My Mother is a Pet Sitter and is sitting a Pond - Dying Fish??

[SpockthePuffer]

My mother is a pet sitter in Apopka, FL (I'm in Pittsburgh so this story is just going to be what she says)

I have no idea about outdoor ponds but she called me tonight asking me questions.

She has been pet sitting for this woman for 3 years and in these three years the same 3 goldfish have been in there. They are around 9-10"

She said one of the goldfish is acting weird and wouldn't go near the other ones and wasn't moving around as much. She thinks it might be dying. She wants to know the life expectancy of goldfish.

She didn't say how big the pond is. She said that a year ago the person put some more goldfish in and they died but the three original ones didn't.

I thought one possibility could be that the fish is sick from the cold freeze FL had a couple weeks ago. She said the pond isn't heated and at night time the temp there was around 20 degrees apparently.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

[scootrnerd]

havent seen any 20 degree temps down here. ever, 35ish maybe still could have froze the fish!

[IceH2O]

My thoughts are that since the new fish that were added died that the water in that pond has never been changed and the nitrates are through the roof. The reason the existing fish were able to still live is that they've acclimated to the high readings. Though they are slowly being poisoned.

The goldfish that seems sick is probably succumbing to the nitrate poisoning. The cold snap they had probably just helped stress him enough to weaken him to the point that the nitrates started to bother him.

A goldfish can live up to 30 years. The one in my tank is about the same size and about 5 years old.

[chenya]

A well taken care of goldfish can live for many many years (10-20 years being average). There have been documented cases were a goldfish has lived 40+ years.

I have goldfish in my pond that are at least 8 years old. The cold itself won't kill the fish. Ice can though. If the pond freezes solid the toxic gases can build up in the water eventually suffocating the fish. Being in Florida I don't think it would get cold enough to freeze the pond. My pond right now is frozen solid with a thick layer of ice. I do have a deicer in keeping a hole open and all of my goldfish and koi are doing just fine.

I didn't see where she stated what the pond temp is. Goldfish and Koi start slowing down once the water gets down to 50. It is normal for them to go sit at the bottom and barely move. Also it is important that you don't feed them till the water is back up over 5O for several days. In the colder water it takes longer for them to digest their food and it can result in sickness or death.

[SpockthePuffer]

Just called my mom back, you seem to be quite correct IceH2O, I asked if the woman ever changes the water and my mom's response was humorous... "Well, there is a filter and when it rains some water runs out of it..."

I guess she is going to tell her client that when she gets home from wherever she is, now if she will listen is going to be the interesting part.

My mom says "thanks for the help"

[chenya]

I don't do water changes in my pond. I do however have a filter that can filter the entire pond volume per hour. I disconect mine in November and usually hook it back up in March (weather permitting). My pond tests are always fine.

I would suggest you tell your mother to have her client test the water. Does she know where the "new" fish were purchased? If they were feeder goldfish then it really wouldn't surprise me that they died. Many of those are kept in ungodly tanks. Another thing that comes to mind is how big of a pond is it. It might not be able to support all of the fish. Many suggest around 10 gallons per goldfish. In a pond 30-50 gal per fish, IMO, is actually best.

You might also check this website www.americanponders.com. They have been a tremendous help to me. You can also check out www.koivet.com for even more info.

[frloplady]

Water changes are vital to fish health. It replaces the minerals that are depleted in the pond and lowers toxic levels of things such as nitrates.

Fish are in a large toilet bowl. Yah gotta flush the toilet sometime! Cleaning filters is part of it, but a water change is too. My fish are visibly more active after a water change. They will even play in the fresh incoming water.

Straight finned goldies need at least 20 gallons each. Fancies 10, but more is always better. If stocked that high they should have multiple water turn overs an hour.

www.koiphen.com is a mostly koi site, but lots of medical info as well as stuff pertaining to goldies.

the ultimate goldfish site is http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/ with a forum for questions and answers.