Originally Posted by
koiman1950
I don't think it has to do so much with the creating a shadow on the pond floor as it did actually cleaning it that well. The one fish facing face down and then face up is a kind of red flag of parasitic issues, and the fact that they are all hanging out together facing the same direction is also kinda weird but synchronous in that they are all feeling somewhat stressed. Then you talk about putting charcoal in the system - why? Now the fish are showing even more signs of stress. That could attributable to a few things but they all seem to have been done around the same time. Overcleaning, getting into pond (they're not accustomed to this) and adding charcoal to the system. Now, their stomachs are irritated. Did you recently change the food? How old is the food you're feeding? One thing that doesn't fit with stressful behavior. You say that when you got into the pond, the fish were nibbling at your toes. That's a normal behavior that belies being stressed by your invasion of their surroundings. I don't know what to think here.
Scrubbing off the entire pond floor was not really a smart idea unless there was a high degree of mulm down there.