All fish at top of pond

Rodders1 · 13-08-2011, 08:23 AM

All my fish are currently on top of the water with their mouths gasping\sucking in air..Even the golden tench and the small baby koi. The change in weather has gone from hot and humid to rain and over cast today. I have tested the water and all i sok..Is this normal behaviour as they are not feeding and appear to be in need of oxygen?

Davej · 13-08-2011, 08:36 AM

Sorry for the questions;

Whereabouts are you and what is the pond temp?
Have you added anything to the pond lately?
You say the water tests are OK, what tests did you carry out?
How green is the water?
Do youhave plants in the pond?

As an immediate action I would add air.

Dave

Rodders1 · 13-08-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davej

Sorry for the questions;

Whereabouts are you and what is the pond temp?
Have you added anything to the pond lately?
You say the water tests are OK, what tests did you carry out?
How green is the water?
Do youhave plants in the pond?

As an immediate action I would add air.

Dave

Pond temp is 15 c 60 f...
i live in essex...Southend to be precise.
nothing added to pond lately..only reduced the flow of water as i was /still suffering from green water so reduced flow to see if the UV would work better..two weeks in no change and still have green water?
i tested nitrate, ph and amonia.
i have no plants..
i have just turned the airstons on and the fish have now congrigated around the edges of the pond but still gasping?

JoSo Steve · 13-08-2011, 09:16 AM

Rodders

As Davej has said sounds like O2 problems, keep flooding air in mate hopefully they'll pick up.

this time of yr is not good for low o2 levels & all air pumps should be running 24/7

Rodders1 · 13-08-2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoSo Steve

Rodders

As Davej has said sounds like O2 problems, keep flooding air in mate hopefully they'll pick up.

this time of yr is not good for low o2 levels & all air pumps should be running 24/7

Thanks very much..i am keeping a close eye on them...hopefully the air should do the trick..i will keep airstones on 24/7 as advised...
Thanks for advice...

Daran · 13-08-2011, 09:54 AM

Have you had a lot of rain that could of washed a pollutent into the pond ?
Along with the air setting up a trickle feed wont do any harm

Doghouse Riley · 13-08-2011, 10:39 AM

This definitely sounds like a lack of oxygen, in certain atmospheric conditions in mid-summer, there can be a dramatic drop in oxygen in ponds, even big ponds.
I can remember in my early twenties a similar situation happened in one of the Royal Parks, when we lived in the West End of London.
One morning after a hot sultry night we observed many dead fish floating on the surface of the water and others gasping for air. The papers later explained that the cause had been determined as a sudden drop in oxygen content.

Daran · 13-08-2011, 11:55 AM

With the water at 15c with airstones in would'nt the water still be able to hold a higher o2 content .

If we were in the middle of a heatwave with water temp's up in the 20's i could see the o2 dropping off

I still believe there is another cause but i could be wrong in would'nt be the fierst time lol

Davej · 13-08-2011, 12:05 PM

Hiya

At that temp there shouldn't really be an oxygen issue, but the green water isn't gonna help things oxygen wise.

I would be looking at whether there is another cause; do you have the facility to do a scrape and is the green bad enough to prevent catching a couple of fish?

Dave