Impossible to say other than the obvious. Temp may have played a role but likely a combination of things. Would need to know the temp of the pond and the temp of the source water to even make a guess. My gut is temp wasn't a big factor unless the source water is really something like 40F which is wow cold. Well water can have all kinds of stuff harmful to fish. For example high CO2 which can crash the pH. Different metals, hydrogen sulfide, all kinds of things. I'd be interest to know when the posted test results were taken. Before or after the water change and if after, how long? They don't really make sense. I assume 240 Total Alkalinity means 240 ppm? But pH is only 7? That doesn't fit. For that alkalinity the pH has to be higher, like at least 8.5. I don't generally trust pH tests posted in forums because it's a difficult test to get right. If these test numbers are after the water change it means the well has good KH & GH. If that's true I'd assume the pond had good KH & GH before the change and that rules out pH crash. You could have the well tested for metals, hydrogen sulfide, etc. I wouldn't bother. I assume you've been using this water for the pond before without a problem so even if the water isn't great it's good enough when done slowly. For the record the total number of times I've remembered to turn off a hose in a pond is zero. After maybe a dozen times of my wife saying "do you mean to be overflowing the pond" I finally figured something out...I'll never remember. So I stopped using the hose in this way. Consider using a drip emitter instead sized to whatever pond size you have so you can't add more than 10% of the volume per day. Or turn down the hose to a drip. Let the water change take a week...what's the hurry? 24/7 drip water change is a really old concept in pond keeping that's recently starting to be reconsidered by a few people. It looks very promising and all reports I've read have be very good. Plus we always knew is was good from fish farms that use a flow thru system. So drip is good even if run 24/7. It's way too late now but... moving fish to warm water from cold is OK. From warm to cold isn't good. Just like with people.

It's hard to say without a pic, but once a tree is declining like that, it's virtually a goner and nothing will save it. Your "arborist" is full of bovine excrement, there is no $200 magic liquid that would revive it at this stage. I also can't envision how its own branches are choking it, unless something is actually wrapped around the trunk somehow. I'm sorry to say, you need to just take it out and plant a replacement.

Susan, As always my thoughts are my opinions based on many years of actually doing, not just accepting what others say. So they are only FWIW to be taken as a person chooses to take them. IMO common logic dictates that like with most infestation, disease or infection, the level they intrude an individual at can vary widely from minor to massive. That is commonly proved out with OE in Danaidae. If a larvae makes it through complete metamorphosis to an imago that can eclose and form OK, even if OE is present it was a relatively minor infestation in that individual. The opposite being if a larva at any instar, pupa or adult that has OE dies without getting through complete metamorphosis, that individual was obviously infested at a much higher level. Unfortuanately no matter at what level (with OE especially), failure to destroy any sick livestock whether it be OE, another parasatoid, viral or bacterial infection in most cases will promote the spread of any of any of them to other individuals. OE is the prominent one that will carry on to generation after generation beyond a given brood, and nothing but complete elimination of any brood within your control that might be infected with it will help slow it down in a colony. Why in my opinion when it comes to livestock even suspected of possibly having OE it's not worth taking any chances with them "for the good of the species as a whole". For those of use who did/do field work with Lepidoptera, that includes wild Danaidae livestock found or adults netted that show any possibilty of hosting OE. NOTE: Even if you have a very strictly controlled gardening and rearing rigime (which I doubt any of you have), you won't eliminate all of any OE present. So don't go slap happy destroying everything in sight. Instead be analytical and logical, and then decide what is reasonable for your own circumstances. Yes, livestock can have OE and not show any of the so called "visible" signs of it, which IMO are not proof positive of OE anyway and can be from other causes. In part why on my OE thread I offered some habit and condition factors that could also suggest OE is present as well even though they also do not prove OE and can also be from other causes. Bottom line, to prove OE is NOT present in an individual for certain takes a microscope or loupe. And in almost all cases if a larvae it will have to be euthanized to test with any certainty. A possibility to check for OE in pupa is to test the purge of the last instar larva for OE, but unforunately that is not 100%. I'm a lot more scientific in my appraoch to Lepidoptera than all of the folks here, so I don't accept things at face value. I am also skeptical of data from other sources that are not proven to me. The Internet and publications commonly breed misinformation about everything, including Lepidoptera, that is passed on by ACE's who probably got it from another one. So it's prudent not to trust every thing you read on the Internet or in books if it's not from a source you trust. Larry

Dee, when you mentioned keeping Allie's bowl in your dresser drawer it reminded me that I kept Mort's collar, after he passed in June of '98, under my pillow for months, then in my bra/pantie drawer. I just went looking for it and there it was. I think it's time to put it in the box with his ashes. Mort's predecessors have both brought so much to our lives, but his memory can never be replaced.