Help!!! What happened to my pond?

[Elizabeth A]

I tried the algae fix as suggested to me in an earlier post. Worked great! I should have given my pond another dose 3 days ago, but had places I had to be and didn't get it done. Yesterday I went out to take care of the pond. The water was the color of grape juice. And the fish all had a white slime coat. I live an hour away from the nearest pet smart. I have to go to the valley today anyway, so I was going to go in while I'm down that way. I went ahead and added another treatment of algae fix, as the rocks were turning black, which is an unusual color for the algae I've had in my pond. This morning the water is clearer, but the fish all died overnight. The turtle is now eating them!!! I want to cry. I've put so much work into that pond and I've had those goldfish for three years. They were as big as the turtle. He didn't bother them until they died. Now it's an all you can eat buffet. What happened? Does anyone have any info that will help?

[f.lanzarone]

Im sorry to hear all your fish died =( I only know a little about algae ridding products.. I know that they get rid of the oxygen in the water, so the algae cannot undergo respiration.. this is bad because the fish need oxygen too. I would not use algaefix or any products like that. I have had great feedback on a product called Algae Pad, it is just a pad that works for months that sits in your pond. You could always try snails to get rid of algae too. Good luck

[Mvjnz]

You should remove the dead fish from the pond. They'll give you a massive ammonia and/or nitrite spike, which might not be good for your turtle.

Personally I prefer to not add chemical to the water. To combat algae in my pond I've put in lots of fast growing plants and remove the algae which I can reach. I'm also in the process of getting some shade cloth to put over the pond. Snails also help.

[Northernguy]

Sorry to hear about your fish.
Did the water clear up in your pond?
Algae can be a bugger, especially outside.

[smaug]

I have never seen that happen and have been using algaefix for over 5 years.Exactly how much did you use and how big is your pond.What type filtartion are you using and do you have a fair amount of moving water,you need at least 2x turnover per hour [200 gal pond needs a 400gph pump] and it needs to run 24/7.I am sorry for your fish,get the pond cleaned out totally,change as much water as you can.

[W_Oz]

My guess - Massive die-off of Algae in the pond caused a bacterial bloom which eutrophied the water and caused the dissolved oxygen to crash and anaerobic bacteria munching away on the dead algae and aerobic bacteria cells releasing bad nasty into the water. Something similar to "red tide". While this might be a little wilder than what actually happened I'd bet my BS degree it was in that ball park.

The white slime coat on the fish is them "protecting" themselves from the bad nasty that was being released by the bacterial bloom.

As Smaug said, clean that pond out pronto! Grab the turtle and the bodies, pump all the water out, then fill it and give it the sanitizing love that only pool shock can give. Drain it again then fill with nice, clean water and start over again with cycling the pond.

Anyone can put a muzzle on me if they think I'm off base with this.

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree with the others. I think the fish were oxygen starved from the medication.

[smaug]

no need to shock the water,just remove and refill,that is if its not to big a pond.

[cocoa_pleco]

thread starter hasnt been on since september 10th. lol