2 new koi are scared to death

[leet13]

Hi all... bought 2 new fish (petsmart, please dont bash me)... things were great when I put them in- they swam with the others, dug around on the bottom a bit then swam under the plants and waterfall... all of a sudden the two little ones disappeared (they are so good at hiding even as shiny and bright as they are).

I decided to leave them alone and then checked on them 2 hours later. I cannot find them so I start gently pushing my water hyacinth around to see if one is under there-- the silvery looking one flew out of there and hid on the other side of the pond. I saw the 2nd fish I bought with the red on its head hiding behind my lotus container... then out of the corner of my eye i see that silver swimming at mach 5 and even coming out of the water a few times to bounce off the liner. All I could think of was this fish is going to jump right into one of the flagstone rocks I have that is overlapping the edge and seriously hurt itself... A few minutes earlier I was pulling out a few yellow lily pads and one lotus pad that was finished and nothing was freaking out when my arm was in the water.

So my other 2 koi and 2 shubunkin are just hanging out and doing their thing.. the 2 new ones are freaking out and are swimming faster than anything I have ever seen before and even catching air. Should I not even visit the pond anymore today or should I just do what I normally do around the pond (but go slower at it without sudden movements) so that the fish see me?

When I first got the other fish, none of them acted in this manner even with a 35 minute ride home. These 2 fish were jumping in the bag trying to get out while in the car but seemed to act more calm when they were placed in the water with the others.

I guess I am just stressing out over it... and there is a thunderstorm coming... I hope these fish do not jump out or get injured...

 

[ididntdoit99]

You did not quarantine them I assume? You said everything was good and then they freaked out, how long was this? I can only assume is wasn't long, and they are just getting acquainted with their surroundings.

No bashing for petsmart koi, we have no other pet stores within 50 miles of us, almost all of my koi came from there, if you check on certain days, you can find some really nice looking ones there too.

 

[capewind]

Did you acclimate them, or just drop them in? Wondering about PH shock?

 

[leet13]

Oh they were fine for about 10 to 15 mins... I fed them too and all of the fish swam together then they just disappeared. They definitely did not have a problem swimming along with the existing fish.

I let the bag sit in water for 10 mins... then I opened the bag to add some of my pond water to it and let that sit... then i added some more pond water... finally i lowered the whole bag into the pond and they swam out.

I tested my PH 2 days ago.. it is 7.5 if that helps. It has been that way for over a month now. No idea what petsmart's tanks are kept at.

I cannot believe i did not think about quarantining them!!!!!! I bought 4 fish before all from the same store and put them in... I really did not think about keeping them separate to see if something was wrong. They were full of energy and swimming in the tank at the store... from what i could see, they looked healthy but i guess that isnt saying much since this is my first pond and my first set of fish were put in around June 4 of this year...

I did go out again to see if I could find them and no signs of them but they could be hiding under the stone where the filter/fountain is (there is a gap under it and the first 4 fish i got hid under it a lot). I did not see any signs of any of the fish jumping out either...

oh geeze. now im worried again.

 

[leet13]

I have a pic or two of them all together that I took today after putting them in... from that they looked comfortable with the existing fish that i had.

 

[capewind]

For the future, never ever put someone else's water into your pond... We leaned the hard way about the importance of using a QT tank, but 99% of the time, things are ok.

What I meant by PH shock wasnt that yours could be off, but yours and where they came from being very different.

They could just be stressing from the change in environments. They are in there, so really, the only thing to do now is wait and see.

 

[j.w]

Yep just leave them be hiding and eventually they will come around and swim again w/ the other fishes. I just put some shubbies I had in QT for a couple months into my big pond. They hid all the time in the QT tub but now in the big pond they seem to be happy w/ the other fish. Still tho when they see me they run for the depths. I have to hide behind stuff to watch for them.

 

[fishin4cars]

Not uncommom for new koi to go through a time period of adjusting to new enviroment. You don't mention of other water quality parameters. They could be just simply freaking out because they have more room then they have ever had before, could be they are in the cleanest enviromnet they have ever lived in. These are still stress related to some degree. Watch them the next few days. Be prepared as new koi will jump. I've had BIG koi jump for the first 24-48 hours after being introduced. Always QT if possible. It isn't a lesson you want to learn the hard way, I promise. So much easier to treat a small given amount of water in a QT tank than it is to treat a pond. Also if it's something that needs the fish to be netted to treat a small container makes the task so much easier as well.

 

[leet13]

I dont know how it did not occur to me at the time about placing fish/water from petsmart into my pond with my fish... I didnt really have to worry with my other fish because i got them all from the same place and I guess I just followed the same steps i took with my first batch. I never had fish before and now I know what I need to do if I get any more. I feel stupid for just not thinking when I am careful with everything else. I will definitely take the proper steps next time and quarantine.

My husband said that he saw the sales associate add something from a bottle to the water they put the fish in... I did not see it and I dont know if its just a water conditioner or something.

All of the tests I did on my water a few days ago (nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, ph) all read very well but I did not think to just do a quick test on some of their water.

doh.

None have jumped out so I know they are in there somewhere. I saw my 4 other fish huddled together early this morning as usual.

 

[j.w]

Sometimes the pet store people add stress coat to the bag to help the fish during the transition period to your pond or aquarium. They do that at my Petsmart anyways. It just gives them some protection and supposed to reduce stress and give them a slime coat on there scales to help w/ any injury from netting etc.

 

[jhenkel]

Shalom, we have 2ea 3" Koi, from Petsmart in about a 85G preformed and didn't see them for weeks - interesting how such colorful characters can hide - now they are virtual food vacuum cleaners.

 

[leet13]

Hi all. I saw one out of two tonight!!!I decided to walk out there when my husband was taking the garbage out and see if I can find one. I saw the little one swimming along with the others. I even shined a light on them and they just kept swimming... so i threw in a little food and I believe it got a few pieces (i was getting bitten by mosquitos so i did not stay long). Anyways I hope tomorrow the other will be visible as well. I will report back. Can you tell I am excited???? lol

 

[fishin4cars]

Good to hear! It takes a few days sometimes when they are moved but usually join the rest of the group pretty quick. if you go out and feed early in the morning and before dark in the evening the fish will learn when feeding time is. then continue this feeding time and the fish will get to know who feeds and who is there that isn't normally. All ours get excited when they see a stranger with me, I guess they know they will get fed a little extra,extra! LOL Little pigs!

 

[capewind]

LOL... I was feeding ours TWICE a day (tiny amounts)... Our pond is right outside of the sliding glass door and wraps around the corner of the house. I swear they know when it opens and IMMEDIATELY come BEGGING for food every time I step out the door. I daily walk past them, to go around the corner of the house to the other pond area (to feed the babies), and they FOLLOW me. I'll sit at the 2nd pond (bonding with the babies) for awhile, and they are still waiting... then walk back to the slider, and yup, they are following ... and yup, I do toss some food at them LMAO!

 

[Fishylove]

Lolz cape! I wish mine would follow me since I put them in the big pond they hide from me they used to let me touch em. Fishin is probably right, they have so much more room now, it doesn't feel safe.