Why are my goldfish dying?

9 years ago

I have had a small pond with goldfish for many years. The pond is about 8'x10' and about 3' deep. I never had any filtration in it. I would take the fish out in the winter and keep them in our heated garage where they remained healthy until spring. We would pump out the remaining water and replace with fresh water before putting the fish back in. I had 12 fish in there and they were doing fine. Then we got a leak in the liner and had to replace it. My husband had a piece of rubber roofing which some say is okay to use and we replaced the lining. Well all my fish died a few weeks later. It had been very hot and I though that was the problem. So I got three more fish late last summer. They seemed to be doing well and I took them out in the fall and put them in the garage where they did well all winter. We cleaned the pond this spring and put the fish in. I thought maybe the pond needed aeration and I got a solar pump as a Xmas gift. It works very well. Well today I found 1 of the fish dead. These fish are not dying right away and I just not sure what the problem is. Any ideas?

Featured Answer

Debbie Downer

9 years ago

I would start with water quality - check all your parameters esp ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. By no filtration do you mean no mechanical or bio filtration -if you have plants those actually fulfill a "filtration" function by using up the nitrates and roots collect debris to a certain extent..

I would look further into the rubber roofing perhaps even contacting the manufacturer because it does seem like there may be a cause and effect - apparently roofing can have additives to prevent bacterial and fungal growth to prevent breakdown of the rubber so that could account for it (by killing off your beneficial bacteria).

Its maddening trying to find the answer via internet as I just did - lots of speculation and false assumptions (if its ok for my fish it must be ok for everyone) but no one who thinks of contacting the manufacturer to find out what if any additives there are in it.

Actually, even aside from that... by replacing your old liner you would have essentially gotten rid of all your beneficial bacteria that would have lived on the old one - there again the water test will tell you if your nitrification cycle is working or not.

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Comments (10)

buyorsell888
9 years ago
How big are they? Heat without enough aeration can cause them to die from lack of Oxygen in the water. Bigger fish first usually. To test this go out to the pond very early in the morning. IF they are all frantically gasping at the surface that is your problem.

An occasional death is somewhat normal but all at once is not.

Rubber roof lining is used in ponds, it's fine.
haymeadowfield
Original Author
9 years ago
The fish are about 4" long. I never had any aeration before and had goldfish live for several years. So I am puzzled. We have been having a lot of rain in the last few weeks. 2.5 inches just last nite. I will get out there early in the morning and see what the remaining ones are doing.
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haymeadowfield
Original Author
9 years ago
Went out early this morning. Remaining fish were not gasping for air.
spedigrees z4VT
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I don't know if my problems are related to your own, but I've lost goldfish recently too. I attribute it to the frozen food (brine shrimp, blood worms, and other "goodies") that I just bought. I had run low on the fish food in my freezer, and stocked up my supply. The deaths coincided with when I began feeding the new frozen foods. My best guess is that the new frozen food contained some fish disease that is killing my fish. As my husband said, frozen food could contain bacteria and viruses that would not be present in dehydrated or freeze-dried foods.

I have kept my goldfish for years much as you keep your fish, except instead of a pond with a liner, I keep my goldfish in two plastic kiddie pools, switching the fish from one to the other when the water starts to get yucky. (I have aeration going into the pool, but no filter.) In winter the fish live in a large tub in my basement.

It has been devastating to lose my fish, one after another, when for years they were all so healthy. There are no marks on the dead fish, no visible sign of disease. I have dumped all the frozen food into my gardens as fertilizer (along with the dead bodies of some of my poor fishies) and resolved to only feed tetramin flakes and some other dehydrated foods from now on. The fishes' menu is still varied from live bugs they catch. I am hoping that my remaining fish will recover, but time will tell. If they do all die (I have 4 fish remaining) I will replace them with new fish and resolve to never feed any of them frozen food ever again. It's too risky.

So if you have been feeding your fish frozen foods, I would suggest that could be a factor. Perhaps the recent shipment of frozen foods contains a disease. If not, then it sounds like chemicals in the pool liners may be the culprit in your case. You have my sympathies. It is very discouraging to lose fish you have cared for over a long time.
haymeadowfield
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for your thoughts and comments. I don't feed my fish frozen food so that is not the problem. I too think it is the liner although my husband disagrees with me. I've changed out 3/4 of the water and the remaining fish seem to be doing fine. So now I will wait and see.
tete_a_tete
9 years ago
I'd be suspicious of the liner too, since you have not used any of the possibly suspect frozen fish food.

We lost some fish once, after rain. It seemed odd as that meant that fresh water was pouring in from the house gutters until we realised that no, it wasn't that fresh. Hadn't cleaned out the gutters for a while.

It's sad to lose fish.
buyorsell888
9 years ago
Thousands of people use roofing liner for pond liner. Pond liner just costs more. It's the same stuff from the same factories. Here is a common sense article on the subject: (I am not the author) Pond liner vs roof liner
buyorsell888
9 years ago
Did you use a let the water sit or use a de-chlorinator when you filled the pond back up? Chemicals added to water can be an issue for fishies. When I had aquariums, I fed frozen foods all the time without any issues. For decades. A batch could have thawed and gotten bacteria even salmonella but all frozen foods are not a risk.
spedigrees z4VT
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I fed frozen food to my fish for over a half century too with no issues. I also fed commercially prepared food to my cats and dogs over the same span of time. That was *then* when there were no food safety issues, and foods for our finned and furry friends were manufactured here in this country. *Now* I cook my own dog and cat food, and have since 2007 when 40,000 pets were poisoned by Chinese melamine in the food. I don't trust the commercial pet food industry and I won't be feeding frozen food to my fish ever again.

The sad ending is that I lost every one of my goldfish.