Caryl Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) The past two days have had the death of one very large and one medium sized goldfish each day and today I have another small - medium about to expire. I have seen no sign of them spawning yet and do not usually until November, so it is not exhausted females.There is not a mark on them. Full colour, no redness, rapid breathing, bloating, fin rot or swim bladder problem. They just curl slightly and die.These photos show the smallest. It is still alive, breathing normally. If startled it can swim away then just goes back to hanging curled on its side.Pond appears as usual. Fresh water runs into it continually via a ballcock. Filter and waterfall running well. No garden spraying that I know of done by neighbours (besides, I would expect more deaths if that was the case). We back on to a reserve and nothing is done over there except the occasional mowing.I would attach photo but it keeps telling me I am only allowed 215.04kb despite the pic only being 79kb. Trying a Photobucket link instead. Edited October 19, 2015 by Caryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) The above was taken looking down on the fish. The patch that looks a bit like a skull is just reflection. It is in a plastic container sitting on a stainless steel draining bit of the bench.This is from the front. Edited October 17, 2015 by Caryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Age and sudden temp changes? Perhaps check the council hasn't sprayed the fencelines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 There is nothing to spray over the fenceline and the fence is solid iron so I doubt spray would get through that, then the thick row of hebes and into the pond but will check on Monday. They have never sprayed before so doubt they are doing so now.Not age as none of them are anywhere near old age.We haven't had any temperature changes that would affect such a large body of water.I started feeding them last week and wondered if the fish food had gone off but more would be affected if that was the case. I have thrown out the old food as a precaution although it looked and smelled like the new food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 (edited) Sprays, disease, off food, temp should all have seen more deaths.fish aren't skinny or have dropsy and no external damage so predator isout of the picture tooAre gills red/pink?Autopsy time, liver a good colour and does stomach contents smell bad? ' Edited October 17, 2015 by livingart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjansss Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Goldfish don't have stomachs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 I'm sure I read somewhere in the last week of one other person losing their goldfish when starting off feeding again. Well, that is what they put it down to with the unexplained deaths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Not sure about an autopsy as I do not have any equipment (or a good enough knife, or the stomach ). At the moment this fish is still alive, but only just. We are going out and I suspect it will be dead on our return. It does not appear to be stressed which is why I have not euthanised it.Gills looking lovely and normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 Fish died and we tried to open it up. No idea what to look at. Have taken photos but need to go out now. I will email the pics to you later today LA rather than post them here in case they upset someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colour_genes Posted October 17, 2015 Report Share Posted October 17, 2015 I used to get a similar problem sometimes when I was breeding goldfish, always in spring when the fish started feeding again. I put it down to particularly greedy fish gulping down too much dry food, & possibly air, in one go. Leading to some sort of gut blockage?Anyway, I pretty much eliminated it in my ponds by making sure I used pre-soaked or moist food for the first couple of weeks of feeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Thanks for that Colour_genes. I am wondering the same myself so will soak the flakes before adding them to the water. I do not feed pellets or larger foods at first (my dad always said fine porridge oats was good for them at the start of spring).We have had a very hard winter so perhaps that has added to the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Pics were good, well done the surgeon, a good healthy looking fish.I would run with Colour-genes suggestion of a possible blockage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 There is another very large fish I am watching. Hard to tell if they are enjoying the sun or if it is a pre-cursor to something else. It does not startle so I suspect another is about to die :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 The only way to confirm a blockage would be to, once its dead, go down the intestinal tract with a finger and thumb either side and feel for a hard lump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Easier to do on a larger fish :-)Anything I can do for the live one? I know peas or Epsom Salts work for constipation but a gut blockage is different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxim_nz Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I'm sure I read somewhere in the last week of one other person losing their goldfish when starting off feeding again. Well, that is what they put it down to with the unexplained deaths.I lost a one or two a week last season in my aquaponics pond (probably lost 10 or 12 total) as it warmed up and feeding started.. once I completely cleaned my sump (bathtub) right out, no more deaths at all. So this season I cleaned out sump once again at end of winter (added some shrimp to live and clean the sump) and gone to a mostly home made vege diet rather than shop bought diet. I've had one die over the same period as last seasons disaster, and just had 3 days of spawning :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Fish died and we tried to open it up. No idea what to look at. Have taken photos but need to go out now. I will email the pics to you later today LA rather than post them here in case they upset someone.I'd have liked to see the pics...:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuri08 Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 Weird i had a similiar issue when we lived out in drury in auckland.I lost most of my large males that were 10+ years old and all my oranas.I started feeding in spring too so maybe its the greediness and they are getting blocked up.My big ones that died were 30cms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I am happy to send you the pics Ira. Not sure if you still have the same email address as the one I have here though.Could post them here if nobody objects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 I would like to see the photos Never a better way to learn than to see this sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexyay Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 What are you feeding (brand, food type)? Autopsy pics look pretty healthy (well, other than being dead) - although I can't tell (noob) whether the top organ in the first photo is a gonad or kidney - if kidney, it looks like it might have some fatty deposits on it? Though it could also be an ovary full of eggs and I've just not dissected enough fish (I have a habit of taking all the organs out first, and haven't had many chances to dissect large fish where I can easily discern what everything is, lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 19, 2015 Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2015 I have only just started feeding them again after winter so just crushed up Aqua One flakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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