Scared fish

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i have a small 400gal pond, and had 3 goldfish that I got this spring and were doing very well. Two days ago, I went out to see them and they were gone. I'd seen a possum by the pond the week before, and there have been hawks around, so I assumed something got them.

Today I went to my pond and found one of my fish hiding behind some rocks! It swam away from my hand and kept hiding, by the filter, the pot for my lilypads, and wouldn't come up to the surface to eat fish food.

So it seems to me like he's been traumatized by his friends' disappearance. Is there anything I can do for him? Should I get some new fish friends for him?
 

Ruben Miranda

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Hello
The fish should com down, but if what ever got your other fish, then it will continue to be scared.
I would not bring in more fish in till you figured out what happen to your other fish.
That I know of possums don't eat fish.
I have heard hawks getting pond fish but I do think it is rare.

Any chance you can do some netting to help stop what ever it is hunting your fish.

Ruben
 

Mmathis

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The fish is most likely afraid that whatever got his buddies is going to come back for him. Prey-mode. Be sure he does have plenty of places to hide and don't force him to to come out. He'll come around. Agree with @Ruben Miranda that putting a net over the pond is probably the best way to protect him.
 

sissy

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My fish are still scared yet from the dog falling in the pond .I am afraid to even get to close to the pond right now because some of them freak out and jump .They used to feed from my hand and love to be petted ,now they are scared to death .
 
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Fish take time to calm down after a trauma such as your or as @sissy mentioned her own fish .
As previoously mentioned you need to make the pond proofed aagainst whatever preditor is taking your fish .
A camera trap placed by the pond would perhaps tell you which preditor your up against .
Weve always netted our pond from the first time they ever went outdoors , no problem with any preditors reported [lightening yes which they survived] but preditors not as yet :happy:

Dave
 

Koilady

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i have a small 400gal pond, and had 3 goldfish that I got this spring and were doing very well. Two days ago, I went out to see them and they were gone. I'd seen a possum by the pond the week before, and there have been hawks around, so I assumed something got them.

Today I went to my pond and found one of my fish hiding behind some rocks! It swam away from my hand and kept hiding, by the filter, the pot for my lilypads, and wouldn't come up to the surface to eat fish food.

So it seems to me like he's been traumatized by his friends' disappearance. Is there anything I can do for him? Should I get some new fish friends for him?
Hi Tiny. So sorry to hear about your fish. Here in Southwestern Ontario Canada, some of our Members have been going through the same thing. It all started about 3 years ago when people would start to notice that some or all of their fish had gone missing. We thought of raccoons, hawks, king fishers, etc. and then I heard this story. I've been in the hobby since 1982 and when I heard this story, I was aghast. A couple had purchased a new home and they wanted to put a pond in their back yard. They dug the pond out and put up a six foot fence. The put a nice garden around part of the pond and added about 20 goldfish. When the fall came, they started to ready the pond for winter and they had done all the right things to get their fish ready for this long sleep. They had a camera placed so that it could view the pond to make sure all was well. One day they noticed an animal on top of the pond just rummaging around in the snow. They sent me an e-mail with this picture and they wanted to know what they could do to keep this raccoon off of their pond during the winter. When I saw the picture, I wrote right away to tell these people that this was not a raccoon, it was a mink. When spring came, they cleaned off the top of the pond to see how the fish had faired over the winter but there was not one fish in the pond. They also noticed that there was a little cave behind the waterfall. This is what I think happened. I think that a mother mink had made a home inside the waterfall so that she could have her babies kept safe with lots of food, which the goldfish provided. I told her to find someone who had a trap or even to find a trapper to help her. We've tried to find articles on how to keep mink away from our ponds and the only thing I could find is to get a trap, have an alarm system around the pond or have some dogs to keep the mink out. I would like to hear what other suggests anyone here has so that I can use it in our club newsletter. Also, I'm sure I kept the e-mail that this lady sent me and I'll see if I can find it.
 

Koilady

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I agree with the above suggestions. It will take your fish a while to get over the stress of what happened in the pond.
 

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