I need help. Pond fish are dying

[Opcn]

I wouldnt suggest topping up the pond, the chlorine may be diluted but it only takes a little bit to kill a cycle and thats a massive fish die out. What you mat want to do is get an air compressor with a long hose and somesort of diffuser at the end, Then plug it in and toss the diffuser into the middle, kick that DO level right up. William has the right Idea with digging out the silt, it would be great in gardens as an amendment to the soil.

 

[BettaMomma]

Well, it's now 10:30 and the fire dept just left.
They decided to use a pump and took water straight from the big pond and pumped it directly into the smaller one. They ran about *EDIT* 25,000 gallons in there. They had to stop because of the noise the pump was making. They're coming back tomorrow.

I agree that they should do something about the depth of the smaller pond, but I'm just happy the fish have something to keep them going now. As soon as they started pouring the water into the rancid little pond there were little wiggles all over the place - and we shined flashlights into the water to see fish swimming all over the place.

Was very impressed. The chief came along, and was here the entire time this was going on. When it was time to go in for the night, he said to me "Thanks for caring - thanks for calling us."

There are some really good people out there.
I guess I'll swing back by and update you all as time goes on - hopefully eventually the rain will come and we'll all be back in business.

 

[black angel]

good to read that the fire department came out for you. Maybe putting a higher dam from the main pond with a grid to stop fish going through it might help, but it seems there were too many fish anyway and if some of them could be relocated then this will help in the long run.
well done you for caring though.
got any pics of how it looks now and any of the main pond and the point where it overflows?

 

[BettaMomma]

Here is the pond this morning - it doesn't look lots better, but to see it in real life it's much bigger of an area that's covered.

Here's a shot of the big pond from the opposite end where the iron dam is:

and here's what's holding the water back:

and a bit farther back from it:

and here's the teeny little stream that feeds the smaller pond - facing the big pond here (the little pond is behind me right here):

and I turned around and faced the little pond - this is the rest of the stream down to it:

 

[black angel]

thanks for the pics.
who operates the dam gate then? if you could find out who has the authority for that then maybe they will raise it a little bit to let some water through, but they would need to put a second grated gate to stop fish going through it. the main pond looks big enough to do that and shouldnt lower the water too much.
good luck with the fire department today and keep us posted with pics and updates.

 

[BettaMomma]

Management is the gatekeeper of the dam.
They simply refuse to open the gate - they gave the fire dept the go ahead to move some water last night on 2 conditions - as long as it didn't cost them any money and as long as NO one touched the dam.

It's been closed for so long that there has been a huge mass of sludge, sticks, mud, leaves, grass, etc. built up there and we're all afraid it would be a massive sludge slide if we opened that gate.

We're actually supposed to get some rain tomorrow so HOPEFULLY things will be moving in the right direction. I'll walk out there later today and see if the fire dept. has been back adding more water.

 

[black angel]

maybe write to your local paper to get some coverage on whats been going on and ask that the local government get their act together and clean out all the sludge to make it a better environment not only for the fish but for the local wildlife and for tourists to visit.
maybe someone will take notice and get the ponds working properly.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm, not a bad idea.

Maybe a call to the DNR would be in order too.
Hmm.....

 

[BettaMomma]

The fire guys were here again - they pumped 50,000 gallons of hydrant water into the big pond. They're coming back tomorrow to put another 50,000 in there, and then they'll take 100,000 from the big pond down to the little pond.

They say they've cleared everything thru the DNR and everything's perfectly safe for all creatures in both ponds.

More to come...

 

[black angel]

good to see things are moving along nicely, with a bit of luck it wont be allowed to happen again.

 

[bribones]

they pumped 50,000 gallons of hydrant water into the big pond

now theres a canny idea



glad to see its getting sorted

just a thought but maybe a liner is called for to stop so much evaporation

 

[black angel]

can see bri hitching his hose to the hydrant at 3 am

ooo that almost seems rude.... )

 

[The-Wolf]

  There are some really good people out there.

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And you are one of them BettaMomma
If this site had a member of the month you would surely get my vote.
I am very touched by you passion, compassion and your "I will not be defeated" attitude.
I wish there were more people in the world that cared as much as you.
keep up the good work, and please keep this topic updated.

EDIT
I was so moved by this thread, I have sent a link of it and some details to
Brian Bull, Asst. News Director Wisconsin Public Radio.
I would've sent it to a tv station but couldn't find any to send it to.

 

[abstract]

it's great to hear that everything was working out..i was also going to suggest pumping hydrant water in! your compassion is inspiring to all of us BM...thanks!

P.S. this kind of reminds me of the starfish quote in your sig

 

[William]

Certainly I would write to your local paper praising your fire department in a letter. A local newspaper would love that sort of thing, and your firedepartment deserve it.

We once called ours out because our rabbit got stuck behind our boiler... and we had to leave in 30 mins to set off to catch the ferry because we were moving to Ireland! So it was a minor emergency (major for the rabbit!)