4 replies to this topic

[Moontanman]

A couple days ago while collecting a flathead catfish came up in the net and i brought it home looking to make a pet out of him. He sat for two days on my deck in a kiddie wading pool while i got his tank ready. The tank is a 60 gallon metal framed tank I've kept fish in for over 40 years off and on and in recent years has been a daphnia vat. 

 

I drained all the old water out of the tank and refilled it and let it set overnight under aeration, about mid morning i went out and found about a half dozen plums floating at the surface so i removed them and caught the flathead and put him in the tank, a couple hours later he was dead, we are talking about a 10" flathead, he was fat and sassy when i put him the tank and a couple hours later he was stiff as a board with his gills flared out. 

 

I haven't been able to grow any daphnia in the vats under this tree since I moved here and my paddlefish died when left in a 360 gallon tank under that tree. 

 

What could possibly be the problem here? 

[Matt DeLaVega]

Prussic acid I suppose. It is heavy in wilted cherry leaves, so maybe plum as well. It is a hydrogen cyanide compound. I have had a cherry tree kill a cow when it fell and the cow ate the wilted leaves. Google it, bet it is the culprit.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Put a screen over it to keep debris out.

[Moontanman]

Put a screen over it to keep debris out.

 

 

I decided to move everything to another place in my yard, probably for the best overall... 

[loopsnj64]

 

 

I decided to move everything to another place in my yard, probably for the best overall... 

 

 

I would still put a screen, just a safeguard for the off chance a stormy wind blows plum tree parts into a tank/pond