ready to give up

[steph o.c.]

I'm in upstate NY and have lost goldfish and koi over the past 2 really harsh winters. There were approx 14 goldfish left this morning but are now gone...heron. this has happened every year for the past 5 years. We have tried the scarecrow water blaster, a decoy, fishing line and finally a net over the whole 20x20 pond...ugly and difficult. At the end of last fall we noticed we were losing water but couldn't find a leak...we had a pro come out who also could not find a leak. So, it has been a battle and I think I'm ready to fill it in. Any suggestions? I feel terrible that the fish get eaten... it has been almost impossible to stop. I'm bummed : (

 

[DrCase]

That's tough to deal with ! For sure
How deep is your pond ?
& Welcome to the Forum

 

[Big Lou]

If there's any chance you want to keep your pond, possibly fishless, for the sake of it's tranquil benefits I can give you council. We were somewhat in your position and choose to keep our pond. Have a decent sleep then think it over.

 

[Huckleberry12]

Oh that is just so disheartening. I am so sorry for your troubles and your losses.

 

[CometKeith]

Welcome Steph, That sounds like terrible luck. I would wonder if the heron would be so aggressive if you just had goldfish. I would think if they were small enough it wouldn't be worth the heron's bother.

 

[addy1]

Welcome Steph, That sounds like terrible luck. I would wonder if the heron would be so aggressive if you just had goldfish. I would think if they were small enough it wouldn't be worth the heron's bother.

Yep mr heron even loves goldfish.

Welcome to our group! steph.

I bought a gill net with 5 inch size holes. Hung it 3 feet over my pond with the sides draping down slightly. My pond is 27x20 more or less. The net stopped the heron from coming by for two years now, before that they visited every day. The herons fly over our pond every morning every night. We are in their flight path.

The net is not even that noticeable, easy to remove if you need to, easy to work under. It does not trap small birds, frogs or other critters.


To find the leak, do you have a waterfall , stream, rocks around the pond, there are ways to try and trace it down doing some detective work. The best way to start is turn everything off, let the pond drop to the level of the leak, if it is in the pond. If the pond does not drop in level then it might be in your filters, lines, etc.

 

[Dave 54]

Sorry to hear of your troubles Steph all we can suggest is a fishless nature type pond or you take the war to the heron , we have a high powered catapult for that purpose not to hit or kill the heron but to frighten it.
As to your fish dying , could you firsty tell me how deep is your pond , next prior to winter do you give the pond a good clean in Fall as well as your filters?
Next we use polycarbonate roofing sheets and insulation around our pond to get us through the harshes of winters here in the UK , it works well and the pond temperature near gets any lower than 7c throughout , so thats a thing you could try.
As to nets we have a net that by use of bungee straps will foil the best of preditors we use the 6mm hexmesh netting , they are built to messure and the good thing about all this is the export around the world

http://www.norfinenets.co.uk/view-product.php?index=338935410

But our message to you is dont give up , weve been koi keeping for 28 years this year through both good and bad health and we hope to continue for another 20 years before old age finally catches up with us , but weve stuck by it thick and thin throughout

Dave

 

[Tula]

Very disheartening, especially when we work so hard on our ponds. If I were you, I'd just focus on the leak for now. It may be something simple, and without fish, you can take your time. @Big Lou 's advice is very good and he has a beautiful, fishes pond

 

[CountryEscape]

Darn, sorry to hear about your losses. Welcome to our group! We all feel your pain, and have been there, done that. With time and perseverance, you WILL find the leak, and you WILL figure out a way to keep the heron out! Do you have a bog? I had a leak in my bog, and it was at the bottom of the liner in there, so nothing showed leak evidence. Turns out I believe it was a turtle that was digging down for the winter, and he clawed the liner, slicing it in 3 spots, causing the slow leak.
As Addy told you, turn off all your pumps. Fill the pond, and then see if it drains itself down. If it doesn't, then your leak is on the outside of the pond. If you have a waterfall, make sure the water isn't going around and/or under the waterfall rocks, getting behind the liner. Check the edges EVERYWHERE along your pond. Even if you have liner to the top edge, if there is a fold, it could be siphoning out if the fold is lower than the water level. Check all pipe connections that are outside the liner area for possible leaks. Even a drip drip drip leak can eventually drain a pond. Good luck!

 

[Priscilla]

Hello and welcome. I know some of your pain. The heron cleared my pond several times when the fish were small (to the tune of $600 worth of fish). I got a net, its an eye sore and horrible to deal with and I have a weird problem in my area which are wild iguanas (horrible creatures that carry disease) and they poop every where. They treat the net like a hammock. Living in paradise isn't all you think it is. LOL!

Finally the heron stopped coming by after the net. I found 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off was a good ratio to confuse the heron and give me enjoyment of the pond without it. I live by the ocean so I think it will be a forever problem. Although, now that my fish are bigger they seem to stay deeper. When they were smaller they hung around the edges and that's when the bird got them.

Good luck. a fishless pond is nice too, frogs, birds, dragon flies ..... Oh one more suggestion, what about getting some local type fish, while they aren't pretty they seem to know how to avoid the bird and they do give some enjoyment. I have a tilapia in my pond that has been there since the beginning.

 

[Big Lou]

We all realize you are very disheartened. I respectfully suggest that you do not make any harsh spur of the moment decisions. We truly care and will help you.

 

[Rach B]

I feel ur pain! One morning i opened the kitchen blind to see the tail of my beautiful fantailed goldfish disappearing down Mr herons gullet! Was not a good day! Fishing line did the trick cor me until the next time i guess. Good luck

 

[tbendl]

I am so sorry about your fin pets. That's why I made the decision to go fishless and I have lots of visiting critters, dragonflies, birds, frogs, toads and love the pond. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[steph o.c.]

That's tough to deal with ! For sure
How deep is your pond ?
& Welcome to the Forum

it's 4 feet in the middle and 2.5-3 for the rest. We were away for a few days this Feb when it was super cold and returned to find the whole thing frozen over, due to a power outage. it took a couple of days for the heater and bubbler to do their magic and open it up again.

 

[steph o.c.]

Welcome Steph, That sounds like terrible luck. I would wonder if the heron would be so aggressive if you just had goldfish. I would think if they were small enough it wouldn't be worth the heron's bother.

I just saw the heron today, perched on the roof overlooking the pond. I did happen to find around 10 tiny goldfish. I hope they are too small for the bird to be interested! But I think it will eat anything...it's huge and not too afraid of us.