16 replies to this topic

[BlakeA]

My koi in the past month have gotten in the habit of coming up and socializing during feeding time. They would initially come up upon me tapping a rock, and continue to feed. Well, now they don't even acknowledge feeding time that i notice. The past 3-4 days, i would knock, and nothing, then throw in some pellets, and nothing. I noticed if i stepped away, a few of them, like 2-3 of the original 14 will come and eat a pellet or 2 then shoot back down almost instantly. I have recently added alot of plants, and we did cut the surrounding grass this week, could it just be the mowing scared them enough for them to hide for 4 days? I'm worried some of them may not be in there, and i don't really know how to check right now with my water being so green. I do plan to do a 50% water change and clean out my large plant shelf this week, along with adding my new skippy filter. But just wanted to know if anyone might know whats going on.

[DrCase]

Give it more time ...they are prob scared...the plants ,mower,no grass...

[Julius Leonid Maestral]

I posted somewhere in this forum which virtually raised the same or similar predicament I'm in concerning my fish. They ignore me even during feeding time!! From what I could gather, I guess it is because they are overfed, but I myself have doubts with this conclusion. The bottom-line is that my koi does not do a feeding frenzy everytime I try to feed them unlike those in other ponds or in the petshops. They either ignore the pellets or dart down the depth as the pellets land on the water. It's as if something spooked them.

[MassKoi]

you may have had a predator at the pond and now the fish have become skiddish. I noticed last year that my once friendly fish had become very nervous when I approached the pond. I beleived my pond was being visited by something. A couple of days later I had to chase a Blue Heron away from the pond.

[bsr8129]

The only time my fish come to the top to feed is at night, if i feed them during the day they all hide untill im gone, even if i just walk over to the pond they all hide under the waterfall or under the bridge, i never understood how when i go to a store that has them you walk up and all the fish come swimming up, i guess i feed my fish too much.

[stroppy]

i have the same problem ... mine are goldfish but they always hide when i go near the pond ... will come up to grab food if i back away !! and ive had some of them for years ( had this silly dream i could get them to feed from my hand )

[Julius Leonid Maestral]

Well it seems we all got into the same predicament. Need help here guys. :100:

[BlakeA]

Well, i wonder if i have been overfeeding them for some time now, which i think i may have been doing, if they will just skip a few days. I left today, and came back about 2 hours later, and it looked as if they didn't hardly eat anything. I sat today and watched for a good while, and i have found out a majority of them are still in there. So at least i know they're in there, i'm pretty sure the overfeeding, mower, new plant life or a mixture of those things could be the problem. But at least they're in there.

[shikkaba]

It sounds like they're scared. After a heron attack, my koi did the same thing. They also don't like loud noises, like when we mow the lawn around the pond, so that could be the same with yours. They'll start coming back when they're more relaxed if they're anything like mine.

[BlakeA]

Well, been swimming alot today, and messing around in the yard, and our fish have been swimming really shallow, and socializing today. So whatever scared them, they're not scared anymore i dont think.

[DrCase]

Good Glad to here that,,,,they dont like change

[Julius Leonid Maestral]

I shifted from feeding the koi from twice a day to once and it seems to work. It somehow worked a lot better for one of my ponds compared to the other where the bigger ones are in. In the latter pond the koi are not as responsive as the other one. In the pond where the response is good, the koi are virtually in tune with the falling feed; while in the other pond, a little bit of coaxing needs to be done. I'll continue to drill them by feeding them once a day at the same time everyday. We'll see what happens....

[criscojohn]

From personal experience, I'd say you have a blue heron feeding on your koi. They are most active at dawn and dusk, but will visit your pond during the day and through the night. Once they find a likely "banquet", they usually keep coming back. I've posted a question myself to see if anyone has any permanent solution to this problem. Please let me know if you come up with anything. Good luck. I sympathize with you on this one,
Chris

[Oldhead]

MassKoi said:

you may have had a predator at the pond and now the fish have become skiddish. I noticed last year that my once friendly fish had become very nervous when I approached the pond. I beleived my pond was being visited by something. A couple of days later I had to chase a Blue Heron away from the pond.

/\
l
l
Thats what i think it is.

[stroppy]

well this morning i think i may have the answer too my problem with fish staying down the bottom ... 2 blackbirds taking a dip !! i know they wont hurt the fish ,,,, but the fish dont seem to know ... also have seen foxes taking a drink at night ... i still cant get them to come out and food is just left floating im thinking of changeing to bottom food