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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 16:46:50 GMT -5
well friends, it looks like the pond is winding down - this weekend I take in 50 and the following weekend the rest to the fish store - have lost 3 over the last 2 days - odd part is these fish were huge for their age, no bloating, just adult size, no obvious signs of injury either.....( maybe overstocked from eating too many fry - their diet has strictly been vegetable) last night I left the outdoor pond light on and when I went out to turn off the light there were hundreds of snails on the waterline of the tank - checked parameters and nitrates were a bit high but expected w/ all those snails pooping all over the place - rinsed the sponge filter out, threw out a ton of snails and all seems well today- never new that many existed - never saw a one before w/ the water so murky - on a positive note, the sunshine and heat are waning away as it is Autumn and the water clarity has drastically improved - am going to miss it! but all said and done, it was definitely a worthwhile and successful undertaking and I appreciate all your help and support! thanks - Murdock |
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Post by Carl on Sept 29, 2008 18:44:49 GMT -5
This seemed like a great, albeit short experience (too bad time and cold weather is bringing this to an end).  My guess as to what caused the deaths based on what you just stated was likely low oxygen at night caused by high bio load. The clue to me was the snails at the surface at night which is common in high bio load ponds with plant and algae growth as the algae plants will deplete oxygen at night while CO2 output remains high. Removing snails as you did will help greatly. Anyway, i hope you did not mind me commenting here. Carl |
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Post by bikeguy33 on Sept 29, 2008 19:04:37 GMT -5
now you have the winter to creatively upgrade for next year....will be better than ever...
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 19:05:42 GMT -5
why would I ever mind you commenting?! your information is priceless my friend and confirmed what I assumed - didn't know about the nighttime bioload - am still trashing snails - sorry if I bore people w/ info but in this case it proved very useful to me and will hopefully help others! thank you Carl!
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 19:21:55 GMT -5
just trashed another 100 or more snails - nothing like last night! found another huge yellow sunset platy dead - is this going to defer selling them this weekend? water parameters are good and clarity has improved 50% - don't want to sell fish that are bad! God No! they seem active and healthy and come to me - am sorry I didn't notice the snails earlier - Where the F! do they come from!? haven't had one since I started the pond - boiled everything I put in there! I hate killing stuff I don't eat! this is very disturbing! am going to add oxygyen w/ an airstone and keep on killing snails - these are my babies! would a large wondershell help? thanks Billy, didn't mean to shortchange you here - thanks for your support - you owe me a phonecall! LOL! see no need for meds!
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 19:27:04 GMT -5
forgot to include parameters....
35-40 Nitrate
0 Nitrite
200 GH
50-60 KH
7.5 PH
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Post by bikeguy33 on Sept 29, 2008 19:30:59 GMT -5
john....the nitrates are a lil high.maybe a huge water change.
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 19:41:58 GMT -5
I agree, but the outside temp has dropped 20 degrees - guess I'll be hauling from the bathtub again
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 19:56:09 GMT -5
latest post my ass! just did a 35% water change and added an 12"x1" airstone for O2 replenishing + dumped another 50 or so snails!- that's 35 gallons out and 35 gallons in! should have caught that when they were on the surface! DAMN! too early to tell now - will check in the morning - and I was so proud!
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Post by babygeige on Sept 29, 2008 20:09:44 GMT -5
Are you going to try your pond again next spring? You worked so hard to build it!
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 20:29:07 GMT -5
hope so - don't know w/ what though - am just disappointed to have come this far and run into crap! - don't want to lose everything now! thanks Steph.....
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Post by brenda on Sept 29, 2008 20:30:15 GMT -5
Well it is sad that time of year is here already. It has been a fun adventure for all of us. Hope you do put it back up next year.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Sept 29, 2008 20:31:58 GMT -5
as do I my friend....
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Post by Carl on Sept 29, 2008 20:37:04 GMT -5
why would I ever mind you commenting?! your information is priceless my friend and confirmed what I assumed - didn't know about the nighttime bioload - am still trashing snails - sorry if I bore people w/ info but in this case it proved very useful to me and will hopefully help others! thank you Carl! You do not bore me John! I guess I am feeling kind of gun shy and should not here, just been a terrible day/ week so I feel like I am walking on eggshells and should not be here. Thanks John for your kind remarks! A Wonder Shell is very helpful in high bio load/low oxygen conditions (just used some wonder shell fragments for moving fish up here from LA and they were in a truck for almost 2 days with no losses) The water changes will help too, although I personally do not think that nitrates of 40 ppm will cause problems you are seeing (high nitrates usually result in unhealthy long term fish and stunting, which is the opposite of what is going on in your happy little breeding farm! ;D) Carl |
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 29, 2008 20:40:57 GMT -5
thank you all for your support - losing one or 2 fish at a time is a bummer and causes saddness and grief but we are a support group and a leaning group and a family - I'm just praying right now that a summer's worth of energy and devotion doesn't end up in the death or illness of over 100 fish - probably blowing it out ouf proportion, but this was a newbie for me and I'm worried - the last thing I want to do is sell bad fish - if I lose them here, I will deal w/ that......it's all a learning process and I took a big chance
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Post by cashay on Sept 30, 2008 7:57:33 GMT -5
 I think you did great job John, and I wouldn't give up, you started in the latter of the season, so maybe you can get started ealier next year since it is all built now, and enjoy them longer, And loosing one or two fish out of a hundred pessha!!!! that was awesome, enjoyed the pictures and the post's I hope to hear more next year!!! Keep up the good work, You are also an inspiration as everyone on this board is!!!
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Post by murdock6701 on Sept 30, 2008 9:43:52 GMT -5
thanks Sherry! I will do it again next year except I would like to find a different tank, one that isn't black so you can see the fish better and also will have it surrounded w/ natural tall live cover to help keep the sun out! hope you're doing better......
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Post by cashay on Sept 30, 2008 13:54:47 GMT -5
i am doing better thanks  I am recycling my tank again so I can try again, I'm just concidering something different this time, I cant really change my tank size right now so I guess I'm limited on what i can put in a 5 gallon tank but one of these days I will get a bigger one, Just need a little more experience on fish.... |
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Post by goldenpuon on Sept 30, 2008 14:55:10 GMT -5
John I don't think anything you are doing is really killing them. Nitrates and low oxygen may be a problem but honestly i think it is the temerpature. I'm not sure if you installed a heater, but I've heard countless times of guppies dying in ponds, even in the 60's. (Platties and guppies are pretty closely related I think, they also like similar temps) I know its going into the 40's every night where I live and I'm in southe n Michigan so it must be colder where you are. Just a guess but maybe the changes in tmeperature over the day plus the cold temps at night is killing them. (Not trying to make you worry)
Hope the rest works out!
Renee
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I think you did great job John, and I wouldn't give up, you started in the latter of the season, so maybe you can get started ealier next year since it is all built now, and enjoy them longer, And loosing one or two fish out of a hundred pessha!!!! that was awesome, enjoyed the pictures and the post's I hope to hear more next year!!! Keep up the good work, You are also an inspiration as everyone on this board is!!! 
I am recycling my tank again so I can try again, I'm just concidering something different this time, I cant really change my tank size right now so I guess I'm limited on what i can put in a 5 gallon tank but one of these days I will get a bigger one, Just need a little more experience on fish.... 
