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  • Results 1 to 4 of 4

    Thread: Mystery deaths and births

    1. #1
      miamicuse is offline Member
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      Mystery deaths and births

      I have a pond with three gold fish, not sure what kind, because they were there when I bought the property 18 months ago.

      I never fed the fish, there are plenty of tree frogs around with swimming tadpoles in the pond, and they eat mosquito larvae and other stuff. There is even a blue crab that lives under the wood bridge.



      The three goldfish seem happy without any issue. Herons come visit occasionally but the gold fish hid under the bridge. The Iguanas come down from the trees but they only eat the green plants. They got bigger too up to about 8" in size.

      Suddenly one day in March one of the gold fish died. No idea why. I don't think it was any attack, the body just floating on the water. There were only two goldfish left.

      A few months later, I noticed one tiny goldfish swimming in the pond. I have read that goldfish eat their babies, so I don't know what to expect. A week later I noticed two more babies.

      My first question is, is it possible, the third goldfish died because the other pair attacked him because they were mating/hatching?

      Second question is, is there a way to figure out how many small baby goldfish I have because I am planning to drain and clean the pond soon, and I have no idea how many I need to scoop up before I start draining it.

      Third question, I noticed later on two additional babies but they are not gold, instead black/white. Is this normal to have both parent goldfish to be gold entirely then have babies in totally different colors? In the next picture you can see inside the circle there is a black/white goldfish amongst the three gold ones.



      Then two weeks ago, one of the large goldfish died mysteriously. Again, no sign of being attacked by birds or cats, no sign of any disease or parasite that I can tell. Anyway to tell if this one that died is male or female?



      The baby fish are still doing fine, they are over 2" in size now. But I am still wondering what happened to the two big goldfish that died in the past 6 months. Now I have only one large one left.

      I want to get another large one to pair with the lone large goldfish, but it would be best if I can get one in opposite sex, is this possible?

      Finally, yesterday, I noticed one single baby fish, gold in color, about only one inch in length. Water is murky with a mucked bottom and algae (part of the reason I need to clean the pond and rebuild the bridge), but no doubt a smaller goldfish much less in size compared to the four I have been able to spot so far, does it mean there was a second spawning, or it was the same spawning but some grow faster then others?

      Sorry for so many questions, just learning.
      Last edited by miamicuse; 09-02-2020 at 01:17 PM.

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    2. #2
      koi4u2c is offline Senior Member
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      Don't buy any new fish yet.

      Others will want to know PH, ammonia, nitrite, KH levels, filtration??-but my thoughts are drain the pond, catch the goldfish and babies and put them in a stock tank or kiddie swimming pool (may need to put babies separate) and then clean the pond and get the muck out.

      In addition to elevated ammonia and nitrite levels, you could be getting hydrogen sulfide gas from the muck in the bottom which is toxic to fish. I would suggest clean the pond, refill the pond. If not using untreated well water, use water conditioner for chlorine and chloramine.

      Test your water and replace fish. Monitor water quality as needed and watch for any additional problems.

      If you then feed the goldfish the babies will grow faster and the large goldfish will be less likely to eat them. They may grow fast enough that you may not need to buy more fish.
      Nancy



    3. #3
      gray cat's Avatar
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      If you don't have a test kit, get one and come back here with your findings. This will tell the shape your water is in.

      Baby goldfish can be any color and can changes colors for the first few years.

      You said your "Water is murky with a mucked bottom" This could be a reason your fish have died. Did you by any chance stir this up while the fish were in there?

      When you start to work on your pond, you will need to drain some of the pond water into a tub or stock tank with a net over the top, to hold your fish while cleaning out your pond. If they will be in the tub for more than one day, you may need to put a filter in along with an air stone. I would feed the fish lightly also.

      Good luck.
      Nancy



      Koiphen 2013 Koi Person of the Year!

    4. #4
      miamicuse is offline Member
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      How long does it take a goldfish to go from being a fry to mature? Several years?

      Here is one picture. A is the parent fish, B and C are frys. But B is twice as long as C. B is about 2.5" and C about 1.5". Are they from two separate spawnings? I have four the size of B and two the size of C. I am sure there were none before March 2020.

      Name:  IMG_20200903_160858.jpg
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      Another picture below.

      Name:  IMG_20200903_160058.jpg
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Size:  107.8 KB

      Anyway to tell what type of goldfish it is?

      Finally, you can see a black/white one in the yellow circle on top.

      Name:  IMG_20200903_160303.jpg
Views: 138
Size:  90.2 KB

      Eventually that one will turn gold?

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