Those wonderful monsoon rains we experienced recently were great…except for the pond. We had a “gully whomper” one day and another entire day when it rained off and on. The rain cooled everything and washed away the dust and dirt…into the pond. Rain water, so I am told, does not contain oxygen and so it depleted the oxygen level in the pond. As a result we lost 3 fish after the rains.
We lost this goldfish. When my husband bought it, it was no more than 2″ long. It had grown to a whopping 8″.
The same fate awaited this metallic black and white skeleton Koi. He was no more than 3″ or 4″ when we got him and he, too, had grown to 8″.
The saddest loss of all was one of my favorite Koi. This guy was also 3″ or 4″ when we bought him and he had grown to a foot long. The coloring on this fish was really good. The front half was red and the back half was predominately black.
It’s always sad to lose pets whether it is a dog, cat, hamster or fish. I guess that’s nature’s plan and sometimes even with one’s best efforts, we cannot prevent their loss.
It wasn’t the rain water that killed the fish but the mixing of the oxygen deficient cool water at the bottom of the pond. The water in your pond becomes stratified with a warm level near the top and colder water near the bottom. The cool water interacts with elements at the bottom of the pond which depletes the level of oxygen. Also being near the bottom, it does not get the benefits of photosynthesis.
When you get a heavy rain, it mixes the stratified waters bringing the oxygen depleted water from the bottom and having the usually cooler rain water take its place on the bottom. This lowers the oxygen level in the pond and can cause the fish to die.
Thanks Bob. It makes sense and certainly explains a lot.
Joyce, I know what you are talking about. I have my tiny little pond that I have had for about 15 years. Once I saw yours, I was embarrassed to post any more pictures of my 4×3 hole in the ground, but I lost a few fish the first few years we had it. But amazingly, through all these years I still have 7 of my original 11 fish left. They all started as .39 cent feeder fish from Petsmart and have grown into 7 or 8″ gold and white beauties. I really didn’t expect them to live this long but as small as the pond is, I have to clean my little filter/motor at least every 3 weeks in the summer. The one time I re-filled the pond with the hose water, the chlorine level must have been too high and I lost one of the big goldies as soon as I put them back in. I love seeing your pictures and know once this horrible summer heat is past, they thrive with your care.