Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Diseased Fish?

it was warm yesterday and i was sitting on the banks of my 1/2 acre pond observing the bluegill that decided to come out of their winter slumber. One bluegill in particular looked very bad, He was very dark, almost Black and one of his eyes was missing, instead of an eye it was a large white "cottony" mass. His dorsal fins where kinda redish w/ more white cotton on them. He was swimming very slowly and looked very out of it. I tried to net him to get him outta the pond but failed. Anyone think he is diseased and if so is this contagious? I'll get him out next time I see him, but should i be worried? or is he just a blue heron victim that is infected?

Winter is very hard on warm water fish, like Bluegill, so it is not unusual to loose a couple going into spring. Probably 99% of fish diseases are secondary in nature. Disease organisms are present in every pond...they just do not cause a disease unless there is an oportunity, like a stressed out fish.

Don't worry about one or two ill looking fish. However, if you see dozens, then something is wrong. That's when you need to trouble shoot.

funny , just sat. i was walking around and saw one bulegill with the same problem , i reached in and grabbed him , he had fuzzy white thing on his eye too and was out of it. what did he have ?

Like Ken mentioned, most infections that you see on the fish are secondary- meaning that a wound, stress, etc gave the disease organism a chance to work it's nasty magic. If you are seeing a white, fuzzy area that resembles cotton on the fish, you are almost certainly seeing a fungus (probably a fungus called Saprolegnia). This fungus takes advantage of physical injuries that a fish has incurred from some other source. Your pond's healthy fish should be fine because this fungus is always in your pond.....it just thrives on sick, stressed, injured, diseased fish. If you were running a hatchery then you would want to begin treatment, but I wouldn't be overly concerned with the rest of the fish in your pond.

phew , thank you