Topic: Urgent help needed - tadpoles eating fish!

[Tin Shed]

Urgent help needed from fish experts, please.
My mother has a pond with several goldfish and has had tadpoles in every year without any problem.
This year however the tadpoles seem to be eating or nibbling at the fish. On closer inspection some of the fish seem to have a problem with their scales turning white.
Is this a fungal disease or is it parasites on the fish that the tadpoles are attacking.
It is quite distressing to watch and several fish have had to be removed. :(
Has anyone has any ideas or solution to this problem.
Many thanks.

[hippydave]

could be fungal or parasitic damage to the fish that the tadpoles are feeding on i find that during the frog breeding season my fish get stressed and the frogs may actually  bring in disease, so i dose the pond with Malachite green and formalin the two work together and cover a wide range of problems, it is best to by pass the filer system for at least 4hrs after use to get the best results. formalin also removes oxygen from the water so if possible aerate the water with an air pump. These are very toxic chemicals so please use carefully!!! 

[Tin Shed]

Thanks, hippydave. Any idea where we get the the Malachite green and formalin from? The pond doesn't have a filter system, but looks very clear. How and what do you use as a air pump?
Sorry to ask so many questions, but I am going have to explain all this to my mother!

[Sinbad7]

Hi Tin Shed, I also think the taddies could be eating parasites off of the fish, if it was me I would give them a dose of Tetra Pond Medifin.  I always use this twice a year especially after the frogs have spawned as the fish in my pond seem to damage themselves trying to get to eat as many tads as they can.

Let us know how you get on and good luck.

You can buy Medifin at most garden centres who sell aquatic stuff.

[hippydave]

any good aquatic shop will sell them they are readily avaliable and if you look on line you will get an idea of cost, on ebay you can get a pre mix of both for around £12.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Formalin-and-Malachite-premix-250ml-treats-2-500-gal_W0QQitemZ370102755652QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Fish?hash=item562bd7e144&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A5|39%3A2|72%3A1686|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200

[THE MASTER]

some other points that you might need to look at

carp at this time of year get frisky and start to bread
carp when are breading they crash around and naturaly damage them selfs . a good salt bath if you see any wounds normaly works

that just ten mins in a sea salt bath definatly not table salt
have a chat with a local carp quiy place they will be more than happy to help you out

keep an eye on the water temp . the hotter the water the les the oxygen level
also keep an eye on wot the fish are doing if they are up the top and sucking there is little oxygen in the water . a quick way to get oxy back is is to adjitate the surface

[Tin Shed]

Thanks for all your help. Will relate all this back to my mother!
The fish do seem to be upset by the hoards of hungry tadpoles and are not coming up to feed as they used to.

[labrat]

No one has stated the obvious but I thought I'd just mention that it is very common for goldfish to change colour. I've had dozens and dozens over the years lose the reddy colour and turn white, some completely, some becoming patchy. If as you say the scales are turning white and are not being obscured by a topical white growth then they are simply changing colour. They remain perfectly healthy and live for ages.

It is highly unlikely it has anything to do with the tadpoles (unless as I said there is a topical white growth on top of the fish scales which may be a fungal infection brought in by the tadpoles). In addition to fungal disease which would be white and fluffy there is also carp pox which most goldfish never experience and creates white blobs on the scales and is harmless and will be cured by the fish itself in warmer waters as well as over time as resistance develops.

As has been stated and I can confirm myself at the moment, goldfish are breeding around this time. They swim very fast, chase each other around and will often come up to the surface on their side and flap about to release eggs into surrounding foliage or roots. The males will nudge the females constantly and she will eventually get tired. There is a risk of the female dying after such exertions.

People get into a big mess medicating their fish without diagnosing the problem. If it is a parasite then you need to take a scrape (gently removing some of the skin mucus on the fish) and exam it under a microscope to determine the problem and the solution. Probably a task for your local aquatic centre or a good local hobbyist. Though most people wouldn't bother for a common goldfish. There are also some chemicals that for example Koi carp can handle but goldfish can't let alone tadpoles that would die if exposed to most treatments.

[shirlton]

We have loads of taddies and newts, but have never had any problems with them eating the fish, more a case of the fish eating all the taddies. I don't think Tone has treated our fish in all the time he's had em. Mind you we only have koi . We did have a mixed pool in the begining but the goldfish always seemed to get fungus etc.

[Tin Shed]

We have got some Tetra Pond Medifin as there is definitely something wrong with the fish. The white scales are looking fluffy and the tadpoles are actually eating the flesh ???
Some of the fish stated to change colour last year, but this is completely different. They bred last year but we didn't have these problems.
Hopefully we can sort the problem out.

[Sinbad7]

Tin Shed, if there are any you are really worried about you need to give them the salt water treatment.

There's lot's of information out there on how much salt to water.

I had a goldfish last year with bad white spot, that goes all fluffy, and treated the pond with Medifin and it did clear up.  I followed the instructions on the bottle and think I had to do the pond twice.

Good luck.

[Ninnyscrops.]

Early May we introduced 7 shubunkins and 5 goldfish to our aged pond, they were about 3 inches long so quite small. I'd dredged the pond about a month before and there must have been at least 100 newts and dragonfly larvae that I'd put back in.  There was only the one large goldfish left and she was one of the original from when we moved in 26 years ago. 

One of the shubunkins was a floater within 2 weeks.  Yesterday I found a headless one floating.

I've witnessed newts going in for the kill with something on the margins they want, they act like small crocs, twisting and turning until they've got it!

Perhaps I may have taken away some of their foraging food by dredging and suspect they may be turning on the little fish for sustenance, even though there's plenty of food going in each day.

As I have never do chemicals in the pond can I ask for a bit of advice on this too?

Linda

[Sinbad7]

When you say plenty of food going in I presume you mean to feed the fish.

Doubt that fish food would feed the crocs  :)

If it was me I'd take the fish out and wait for quite a while before putting them back into the pond.  It does sound like you have upset the balance a bit.

Do you have somewhere to put them as they need to start getting their summer fat to see them through the coming winter.

Mind this is why many say you can't have a wildlife pond with fish.

Bit sad though

[Ninnyscrops.]

Yes, the food is Tetra sticks in the morning and flakes in the evening.

Sadly nowhere to keep them Sinbad other than the pond.  Didn't realise I'd upset the balance, thought as there was only the one left time to restock and hence dredged it to give them the deeper water in the winter when it freezes. Oh dear a lesson learned and hope some will survive.

Thanks, Linda

[Andy H]

Might help a bit if you could post some pics of the pond and fish and a few details like the gallonage etc.

Be careful with treatments as you need to know the EXACT pond volume.

[Tin Shed]

Latest update on the tadpole eating fish problem.
We got some Tetra Pond Medifin and the lady in the aquatic centre worked out the capacity. We have treated the pond twice and some of the fish do look as if the white patches are resolving, but one or two are still being eaten by the tadpoles. My mother is going to try and get the worst affected one out in the hope that it will have a chance to recover without being attacked by tadpoles.
In general the fish are looking a bit livelierand are coming up to be fed on occasions.
There are just so many tadpoles in the pond.

[Andy H]

get the taddies out and put them somewhere else and hlep the fish out!

[Tin Shed]

Oh don't worry, Andy, tadpoles are being removed all the time ......but there must have been hundreds of them!!!!