I’ve put off talking about this but it’s time I explained my relative silence on this blog.
About two weeks into August I had an incredibly tragic day. I went out to feed the fish in the late afternoon and found that they looks quite stressed and several were listless. I noticed that there was a film on the surface of the water, accompanied by some bubbles that did not look natural in origin.
It did appear that somehow the pond had been cross contaminated with soap or a chemical of some kind. I did test the water, and all parameters were well within normal range for the pond. I had fed them earlier in the day and everyone was active and happy. I can’t say for certain how it happened, and while I initially had some suspicions I really can’t be sure, so I won’t get too into my theories on what may have been the cause. I will say that I don’t believe what happened was malicious, and that it was likely accidental.
I quickly moved the fish to a separate clean tub with aeration, did a complete water change of the pond, rinsed off every plant, and the filter/pump. However several fish were in the process of dying when I came down to check on them, and I was not able to save them.
I lost my big calico male and my calico telepearl, as well as all of my babies, except one. My other telepearl, the one who arrived with damage to her swim bladder is alive but is negatively buoyant and cannot get off the bottom. Although she recovered mostly from her injuries she sustained during shipping, this was most likely the proverbial nail in the coffin for her swim bladder.
Another female was being treated with oral meds after being roughed up during a spawning attempt, is also negatively buoyant, but otherwise are alright. The other four fish recovered well, however these two girls will likely remain “sinkers” for the rest of their lives.
Considering I was just getting back into the hobby this was a huge blow to me emotionally. I’ve kept up with the pond and my fish but I’ve largely been avoiding the hobby otherwise.
But avoiding things doesn’t really fix them. In my many years of fish keeping, both as a hobby and professionally, I’ve made mistakes. Anyone who tells you they haven’t is lying. You just have to get up, and try again, with the knowledge to prevent what happened from recurring.