Are Goldfish smarter than Cichlids?

[GlennC]

Hi all

Just wanted to get people's attention...

We have a pool that has been converted into a bloody big goldfish pond. The fish breed a lot, but the big ones are constantly dying! The fish have absolutely no symptoms - they look fine. We have lost other fish to birds, but these ones look perfect. But they are definitely dead!

I have tested the water today:

pH = 6.4

Nitrite = 0.5

Nitrate = 0

KH = 3

GH = 0

Then I learnt that they should have salts etc in their water. The pool has no mechanical filtration or aeration, but obviously gets heaps of rain water when it rains. I haven't added any chemicals to it and so am wondering if I can add cichlid salts to it to bring up the salt levels and also the pH.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

Glenn

[Foti]

add pool salt !

also its best if you can get the water moving aeration is key as well

all you need is a pump and jus pump water up and out

if you want filtration fill a crate with jap mess and pump the water onto it have some white wool onto which you could replace once a week or two

as why are only your large fish dieing ?

all thed best

[Rod54]

If Nitrite is .5 you have a problem....or is that just a typo?

Nitrite is poison

Nitrate isn't

Looks like very soft water

Cichlid salts would be Good to get GH up

Personally I don't like to use Table salt/Pool salt

A pool water hardener....would work

I'd aerate the water with a simple fountain pump.....a 2 way one with a big sponge filter on inlet(you will need to clean sponge weekly though!)

My Father has a pond feed by rainwater.....he can't keep Goldfish alive either....so It maybe the very soft water???

[GlennC]

Thanks guys, I will add some cichlid salt, but will have to add a lot as this is a relatively large above ground oblong pool of maybe 4 metres wide, 6 metres long and at least 1 metre deep.

There's a big tandum catfish in there and it seems fine. Some one suggested to my Mother that the catfish is causing them to die but I don't think so as the dead fish have beautiful long untouched fins and no visible exterior marks on them.

Yes, the nitrite test came back as 0.5 and the nitrate looked like 0. Don't know what this means, but I will look at getting a filter. There are no plants in there other then floating weed that has taken up most of the surface. Also, the fish don't hang about gasping for breath at the surface and therefore I do not think that it is an oxygen problem.

For some unknown reason it does seem to only be the largest fish that are dying. Perhaps smaller ones do die but that birds get to them before we see them? I don't know.

Cheers

Glenn

[dogboy]

have a look at aquaponics,

you could pump water from the pool to a gravel bed and grow edible plants in the gravel bed to filter the water. i have goldfish and rainbow trout in an aquaponics system, it uses rainwater and doesn't get any salts except for the occasional bucket of water from the fish room.

[mcloughlin2]

For filtration you have three options that are relatively cheap;

- Aquaponics as mentioned above.

- A decent sized DIY pond filter using a submersible pump (Is not going to keep the pool clean but should control ammonia and nitrite.

- Potted plants within the pool.

Although aquaponics is the best method is this case it is also the most expensive so I'll run your through option 2 and 3.

Throw a few large potted plants in there with gravel/sand as substrate. They will help consume nutrients within the water and the area within their roots will allow surface area for bacteria to grow to compete the filtration cycle (ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate).

The submersible pump filtration could be something as simple as a bucket filled with sponge on top and some scoria (red rocks used in landscaping) underneath with a hole drilled in the bottom. You then connect a pipe to the intake of the submersible pump by removing the cage from the pump and run this into the hole drilled in the bucket. This forces water to be drawn through the media within the bucket filtering the water and then creating some small amount of current in the pool.

Neither options are ideal but they will help. I would also recommend throwing in a bag of aragonite or coral sand or alternatively some pieces of limestone. Being calcium carbonate based these subtances will very slowly dissolve raising your pH and hardness.