Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Fungus spots on fish

Enough ice has come off my pond that as I was walking around it yesterday, I noticed some BG & LMB with fungus or some other spots on their bodies. Any ideas what this is & is it harmful? Couldn't get close enough for a pic. Noticed some BG that didn't survive winter. Size range was small to 10+".

Stressed fish probably from low dissolved oxygen or an overmixing and subsequent chilling of the lower water column if you over did it with a diffuser(s). If it doesn't cover too much of their bodies they will make it once the water warms up, they start feeding, and their immune system kicks in.

Also catch and release ice fishing can bring on fungal issues from handling.

When fish are stressed they more easily succumb to fungal and bacterial issues just like stress can more easily bring on a cold in us.

Thanks, I was wondering about that. I ran 1 aerator all winter in 7' of water so think next year I'm going to pull diffuser into shallower water.

Sounds like a good idea. Mine is in 4 feet of water and the warmest water I could find in my .62 acre pond in the deepest spot of 9 feet was 34.5 F. It should have been about 39 F.

Cecil, I've been told that "rock salt" helps in fungal issues (no clue on how much to use). Do water temps have something to do with its effects? Been a real rough winter (on the fish especially).

Thinking about using an auger in a "few" holes and putting some salt in! I'm not going overboard but I don't think it will hurt...

And salt is a natural bacteria killer.

Salt at a certain level can prevent fungal issues when hauling but is only so so to treat fungal issues.

I doubt you could add enough salt to your pond to make any difference.

Yes fungal issues are definitely more prevalent in cold water as the metabolism of bacteria is quite slow in cold water.

Fungus as CB1 says is due to stress. The task now is to figure out what caused the stress. Was it one thing or a combination of factors?. For sure - winter is the hardest season for warm water fish, especially old warm water fish, to endure. The older a fish get the more vulnerable it becomes to certain stresses, similar to people. Just having too many fish per acre in a pond becomes a significant stressor for several reasons during the winter season. Severity of winter also is a factor. Many factors involved to cause fish stress.

Thanks for the info guys, I put 10Lbs of minnows in my pond every spring and another 10lbs every fall (plus pellet feeding in the summer). I'm trying salt in the areas I know fish hang out in. Kinda scared to see what happens when all of the ice melts.

Basically, the only stress my fish have seen in the snow and ice. Pond was only fished 4 to 5 times in 2013... No-one fished it after Sept.

In aquaponics we salt to 3ppt and it helps repair the slime coat and those fungus and ick just fall off. But that's a lot of salt, it turns out to be about 2.5 lbs of salt per 100 gallons of water and i am sure there's a lot of reasons why you wouldnt want to do that to your pond.

When we do that the tradeoff is that some plants dont like it, it can kill strawberries and tomatoes may struggle, etc. So mostof us only do it when fish look sick or as cecil says during transportation.

I believe that the long cold could be enough to cause it.

I didn't put any salt in but I will be really curious what happens when the rest of the ice melts.....I can always re-stock but you hate to see your fish die...

In my nonaquaponic systems I find that 2 ppt is sufficient to reduce stress. I always thought you needed at least 5 ppt to do what your saying but I could be wrong.

Just my observations of course and yours could very well be different.

Just a 3 ppt (0.3 percent or 3000 ppm) would require 2.5 pounds per 100 gallons as bcotton says. In just a 1/10 acre pond of 100,000 gallons you're talking 50 fifty pound bags of salt! A typical half acre pond would probably be about 500 bags needed! So you can see why throwing a little salt down a few holes would be futile. And it's not going to stick around one spot. It will diffuse to a much, much, much, smaller concentration.

There are bacteria that can live in salt. AFAIK sodium chloride is not considered a bactericide.

Cecil, is the bacteria that can live in salt a threat to fish?

Not that I'm aware of. There are lots of species in saltwater that are benificial or benign.

Just curious Cecil... I've treated sick fish, aquarium fish and cuts with salt!!! Had a few casualties but most lived (me too) .

It might work on fungus, but both fish health texts I have say there are other things that work better. What the salt does do is reduce stress by promoting osmotic balance and if the dose is high enough stripping off old mucous and stimulating the fish to produce a new mucous covering.

Reducing stress may allow the immune system to function better.

Great info Cecil.....Now I'm wondering what "other things" work better?

PP, formalin, hydrogen peroxide, methylene blue, malachite green.

Thanks Cecil!!! Actually I didn't know you could use hydrogen peroxide with fish. I use it all the time with the dogs ears. Cuts and scrapes after dog fights (basically over food). My wife buys it a gallon at a time. We always keep a hand sprayer of peroxide full.

Plus, I use it also after breaking up dog-fights.... Don't know if you remember Mason but he got me the best. Had to have a plastic surgeon sew me up.

Not blaming Mason though... He got into it with the St. Bernard and got pinned to his back. Then I got in the middle and I got schooled .

Just make sure you look up the doses and get them right or you could do more harm than good. Also keep in mind some of those chemicals are not approved for foodfish.

So did Mason give you an appreciation for the tensile strength of a dogs jaws? Wow that sounds scary.

Mason must not have known what side you were on. :-)

The fight was fairly quick... Was watching a movie and laying on the floor with those two on either side. Mason decided to try to get between me and (Lee) the St. Bernard. That's when it started (I'm on the floor right between these two jealous goofballs) and 10 minutes later, I was headed to the emergency room. I do have puncture wound scars on both hands from stopping my dogs fighting.

Never ever had a problem with Mason after that night. I think he knew he bit the wrong "dog" . But while he was here, he turned into a great watchdog and had a great time (especially after we put some meat of his bones). I'm still glad he came (home) to our home.

Sorry jdfarmer for hijacking your thread. I try not to do it but sometimes I get distracted .

Hang_loose,

That is so awesome you took him and and Rex transported him. You guys are tops in my book! When I see all the dogs that are euthanized because nobody wants them it breaks my heart.

Thanks again Hang Loose from a grateful PB community. Sorry about the hand !





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