Tub water feature

keeping my fingers crossed for you too Elizabeth. Try to do ALL this "prep" work before you put the fish back in. Glad you got some advice that you feel comfy with. It's a very different hobby having outdoor fish. Nothing like good old fashioned gardening is it?
Good luck, hope the weather stays warm and calm,
Jenny

 

I suppose its more difficult because it's such a small tub pond, everything seems more complicated.
Shame i wasn't here when it all went wrong though, as i would have called the Farm up and spoke to them right away, and then probably have just had the anti-parasite put in the pond and maybe it wouldn't have escalated this badly.
Oh well, it's all educational i suppose!

 

Well, it's only a tub for a pond, so it shouldn't need to be raised too much to be fair. Thinking about using a take-away plastic tub container - talk about recycling!

 

Sad news.. Went to check on the poorly and he's gone.
Lump of fluff was off his back on the other side of the bucket, probably with his top fin amongst it (i could see some orange scales).
Hoping that it came off after he passed somehow and didn't get ripped off from being tangled in the grass or another fish and thus causing his passing :(

R.I.P poor goldie with the long white tail. You fought so long to stay alive :(
He's been buried with the other fish at the back wall, on the left, underneath that round bush.

Now i have only the two shubunkin's and the goldie with the white face.
that's they survive now.. I'm worried when i put them in the pond tomorrow i may not notice a problem until it's too late though.

 

It wasn't your fault Elizabeth. Don't give up,
Jenny

 

I won't! Probably better off i guess having the two shubunkin's and one goldie in my 60litre tub anyway!

I know the fish expert man told me not to do a full change of my pond with cleaning again, but i've had to. Sounds really bad, and i know its risky, but the bottom was covered in this fluffy cloudy stuff which looks very similar to the stuff on my fish and killing it. It absolutely stank to high heaven too! I couldn't help but think the risk of a full change was better than the risk of putting the 'healthy' fish in with the parasites/fungus.

Currently my fish are in a bucket outside in the shade by the pond, to try to acclimatize the bucket water to outside temp. I will then later pop the fishy in the bucket water into a plastic bag for a while floating in the pond for a few minutes/hours before putting the fish in the pond for good.
Does that sound reasonable?
To be honest though, i will probably place the fish in myself rather than tip the bag/bucket water in the pond because there looks like some fluffy residue in the bucket from the now dead poorly fish - and i don't want to re-introduce it into a clean pond.

 

Can you take some of the fluffy stuff back to your fish suppliers? It sounds viscous and maybe could still infect your tub. Need to get your fish and their environment infection free . See what they say. I do remember when we first had our pond, the Koi man said " don't buy loads of fish all at once". Very tempting , but see how one or two fare and introduce more in twos' over a period of time. We still lost some, but an olive green Tench stayed the distance though he wasn't easy to see very often.
Jenny

 

It's all gone now and I guess it's too late anyway really for my two poor goldies.
I won't be buying anymore fish, i just started with those 5 and probably better for them now theres only 3 for the space they have.

So far so good anyway, all 3 still alive although i wonder if they're in mourning or suspicious of me because they aren't eating like they used to, seem a bit more skittish. Strange without all the pebbles too! Seems empty. Might get me some more grass to stop it looking so empty!

 

They are "skittish" I think because of the recent handling you've had to do. Also, as the days shorten and the day and nights cool down, they, like plants will change their habits. They will spend less time at the top and will be less hungry. As long as you recognise their requirements and don't surplus leave fishfood in their pond, they should be OK,
Jenny

 

Thanks Armandii - it's difficult isn't it when theres lots of different advice and points of view?

To be honest at the moment it's a bit easier to keep my eyes on them without all the pebbles. I have just had a mini clean with my little net - fishing out some stuff (i think fish poop, but it was orange! like the pellet colour). I think I will consider adding one or two of the bigger pebbles at some point soon, but i can't anti-parasite the pond apparently with weather going cold (?). The anti fungus/fin rot stuff we put in didn't seem to work for my second fish to die.. But the others seem fine.

I think my pond plants might be a bit in distress too, other just part of the weather changes. My hyacinths seem to be shedding their stringy root bits? (can you tell these water plants are new to me )