Water Quality

[Terry]

I set up my pond about 3 months ago and everything has been going swimmingly until the last few weeks.

I have 4 fish all with Cotton Wool fungus, 1 shubunkin, 2 comets and 1 orfe although these have all been new and smaller fish. Any advise on what to treat the pond with.

I have been taking samples of the water to my local garden centre regularly and they have been checking it for me with god results. Last week however although, oxygen, PH, ammonia, nitrate, connectivity etc have all been okay, the last test where 3 drops of some chemical is added to the water and it turns blue if the water is healthy, the water stayed clear or turned very very very slightly yellow. I was told that if it turned YELLOW then the water was definitely unhealthy and that I would need to do a water change. I was advised not to at this stage though because the other fish all seem okay and the plant life is thriving. new water lillies placed in the pond from B&Q which were really just small bulb like plants now have leaves floating in the pond which is 4' deep and other plants are all starting to bloom.

 

[Jamnog]

to treat the individual fish take them out and put them in light salt water individually like 1 tea spoon per liter bset done in small ish containers cut the top 10% off a pop bottle or soemthing put them in the salt water untill the fungus goes away.un less someone else has a better idea.

 

[Terry]

Thanks Jamnoq.

Should I do anything to the pond water to prevent any other fish catching it ??

 

[pondfreak4365]

Hi Terry,
I understand that many types of fungus found on fish is a result of bad water parameters. What type of filtration are you using in the pond and what is the capacity? You can use NON iodized salt to treat your pond, but this could cause yellowing of the foilage. If possible, as Jamnoq suggested, place your fish in a hospital tank and treat the fungus with salt.
I found this relating to ponds:

Salt: Remove submerged plants. Perform a fifty percent waterchange, and clean the pond as well as reasonably possible without causing undue delay in treatment. Apply one teaspoon of non iodized table salt per gallon of water every 12 hours for three treatments (3 tsp per gallon). Alternatively, for larger systems, dose one pound per hundred gallons of water every 12 hours for three treatments (3 pounds per hundred gallons). Add all at once in the case of epidemic mortality.
Salt is a superior remedy for many different reasons, many of which will show up in a search of this website and in the book I extoll this remedy even more.

Kosher salt, Sea Salt, Non-Iodized Table, Rock and Ice Cream Salts are acceptable. Do not use salt intended for livestock if it contains any minerals or trace elements.

Caution! No YPS or Yellow Prussiate of Soda should be in the salt. Prussic Acid is hazardous to fish because it dissociates into Prussic Acid in water!
Add one pound per hundred gallons, per day, for three days if fish are merely sick. This avoids occasional filter-shock. (2-3 day nitrite spike)

Will not harm hardy Lilies, common Papyrus, or Irises. Will cause yellowing of Hyacinths, Celery and Water Lettuce, but will kill Anachris, String Algae, Cabomba and Elodea.

Strengths
3 pounds per hundred gallons = 0.3%
6 pounds per hundred gallons = 0.6%

Pull sensitive plants to baby-pool and treat with Formalin in this. (25 ppm 8-12 hours)

Leave salt in the pond for 14 days minimum, then remove by partial water changes over subsequent weeks.



I hope this helps!