I have started up my new pond about 5 weeks ago. water has been clear, have not tested water. Placed plants, a lily, hyacinth and oxygenators in about 2 weeks ago. Last week put in four fish and 2 days later 4 more fish. since that time I have not been asble to find the 6 schbunkins (sp?) and last night one of the comets had died. so I can only confirm one fish left. Now the funny part (not really funny) is I have not found any other dead fish. so I'm not sure if i don't have a bird or animal that has invaded and is eating the fish. My yard is completely fenced. Has anyone had this sort of problem of disappearing fish? Thanks for any imput. It just maybe that I might not be able to have fish in this pond if some creature is eating the fish.
Fish missing
- Thread starter metgolf18
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First off, do not put fish in water before testing. Even if you use tap water, there might be stuff you used for the pond (like concrete) that sends the PH through the roof, and you havent mentioned dechlorinator, so it might be pure poison for fish. A test set costs less than a single nice fish.
However, the water would have to be more than just poisonous to make fish disappear. A safe guess would be a heron, possibly an owl; they dont mind much about fences around the garden and can empty even fully stocked ponds in a blink of an eye.
Search this forum for threads about heron to find lots of potential solutions. My vote goes to some fishing lines you put high over the (edit) pond, in to the flight path of the heron. It will scare the bejesus out of him if he hits it, and Ive not had a heron near my pond since I put them up.
However, the water would have to be more than just poisonous to make fish disappear. A safe guess would be a heron, possibly an owl; they dont mind much about fences around the garden and can empty even fully stocked ponds in a blink of an eye.
Search this forum for threads about heron to find lots of potential solutions. My vote goes to some fishing lines you put high over the (edit) pond, in to the flight path of the heron. It will scare the bejesus out of him if he hits it, and Ive not had a heron near my pond since I put them up.
should have added that I used tap water (municipal) and did declor. There is no concrete items, just a liner and rocks with a water fall. Have a biofilter attached to pump for waterfall. It may well be an owl or such, not sure. we live in an urban subdivision with homes close. But thanks about the line idea. May not add fish again, will have to think about it - maybe just a plant pond.
Ok, so last night I go out to the pond to see if the last fish was still there and to my surprise it is. Then I see a second, then a third and so on til there is a total of 6. So out of the original 8 - I have one confirmed death and 1 MIA. These guys appear to be very adept and hiding in a small 500-600 gallon pond. I fed them and they came out and eat and were very lively - go figure!!
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Fantastic metgolf, mine hid for almost a year, just brief very brief glimpses. When they want to hide they hide.
I have a 20+ inch white catfish and our big pond does not really have a lot of hiding places yet and the other morning I could not find him/ I looked behind the decorative fountain and by the bog. All of a sudden he appeared, I have no idea where he was. Hiding a big white fish in a clear pond is rather hard to do, but he did it. I may need to name him Houdini. We were calling him spooky.
Yes, I'm learning that fish have a great ability to hide. Last night the MIA fish all of a sudden came out for feeding. So I have all but the one that was confirmed. It is amazing, my pond is not big but they can sure hide.
fish i have learned hide and only come out after they are comfortable with the enviroment , i am still looking for one of mine , i have found six dead since i started and 1 mia , but i know he's there , no disturbance around the pond so i know no critters got him .