Generator used to oxygenate water at Queen's Park pond

Several people raised concerns about fish in Queen’s Park pond in West Drive, Brighton, after several crucian carps were spotted dead since the weekend.

The fish were believed to have died due to lack of oxygen in the water during hot weather, as well as the pond level dropping due to lack of rainfall, which is how the pond is supplied.

Brighton and Hove City Council said illegally dumped fish should not be in the pond “for precisely these reasons”.

The generator was situated on this pontoon on Wednesday

It then put in a generator to "try to save the fish" as a temporary measure but that has now been removed.

A spokesman said: “We are experimenting with pumping oxygen into Queen’s Park pond to try to save the fish that are suffering due to the long period of hot weather. 

“This is a short-term measure, and even if it works this is not a sustainable solution in the long term. 

“Ponds like the one at Queen’s Park that are not fed by streams and rely on rainfall inevitably dry up in extended periods of hot weather.  

The pond level appears to have dropped even more due to the hot weather

“Amphibians and many other native wildlife that live in our ponds can survive this.  

“But amphibians cannot protect themselves from being killed by non-native fish. So this is also about protecting our native species. 

“With this in mind we would emphasise that people should never dump unwanted fish into our ponds.  

“We will be putting signs up at the pond to underline this message.”

Queen's Park pond

The generator was put in on Wednesday but was gone when The Argus went to the pond yesterday, Thursday

The pond water level also appeared to have dropped further following days of hot weather in Sussex.

Richard James, who lives near Queen’s Park, said earlier in the week he had removed a number of dead fish from the pond.

A dead fish in the pond on Monday, July 11

He said: "It seems the council has made a temporary fix after numerous complaints and obviously media coverage.

"Although this will help in the short term, it will only help with oxygenation of the water, not increase the needed water and removal of silt that is of further cause of concern.

"The council do need to sort out the water feature which will resolve this issue and bring the park pond back to its former condition."

Council park rangers have also been clearing the pond of dead fish.