Fishies & 'ich'

[wispfox]

... Oh.

I vaguely noticed last fall that a few of my fish were acting oddly and looked strange, but was too distracted by the new semester to do much about it except remove the ones that looked really bad.

I'm suspecting that, in addition to the difficult winter (perhaps entirely aside from the rough winter), I had an outbreak of 'ich' (http://www.ehow.com/how_5891304_treat-ich-ponds.html).

For those who don't already know, I'm pretty sure that we lost all our fish over the winter. We have a surviving tadpole, and at least one surviving snail.

Ich apparently always comes from external sources, which is frustrating. I added a few pond plants last year, which is my guess for where it came from, and apparently it's worse when the water cools down. (but maybe it only comes from added fish? In which case, I have _no_ clue, as I've added no fish)

Now, I guess, to figure out how to remove it before I add any new fish to the pond.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Ick.

At least it does sound like it's easier to get rid of when the pond is empty.

I suppose that might be another reason why none of them survived. Ah well.

[blk]

Oh boo! That sounds frustrating. Maybe better to nuke from orbit and start over? :-/

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Really, really prefer not.

Other than the ich, the pond will have all sorts of good things in there.

So, I wait, and I think when the water is typically 60 or higher, I treat with anti-ich stuff.

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

Sad! : (

[squirrelitude]

Oh no fishies!

I suppose it could also come in on the feet of hungry birds (just like some pond plants and even fish eggs.)

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Potentially, yes, although I suspect either it was already in there (who knows) or it came in with plants.

[jasra]

Poor fishes!