|
| I looked out this morning to check on my son and noticed that the water coming out of the filter was severely slow. I looked in the pond and saw that the pumps prefilter was unscrewed where it screws together. I thought it was just gunk clogging the pump until I tilted it up to look at it and was greeted by one of my fishes heads sticking out, mouth gapping. I unplugged the pump and of course the fish came out. There is no way this poor thing will survive. I'm no fish expert but I believe there is visible internal bleeding and there is no sign of life but the gaping breathing and some faint body movement when I approached with the net to scoot him over to where I could reach him. He is now on his way to cross the fishy bridge in my freezer, hopefully in shock so he doesn't feel pain or scared.
I believe until I make my own prefilter that I will be doing something to make sure these two pieces do not come apart again. Not what I expected to see first thing this morning. |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Sorry to hear about your loss hb. It happens to the most careful ponder. I know the shock you are feeling. When I had my first pond I placed my pump in a huge flowerpot buried in about 9 inches of lava rocks. I woke up one morning to silence. The pump had quit. When I pulled it out of the lava rocks there were four of my beautiful long flowing finned shubunkin's heads and pieces/parts stuck to the intake of the pump. Nothing can prepare you for it. To keep a hole in the ice this winter I placed my pump in a mesh bag I made. In the bag I had plastic scrubbies to stop the pump from getting all gunked up. When I made the mesh bag I put in a drawstring that could be tied tightly to be sure it was not "fish accessible." When I pulled the mesh bag up yesterday (still tightly tied) I placed it on the grass. It had that unmistakeable "dead fish smell" to it. When I opened the bag there was one of my 5-6" goldfish stuck to the intake of the pump. Those darn fish find a way to get into the smallest openings. Wouldn't surprise me if the fish had something to do with the prefilter coming off. Sometimes I think they are more crafty than mice. Jenny |
|
- Posted by sleeplessinftwayne z4-5 IND (My Page) on Wed, Apr 7, 10 at 17:21
| I think it is instinctive for them to follow the flow. You and Jenny are not the only ones to have it happen. I lost an 8 inch comet that way two or three years ago. The pump pressure kept them trapped and crushed it. I have had as many as six 3 inch goldies find their way into an Adams filter that I would have sworn was too tight a fit around the tubing for them to get in. I had to check it almost daily. |
|
- Posted by goodkarma_ 5b (My Page) on Wed, Apr 7, 10 at 22:49
| Sorry about your fish. I remember my favorite catfish being sucked into a bottom drain when the dome came off and getting stuck in the bend of a pipe. He died and viewing his poor bloated body actually made me scream. It makes you sad but you just keep going. Lisa |
|
| HB, if that pre-filter is giving you problems you may opt to make a home made type that will not fall off or come apart. Click on the link below for more information. "Horton" |
Here is a link that might be useful: Home made pre-filter basket.
|
| koijoyii: I'm on Long Island NY which is milder then Ohio (my wife is from there) but we had an extremely cold winter this year. I kept the ice hole in my pond with just a bubbler on a fish tank air pump. I checked it frequently for freeze-over, only had to chop a hole once. |
|
| Hi ernie_m: I did that a year ago and it worked just great. I ran a huge air pump with a gang valve attached to three shell shaped airstones. I dug the apparatus out last winter to repeat the performance. When I plugged the airpump into the GFCI it tripped the circuit. Don't know what happened. I kept it in the garage over the summer so it didn't get wet. When I had it by the pond I put it in a Sterlite container to protect it from the elements. So I had to go to plan b. I dropped the pump into a bag into the pond. It kept a hole in the ice, but I sacrificed my poor fish. My light bill was out of site cuz I ran three pumps (1 in each pond) as well as a stock tank heater in the settlement pond where the frogs overwinter. Looks like I may need to invest in another good air pump for the upcoming winter. Jenny |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Ponds & Aquatic Plants Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.