Administering antibiotics in a pond.

[enrgizerbunny]

I have a pond roughly 1500 gallons that I've lost 2 fish in over the past few months to what I believe is a bacterial infection of some sort. I've never used medicines before and is like some pointers on them. Sick is common and comet goldies right now. I've lost a common koi and a comet so far, both males.

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[Delapool]

Medicated feeds will be your cheapest option. I assume so anyways, it would be astronomical cost-wise here otherwise.

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

 

[Cecibella123]

Agree with Delapool: It will be expensive to treat the entire pond. I would try moving the affected fish to a quarantine container and treating them separately. While they're in quarantine, try doing about a 75% water change. Do you remove any of the bottom muck on a regular basis? While the water is drained, you could also try removing about half the much at the bottom. If you were inclined to treat it, you could treat what water is left after you drain 3/4 of it. The fish should be ok for a few days in that amount of water if you can keep a pump circulating the water.

 

[enrgizerbunny]

Draining the pond is not feasible unless it's my last resort. Waaaay too much water to drain, and fill from my well. Someone suggested that a UV sterilizer would take care of the free floating bacteria.

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[Cecibella123]

Never tried a UV sterilizer. We also have well water. We drain about 50% of our water and do a partial muck remover about 3 times per year: spring, midsummer, and late fall. But we're lucky in that our well is directly connected to an aquifer (an underground river) and never runs dry, so it isn't a drain on the well. If you go with a UV sterilizer, let us know how it goes please. Would be interested to know if it will help control algae blooms.