Fish Dying
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Fish Dying
Hello Forum:
I live in PA and have had a pond with gold fish going on 5 years. Pond size is approx 10' x 12' and plently deep enough (18-24"), with about 30 fish of various sizes (2-5") The only thing I do for winter is turn off the pump and put in my pond heater. No problems ever - fish have been very hardy.
This year was very cold in Dec. - pond froze over (except at heater location) This week with warmer weather the pond began to thaw and I began breaking up the ice. Discovered at least 10 fish dead! Mainly all the larger ones - the smaller fish are still alive. Any ideas of what happened? What should I do different to get me thru Jan/Feb.
Appreciate any advice
Thanks
dke
I live in PA and have had a pond with gold fish going on 5 years. Pond size is approx 10' x 12' and plently deep enough (18-24"), with about 30 fish of various sizes (2-5") The only thing I do for winter is turn off the pump and put in my pond heater. No problems ever - fish have been very hardy.
This year was very cold in Dec. - pond froze over (except at heater location) This week with warmer weather the pond began to thaw and I began breaking up the ice. Discovered at least 10 fish dead! Mainly all the larger ones - the smaller fish are still alive. Any ideas of what happened? What should I do different to get me thru Jan/Feb.
Appreciate any advice
Thanks
dke
#2
If you fed after water temperature dropped below 50 degrees, you could have killed the fish. Fish do not digest well after temperature drops, and food decays in their system and sends bacteria to bloodstream. The only way to know the water temperature is to monitor with a thermometer. Water should be monitored to make sure ammonia and nitrite are not in water. Ammonia settles at bottom of pond where fish overwinter.