can.

TJ

[g. mcclean]

Thanks for your response TJ. The water tests I had done were the standard--ammonia,nitrite, Ph, and specific gravity. We have well water and have no chlorine or chloramines. We have not done any new landscaping in that area and do not use chemicals either for lawn or flowers in this area. We have indoor aquariums (1 freshwater and 2 saltwater ) that also use this water. The fishes gills appear distended shortly before death and after death. I don't know about slime coat. Their eyes also seem "bugged" after death and somewhat before death. I do own a microscope--former science teacher. What should I look for? The new fish were not quarantined by us and I don't know about our pond shop. I will check out your links, but the others I checked did not seem to think anything I could add to the water would help. There is a medicated food, but at this point I think only about 3-4 fish are still eating. Our next concern is what to do with the pond before adding new fish. Thanks again. There doesn't seem to be much resonse on this site.