Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish Dying

I was going to fish our pond Saturday morning. I found one dead bluegill and one sticking it's head out of the water gulping for air. It too was soon dead. A couple of hours later a 8-10" bass was sticking it's head out of water and soon died. I then found another bluegill on the other side of the lake with fungus on it fixing to die. It is an 11 acre lake with thousands of fish but do I have something I should be doing. Water is very clear and is warming up. We haven't seen many dead fish but probably wouldn't considering every night the raccoons clean up any dead fish.
Any ideas on what this would be?

generlly speaking when you see one species of dead fish you are dealing with a disease. when you see different species of fish gulping for air you have oxygen problems. large amounts of rotting vegetation or woody debris can cause oxygen problems. usually dont see too many fish kills due to oxygen this time of year. sounds like you need pro help

Shan

If the fungus is on the gill area, it would give the appearance of an oxygen problem. I agree with Shan. You probably need a pro just to sleep nights. They can't cost enough to take a chance on a big loss.

Guys, this is probably an ignorant statement but I would have thought with an oxygen problem the water would not have been so clear. Does clarity have anything to do with oxygen? The fungus was on the body not the gills of that one bluegill.
Thanks Guys.

Generally, you would have large amounts of fish at the surface gulping for air if it were an oxygen depletion, not just one or two at a time. largemouth Bass would probably die before Bluegill. It would be good to test the water for oxygen...this is usually best performed and interpreted by an aquatic biologist, but you can get a cheap kit if you want to check it out yourself. The Koi Analyset on our web site has an oxygen test that is not highly accurate, but it will tell you if you have a severe depletion. Other aquatic companies offer better kits, and more expensive ones. Oxygen levels that are lethal to fish vary with species, temperature, duration and a few other factors, but usually Largemouth Bass will begin to die off around 2 or 3 ppm and Bluegill will begin to die off around 1 ppm.

Fish coming out of winter are often in compromised health due to being dormant all winter, and fungus on a few of them is not uncommon, especially in northern states...I don't know about Texas. If it is just a few fish I would not worry about it. If it were a few dozen, then I'd get an aquatic biologist in right away.

Clear water doesn't directly have anything to do with oxygen levels. The water coming out of our well is clear as can be, but it is void of oxygen. However, oxygen depletions in lakes generally are associated with decomposing vegetation, which can cloud the water.

Buzz, I would suggest looking at the gills of the fish. Maybe there is a parasite. Mike may have some info on this. I don't know if they can host on more than one species though.

What color are the gills? If they are cherry red, then the problem is probably elsewhere. If they are dull pink or white, there could be a gill problem, or the discoloration could be a side-effect of another problem. A few gill parasites, like Ergasilus spp. (fish lice) and Lernaea spp. (anchor worms), can be seen with the naked eye, but others require a microscope and a person familiar with the parasites.

Spring is a time of year when the fish have a supressed immune response, and the warming water gives parasites like Ich, and many other pathogens a "window of opportunity." Therefore, I do not get nervous when I see a few fish die in the spring because there is very little you can do about it and it is normal. I do get nervous if I see dozens of fish dead or dying.

I talked to Bob Lusk who has the advantage of knowing our lake and how we feed and he thinks it is bad or old moldy food pellets still left in the feeder from the winter. We just started feeding so it makes sense, although my assistant(74 year old father) swears he didn't start feeding until Sunday and the fish started dying on Saturday. We have not seen anymore dead ones so I don't think I have a huge problem. Thanks for your help guys.