My Guppies Have Died!

[LeCharivari]

I have a small fish pond in a front garden - cement, painted blue, about one cubic metre overall and about 50m deep, with a small pump/filter and a thriving selection of guppies (plah khin yung / mosquito fish). No problems since I put it in 6 or 7 years ago until today when about three-quarters of them have died since yesterday for no apparent reason and with no previous signs of ill-health or problems.

The only things I can think of are as follows although none of them seems to be the problem:

Paint. I re-painted the pond about a month ago, as I have done occasionally before, using the same paint (Rustoleum). Could be lead poisoning or something similar, but it never happened before and nothing happened for a month.

Poison. The only thing I can think of, but there's only one way and that seems unlikely. One of my dogs has a shampoo regularly with a special shampoo for dogs with sensitive skin (Malesab), which is labelled "poison" by the Australian FDA; she goes for a swim on most days in the lake and occasionally took a dip in the fish pond, but I now keep a metal grill over it which I can't remember moving and there's no sign of any "foam" in the water.

Some of the dogs will occasionally cock a leg on, into or near the small pond, and drink from the small pump/fountain, which probably doesn't over-impress the fish but this has never been a problem before.

Acid rain. We've had very heavy rain for a coupe of days, which could have done something - I can't see what, particularly as I have a lake and a pond, each about 1 rai, with koi, pla-nin, cat fish and dog fish and there are no problems in either.

Electrocution. The pump may have had a short, but there's no sign of one and I didn't feel anything.

Beyond mass suicide I have no real idea what happened or what to do for the best, so I've taken out the dead ones and changed the water - any ideas what could have made this happen so quickly?.

[sbk]

toad eggs?

[surayu]

Divorce ?

...sorry i have no idea but i hope that you will find out soon

Edited:

....perhaps if your pond it is really 50 meters deep with just a cubic meter of water inside, maybe they had all an heart attack looking down

Edited August 29, 2011 by surayu

[Mosha]

Really heavy rain falling directly on to the surface can actually deplete oxygen in the water. I lost Koi in the UK that way.

[Angelatarangela]

I can't give you a definitive answer, and it sounds like you have thought of quite a few things yourself. Here are my guesses.

Chemicals, as you said. Maybe shampoo, maybe detergent, maybe paint. It wouldn't have to be much at all to kill your fish. Probably not lead poisoning, but I guess it's possible.

Heavy rain could conceivably reduce the oxygen, but that shouldn't be a major problem for guppies, as they have quite a high tolerance for low oxygen water parameters. Also, depending on how the rain flows into your pond, rain could overoxygenate the water, which can also kill fish. More likely, I suspect, would be a temperature shock, or a pH shock from the rain.

Have you thought about disease or parasites? It's possible they caught something and died. Usually healthy fish are able to overcome disease threats, but sometimes they do succumb, and if this was a particularly bad strain of some disease, that could explain it. Did you add any new fish recently? Do any of the fish show signs of disease? (white spots, ulcers, really emaciated?)

Good luck! How are the fish doing now?

[LeCharivari]

50m? Yes, I meant 50cm!

No, no new fish or any other changes except painting one month ago - that's why the "sudden death" surprised me so much, as I could have understood it if there had been some sign of decline over a few days.

I hadn't even thought of toad eggs or toads - there are a few around, which makes it a possibility, but no sign of toads or eggs in the pond when I cleaned it out, and I have never seen any in or around the little pond either, but I'll keep an eye out.

We've had heavier rain before, with no ill effects, so this seems unlikely. The fish in the "proper" ponds have never had any problem; both are about 7 - 10 metres deep, though, and I pump around 40 cubic metres of fresh water into one every day depending on the rain, so anything there would be pretty well diluted - I get about one dead fish every 6 months in that one, which is pretty well stocked and those are probably from kingfishers rather than disease.

At the moment the few remaining guppies (around 20, including young ones) look healthy enough even though they seem to be spending more time at the bottom of the pond than before; I'll just wait and see, and thanks for the ideas.

[Mosha]

Just a thought, but take a water sample to your local aquarist shop and get it tested.

[onionluke]

Divorce ?

...sorry i have no idea but i hope that you will find out soon

Edited:

....perhaps if your pond it is really 50 meters deep with just a cubic meter of water inside, maybe they had all an heart attack looking down

Was CPR administered ?

[fredob43]

Just a thought, but take a water sample to your local aquarist shop and get it tested.

You said you had a pump is it one that pump's air inside you know the bubble's. Might be the heat it will delete some of the oxygen. I had a problem with my pond and all the fish went to see Buddha. Have now run in an air pump It's a large one with two take off's and I have split those again into two with the Bubble bit's on the end. My pond is about 2.5mt long and 1.8mt wide. As your one is small wont need that big, been in for over two year's and not had one die. Best of luck.

[LeCharivari]

No, it's a water pump with a small "scotchbrite" type filter that I clean every day.

The water sample would have been a good idea, but I've already changed the water and all seems fine now - I hope!

[fredob43]

No, it's a water pump with a small "scotchbrite" type filter that I clean every day.

The water sample would have been a good idea, but I've already changed the water and all seems fine now - I hope!

As you have a power supply stick in a bubble one as well can't do any damage and the full monty only cost's a few hundred bt. Hope all go's well. There is another option Gold fish now they never die.

[F1fanatic]

No, it's a water pump with a small "scotchbrite" type filter that I clean every day.

The water sample would have been a good idea, but I've already changed the water and all seems fine now - I hope!

As you have a power supply stick in a bubble one as well can't do any damage and the full monty only cost's a few hundred bt. Hope all go's well. There is another option Gold fish now they never die.

I don't think I've seen goldfish here. What are they called in Thai?

[harsu]

No, it's a water pump with a small "scotchbrite" type filter that I clean every day.

The water sample would have been a good idea, but I've already changed the water and all seems fine now - I hope!

As you have a power supply stick in a bubble one as well can't do any damage and the full monty only cost's a few hundred bt. Hope all go's well. There is another option Gold fish now they never die.

I don't think I've seen goldfish here. What are they called in Thai?

Goldfish are called ปลา ทอง (blah tohng ) = fish gold!

We currently have 8 in an outdoor raised brick pond. The pond has two levels, the first is only about 60cm deep, then it drops down another 40cm to help with maintaining water temp.

When we bought them they were approx. 5cm long, now - 18months later - they are all about 18cm long, including their long tails. They are 'reject' lion head and fancy tailed ones, so won't grow as big as normal ones. We have lost a couple to the local Coucal bird and nearly another when I took off one of the filters and left the pump running- came back to find one goldfish sucked tight against the pipe. Despite bruising and scale loss , he survived. The other near disaster was when we thought we'd be clever and introduce a few louches to eat the algae. Day one - lovely, they were rasping away, keeping us amused by clinging onto the vase for the fountain to enjoy the gush of water. Day two - what was that hanging onto the side of that goldfish? A blooming louch! Apparently they shouldn't be put in with slow moving fish like goldfish as they like to latch onto other fish and eat their mucous coating. They can erode right through into the fish body. Needless to say they were found an alternative home, and we learnt to research things a bit more thoroughly.

We have found them to be interesting and stunning to watch , and as long as their water is kept clean, very easy to care for. They are all called Bob.

[fredob43]

We started off with all sort's of fish (One's that got on with each other) But slowly they all cockled over. Now have just Gold fish like your lion head long/fan tail's. I got mine from the local pet shop for about 10bt each + they threw a few in for free. Small was not the word about 25mm. Now there all about 15cm or 1" to 6" that's within one year.

Bob Bob!!! Mine are all called Dolphin. But then again I do feed them well.

[harsu]

We started off with all sort's of fish (One's that got on with each other) But slowly they all cockled over. Now have just Gold fish like your lion head long/fan tail's. I got mine from the local pet shop for about 10bt each + they threw a few in for free. Small was not the word about 25mm. Now there all about 15cm or 1" to 6" that's within one year.

Bob Bob!!! Mine are all called Dolphin. But then again I do feed them well.

Have you fed them live termites? Mine love them.

[Angelatarangela]

Day one - lovely, they were rasping away, keeping us amused by clinging onto the vase for the fountain to enjoy the gush of water. Day two - what was that hanging onto the side of that goldfish? A blooming louch! Apparently they shouldn't be put in with slow moving fish like goldfish as they like to latch onto other fish and eat their mucous coating. They can erode right through into the fish body. Needless to say they were found an alternative home, and we learnt to research things a bit more thoroughly.

We have found them to be interesting and stunning to watch , and as long as their water is kept clean, very easy to care for. They are all called Bob.

What kind of loach? Just curious.

Oops, sorry, I tried to reply, but somehow screwed it up, and now I can't get it back.

Edited September 5, 2011 by Angelatarangela

[F1fanatic]

Its one of the upsetting things about fish that they are happy for a couple of years and then it turns into 'the killing fields' for the majority of one species - and it could be any species.

I only keep 'hardy' types but I've had it happen a few times and never received a satisfactory explanation.