QuestionI have an outdoors fish pond the size of a bathtub. The 5 original goldfish have breed and I have 20 2" long babies (they are now months old). Over the past two months I have gone away 3 times overnight camping and each time I have returned there has been 1 dead baby goldfish. Before leaving on the Sat morning I feed them and they are all healthy and fine - Never any sign of a fish being sick. Any suggestions as to what could be causing 1 fish to die.
AnswerThe things that typically kill fish outdoors are:
Disease: bacteria, parasites, fungus
Poisons: fertilizer, insecticide, etc.
Improper water chemistry: ammonia, nitrate, low pH, etc.
The first thing to check is your water chemistry. Most pet stores will do this for you. Sometimes adding a little bit of salt to the water will help your fish withstand more stress.