Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Help ID stuff growing in pond

Anyone know what this might be? Nasty stuff growing on submerged tree branches. Also some fish have what appears to possibly be a fungus or disease? Thanks for any help with this.

Those are a colonial water filtering cluster sometimes called 'moss animals', as above noted bryozoan, that is an indicator of good healthy water quality.

That was fast, so it's nothing to worry about then. I tried to enlarge this photo to see the fish better. I can try to get some closer shots, not all fish in the pond have whatever it is.

Were those BG in the pic?

As a water quality indicator ... what attributes of water quality do Bryozoa indicate? The few photographs I have seen show them associated with very green water with low visibility. The same applies to the OP's photograph. I usually associate high water quality with very clear water so I figure I am missing something with regard to what qualifies water as high quality. Would an organism like this be more abundant in clear waters or are they more likely to occur with high concentrations of living organisms in the water column like are present in the OP's photograph? It occurs to me they may be sensitive to toxins, pesticides, and herbicides and that this is the water parameter being referred to. Organisms in water cycle quickly but a colonial organism like a bryozoan is long lived so a photograph doesn't necessarily depict the environment they thrived or grew in.

Just an observation... am I seeing fungus on those fish???

" not all fish in the pond have whatever it is."
Maybe I missed the point of the post???

It looks like it to me.

Ohtrpond, were those fish recently stocked?

That was the second part to my question, what that looks like on the fish? Pond has been full, stocked for over ten years. This is the first year seeing that on the fish, only some have it. Going to try to get clearer pics, hoping there is something I can treat it with.

Things are looking worse, seeing a lot more fish with problems and some like this.

It''s_really hard_ to treat successfully once the fuzz is that visible. BG seem to be really susceptible to certain fungus coming from winter into spring. I think this can be associated with stress, again many factors combine to cause this but water quality has an impact.
The ponds contain many organisms that are present that the immune system can handle in healthy fish.. If immune system is not up to par, things can happen.
If you feed at all, you can mix some liquid antibiotic with some feed-not too much- and if they will eat, healthy fish can overcome some of the issues.

Have these fish been handled via angling or anything like that in the last week or so???
And the body of that fish, as far as shape/condition/weight is not good over-all.

Pond is almost half acre so can't say which if any have been caught recently, it's not fished heavily just family for the most part. It's really kind of sickening, the pond is over 50 years old, renovated about 12 years ago and this is the first time we've had sick fish. Walking around it we see more and more with issues. Last year we had nice healthy fat fish.

How many of what species and what size are they do you harvest per year?

This is an abnormal year.. Have lots of reports of weak/sick BG and I think it must have been the organisms in the pond could not keep up with the cycle they create, or clean up. Something has stressed those fish. and the body condition of the last pic you posted just doesn't look healthy to me-looks very skinny.

We never harvest any of the fish. I agree that one looks under weight but is that because it's sick? So there is no way to treat the water to help them? Nothing has changed with the pond, filled by run off from my property, just empty land around it, no creeks or anything running into it.

Ohtrpond,

My biggest concern is the organic load your water is currently carrying. This is probably the source of the stressors that the Snipe is referring. I don't have the experience to tell you if the disease is caused by fungus, bacteria, protozoa, etc. But I suspect that the water is probably carrying above average concentrations of at least one of them and the water is definitely carrying an intense bloom of autotrophic (microscopic algae). So it is unclear to me what treatment to do at this time. Killing any of these will only feed the fungi, bacteria, and protozoa and run the risk of severe oxygen depletion. We see this happen every year where members post similar experiences and these outbreaks seem to run their course. Occasionally Terramycin treated feed is recommended. But by and large ... larger, older fish tend to succumb with survival of smaller fish.

There's so much we don't know but (I think) what those fish really need is happy water and that is something you can't turn around with a quick treatment given the current state of the pond's bloom. You need a forward looking plan that would help to prevent or mitigate against recurring extended periods of intense bloom such that fish are currently enduring.

I thought I would add that the stressor more likely to be causing these problems is low DO especially at night. You did not mention if you aerate. Some kind of surface aeration might help improve condition but it comes with this warning. With this level of bloom and the already existing stress ... any mixing of water not penetrated by light has an elevated risk of exacerbating DO drawdown. Also, the byproducts of anoxic biodegradation are toxic to fish. Turning the pond over would probably have devastating consequence. Paddlewheel aeration is very efficient and is least likely to cause mixing but this really depends on the power of the aerator. In other words, too much power and the water may still mix too much. I know some members have used boat motors and water pumps as aerators during events like this. I think I would prefer to do such with a water pump in the shallow end of the pond further away from the deepest portions where anoxic volume will be greater. if done correctly only the surface of the water is disturbed and a current develops like a mushroom cloud where the disturbed water circles back on both sides of the stream to reenter the disturbed portion (like two eddies).

I do have a 2" pump, will set it up tomorrow. Hard to believe how fast this spread and so many more fish are looking really bad. We did have one of the coldest/longest winters in guite a while but the fish all looked good up until a few weeks ago.