all fish in my pond dead!

[americana-chick]

Well today we find out that in one of our ponds that our horses and cows drink out of that all of the fish in that pond are floating on top of the water and dead! There was just about every type of fish known in kansas in that pond and some where over 2 ft long! But now the real problem.... what could have caused this and will our livestock die because of the water too? We are taking the water to be tested sometime today and I will post pics of the pond later.

 

[redhen]

 

[Yvonne37894]

Was there any crop spraying going on in your area?
So sorry for you

 

[TaLani]

So sorry. Sounds chemical in nature. Are your horses & cows acting okay?

We had a trout pond place around where I live that went out of business due to the State spraying for kudzu and it killed all of his fish and contaminated the ground so badly around his pond that he could never reopen his trout pond business again.

 

[EweSheep]

Is the pond shallow, probably O2 has been depleated and the fishes die from lack of oxygen. The sun can be brutal at times, drying out so fast.

Testing the water is a good idea!

 

[bandbaustin]

HAd this same problem in our koi pond this year. I have needed to clean the muck out of the bottom for some time. I did not realize the pump had quit working for a few days and it has been Hot out. Came home one day and realized over 3/4 of our fish were floating. I am thinking due to lack of O2. Will definately be cleaning it out this fall when the lillies die back.

 

[CCFarms9559]

If it is really hot and the pond is not too deep - it will "turn over" and everything in it dies. Has to do with the lack of oxygen in the heat. So sorry about your pond. Don't know about the cows & horses drinking from it. The dead fish may sour the water.

 

[patandchickens]

What they said. Chemicals are *possible*, but more likely it was either flat-out too hot (if the pond is quite shallow), or too hot and/or too much organic matter in the lower parts of the water, causing oxygen depletion, causing dead fish.

I would really suggest NOT letting your stock drink out of it, because ponds in this condition often have large populations of bluegreen algae species which can be toxic in some situations. Usually you can get away with it but not always and the first sign is usually dead or dying livestock.

Best solution would involve: 1) minimize future nutrient inputs to pond (from fertilizer and manure), this is very important!; and ALSO 2) install some kind of fountain or bubbler that maintains circulation and discourages formation of separate layers of warm top vs cool bottom water. (If the pond does not stratify, you do not [usually] get oxygen-depleted water in the lower parts, giving fish a better shot at survival.) In some cases it is necessary to also deepen the pond and/or give up trying to keep cool-water fish species.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat, former aquatic biologist

 

[huntercf]

If your large animals were drinking out of the pond then they probably transferred 'greens' to the water which in turn can cause algae to grow which depletes the O2 (especially if the pond is shallow) and it has been warm all over the US. Sorry for your loss. Run your finger along the side of the pond near the top and if you have green goo then you know it is algae. If no algae then it could be a chemical of some sort, there are alot of chemicals used around animals (especially insecticides, herbicides) that if you read the labels closely they say 'toxic to fish'.

 

[twentynine]

Low oxygen.