Sick Goldfish in Outoor Pond

Riso-chan

Riso-chan

The Blue Girl
Jan 17, 2005
322
0
0
41
Florida, USA
Well, there are a few goldfish(don't know exact number because they hide) in our outdoor pond, and two are looking to be beyond help. They've had ulcers for some time and now it seems they cannot swim well. They are swaying a bit when they swim. They most likely have parasites too. Tomorrow, I'm going to get clove oil to put them out of this misery.

I feel guilty for this, but it's my father's pond, and he and I have had frequent arguments over such things. Only now after my gentle persuasion, has he realized that this pond is a real mess. If there are some fish that I can help him save, then I'll try.

First, I have to get him to buy a decent pump/fountain to start water movement. The pump he's been using has only been on infrequently. There is no filter, and no testing is done. I wish he would deconstruct this pond completely if he's only going to do it this way. If you do something like an aquarium or pond, do it right not half-assed.

I wish he would let me take the poor surviving fish to an lfs, and redo this pond correctly, or not do it at all....but my dad is a stubborn man. BTW, I'd like to tell you that I am 20 years old so that you don't think I'm whining like a kid. I love goldfish, all things living really, but I wish I could smack sense into people sometimes. Even my Mom doesn't like how the goldfish look, and she's not even a fish person.

I posted a few days ago about giving salt baths to the goldfish, but they said I'd get a better response here. I'm not sure for how long each time, or how many times I should do it to help the fish. Obviously, the fish withulcers will not be among these as they are going to be freed from their little mortal coils. I also have internal parasite food that I could feed them to help in that area. Though I have nowhere else to put them but in there pond, I think my tank couldn't handle them. Maybe one.
 
Salt will do little if anything for bacterial ulcers, you need antibiotics, oxolinic acid can be used as a water based med - or bath along with medicated food(debride). PP paste might work. Ideally for the best results you will need injectiables such as baytril from a vet. First you have to get rid of the parasites, ProformC(formalin/MG mix) would be a good start as it deals with many "baddies".

check out pondRX.com

Stay away from fish store meds, they are weak and only prolong death (imho).

Choices: put all down or just save the ones least effected.

Educate your dad, even old dogs can learn new tricks.
 
I've tried to talk to him about it, but he won't listen to me. Last night I brought the issue up, and he said to forget about it, that I needed to get my priorities straight. I think what I might do is just put down the sick ones, and take the others to a decent lfs.
I wanted to try an maybe add one to my own tank if possible, but I don't think I can. I actually haven't been able to stop thinking about it all night, I can't stand by while they suffer. I'll do something for them.

If I can't get meds from a vet, where else do I get them, drugstore?

BTW, thanks alot for your help.
 
Check out Puregold

Puregold site

This is the Puregold site I mentioned on some other thread. The authors are very experienced, see the bio there.
 
Dad

If your Dad said you need to get your priorities straight, I wonder if stressing out on this is allowing you to put off something else? I've gone through all sorts of stuff to save fish, but in the end, it is pretty dumb to spend $40 and a month of daily effort changing water in a Q tank to save a $3 fish. However, if you are going to do something you need to do it properly (be careful how you say THAT to you dad) and so IMO it is best to do a large water change, clean the bottom of the pond after adding Potassium Permanganate to it to neutralize the toxins you will stir up as you clean (see cleaning a pond in the Puregold site).

If the ill fish do not rapidly improve, put them down with Clove Oil and work on improving the pons for the survivors.

Do not add these fish to your home tank!!! The odds of killing every last one of your other fish are very great. Save these fish in their own pond or not at all.

You can get a reasonable filter fountain from online sources, size depends on the pond size of course. My 300 gallon pond has a $35 fountain with a sponge filter on it, and a $8 sponge filter driven by a $20 airpump (mounted in a bucket under a bench for rain protection as it is not an "outdoor air pump") There is also a pressurized filter which is just like an aquarium cannister run by a pump inside the pond, but it is such a pain to clean I hate it, the pond is so lightly stocked I really don't need it if I'd clean all the filters more often. With 6 medium sized fish and with a lot of plants, I should clean the filters every month but I don't. Without the pressure filter I'd need to clean every week probably. And since this pond has plants and catches leaves, I have to clean that sort of debris out of it at least twice a year.

If your dad does not want to do the maintainence, he needs to just keep maybe one fish to try to eat mosquitoes and not have any more.
 
I just had a huge argument about this whole thing. Everybody is yelling, they won't listen. It's hopeless. The only thing I can do is to pray that a heron or egret comes to eat all of them.

The priorities thing came up because I've been waiting on jobs to call me. I can't do anything but wait once I've applied. I just hope I get one soon so I can move out of this miserable house.

I even mentioned talking to other fishkeepers online and they say, "Well, don't talk to people online. They're probably have lots of money and can afford all this, etc." I'm so sick of dealing with inconsiderate people, let alone ones who continue to treat me like a child and that my words of knowledge mean nothing. I feel horrible I did not live up to better practices as far as fish keeping/rescueing goes. I'm sorry for those poor beings. And I think I'm really beginning to strongly dislike my own kind.
 
getting a job

My daughter had a heck of a time getting a summer job one year. She thought she had one, then they decided to try to get someone who could work into the fall when she had to return to school. I advised her to offer to work at that job for free until she got a paid job. She made it clear that if she had an interview for a paid job she would take time off to go. They eagerly accepted her offer on Monday. On Thursday she went on a job interview, on Friday the free job offered her a paid position. (Just tossing out that story in case it helps)

As for the family, you just have to be careful in how you approach things. Parents especially do not like to have a child tell them what needs to be done. The best you can do is to wrap it inside of the good things they taught you all your life, in this case that it is important to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves ... a parent will take notice of that and remember it as they fear getting older and becoming helpless!

After that, just try to be gracious. Let it go. You cared, you tried, do a water change and add the plants if you can, that will go a long way to saving the fish.
 
Thanx. You saying that does make me feel alot better. I think I'm still going to try to do something, but it might take a while before I can. My Father has alot of problems at work sometimes, so I guess I understand his snapping at me. I don't have a job yet, so my mind gets taken with the matters of all the animals' care. If the fish have made it this far for about 4-5 years, do you think they'll be alright? I still worry about them, but I reconciled with my parents and said I wouldn't argue further. I think if we just added a lot more plants, and maybe an airstone it could be alot better off. I don't know how soon that will happen though, but my birthday is this month, so I could always ask. It would make me feel alot better knowing they had something more, and I wouldn't mind at all spending the money I get fro relatives on them. They are of such innocence, certain human things just don't seem to matter when you look at another living creature. Thanx again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom