Egret ate ALL of my fish!

[gardenlady]

I'm posting in two places because I'm not sure where to post this. :sad: Walked out to my pond yesterday and ALL of my fish were gone! I was stunned and deeply saddened. We happen to have cameras around our home so we checked and sure enough an Egret was in our pond and picking them off and eating them. My husband saw him eat three of the 8 (I couldn't watch any of this) one after the other and fly off, so he came back same day and/or next day and finished them off. We live where we have a man made huge lake outside out backyard gate and so there are few egrets and herons that are constantly around that lake, but this is the first time in all these years I've had one come into our pond. I've been researching different options and seems as thought the best idea is to net the pond but would welcome advise from those with far more knowledge than I have in ponds. One question in regards to netting is how to build one so that I still have access to clean the pond if necessary and feed the fish, add plants, etc. One video I watched showed staking the netting and it seems to cover the pond with no access which brought this question to mind. If possible I'd love a link to a page with video or photos of how to build properly. I'm including a couple of photos of the pond incase this makes it easier for someone to tell me how we should construct it. I just checked the depth and it's only 13" deep so seems that I should take the flagstone border off and have someone come and redig it deeper. It's about 800 gallons but I don't think I have room to make it much bigger. Thanks in advance..julie

 

[sissy]

really nice pond .Colleens trick could work ..deeper will help gives the fish a place to go and hide .

 

[j.w]

Sorry for the loss of your poor fish! I posted in the other thread you made but now I see that you can't really put up a fence around it cuz of all the rock. Wonder if you could put up a gazebo to hide the view of the fish from the birds as they fly over? You could put a net over that or just plant some kind of vining plants. Maybe around the bottom of the gazebo you could add a short fence that matches the gazebo or actually part of it to stop the bird from walking in. Don't know if you want to go to all that trouble and maybe a net would just be easier. I just don't like the nets cuz they distract from the looks and is harder to get in and out of the pond when doing maintenance but ya gotta keep the fish safe somehow and a net does seem to really work.

 

[sissy]

very true jw if you don't get a lot of wind one of those plastic ones with the cloth on top .Shade for the pond and a nice place to sit .gosh even a patio umbrella with a weighted bottom .

 

[j.w]

I've seen some nice looking gazebo's that you could just set over the top of a smaller pond, the kind that lets the sun and rain in like a trellis type too that plants can grow up. I think the birds fly over and see the fish in the pond so a good covering of plants would be needed on those kind.

 

[koiguy1969]

a simple pvc frame with neting or plastic mesh fencing fastened to it. (you could even make it in sections) and theres no need to double post. either section is fine.

 

[sissy]

you can google the all metal ones I saw some nice ones on a couple of sights .Not expensive either .Cheapest I saw was 199 dollars .

 

[sissy]

true light weight easy to move in sections koiguy .

 

[sissy]

hayneedle.com has some nice ones that would give shade for you to sit up some nice chairs to sit and enjoy the pond in the shade .

 

[j.w]

I was thinking of something like this only maybe w/ some kind of lattice on the sides for plants to grow up and maybe a short fence around the bottom.

 

[sissy]

I am amazed at what hayneedle.com has under hydroponics that can be used for ponds also

 

[HARO]

I've never had a problem with herons, but will be building a gazebo similar to what j.w. posted to protect my fish from the kingfishers.
John

 

[gardenlady]

Thank you SO much for all of the suggestions! First thing is I'm determined to have the pond redug and made larger and especially much deeper. I wouldn't dare ask the hubs as this is the second time he's dug one there..the first a preformed and "we" *haha* took it out because I wanted something larger. I'm hoping we can pay a few guys that work for him to come and do that for us. Then..on to providing protection. The gazebo idea is appealing but since we are in a masterplan community I'd have to go through the approval process with the association AND since we are on the lake it does get quite windy. The pvc-frame sounds like a good idea also..and I'll check the hayneedle website to see what they have and to find out what hydroponics are! Oh..and to answer the person who ask if the egret was around or in the pond..I asked my husband because i simply didn't want to see anything and he said both. Once again thank you for all of your suggestions and will continue to read what anyone else might have to add.

 

[sissy]

hydroponics is growing food in water and I have seen one where the used a home built pond with fish and used the fish water pumped under the plants to filter the water and fertilize the plants and then clean water at the end of all that goes back into the pond . Some one came on and asked about it on this forum

 

[gardenlady]

hydroponics is growing food in water and I have seen one where the used a home built pond with fish and used the fish water pumped under the plants to filter the water and fertilize the plants and then clean water at the end of all that goes back into the pond . Some one came on and asked about it on this forum
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Wow..interesting! While I have you Sissy..while I was cleaning the pond out since the fish are gone, I have string aglae and wanted to see if you have any advice about avoiding it altogether and what exactly causes it? Too much sun on the pond perhaps?