Fish Not Eating

[Alpravinosh]

Hi forum so I have a pond which I constructed myself it is 2months old with about 3week old fish. My fishes have been eating and growing extremely well until yesterday. I wanted to add in some aquatic plants so yesterday I went down the nursery and bought some aquatic plants, I also went on to buy myself a koi. Came back home released my new fish. The about two hours later I entered the pond and started to place in my aquatic plants. There was a lot of movement in my pond and the fishes looked scared. I did my work as quickly as possible and got out. After two hours later I feed my fish at my usual feeding time. I noticed they did not come up as usual they sort of darted in and out very quickly. I ignored that thinking they might have felt a bit scared but the. Today morning they did NOT EAT AT All, this worried me and hence forth I am asking you'll. Please help!!!!!!!!

 

[addy1]

Fish do that when newly placed in a pond, even if 3 weeks ago. Also a new fish can scare the old ones. Then you went into the pond and placed new plants which changes their environment. Give them time they will settle down and start eating.

 

[Dave 54]

Hi forum so I have a pond which I constructed myself it is 2months old with about 3week old fish. My fishes have been eating and growing extremely well until yesterday. I wanted to add in some aquatic plants so yesterday I went down the nursery and bought some aquatic plants, I also went on to buy myself a koi. Came back home released my new fish. The about two hours later I entered the pond and started to place in my aquatic plants. There was a lot of movement in my pond and the fishes looked scared. I did my work as quickly as possible and got out. After two hours later I feed my fish at my usual feeding time. I noticed they did not come up as usual they sort of darted in and out very quickly. I ignored that thinking they might have felt a bit scared but the. Today morning they did NOT EAT AT All, this worried me and hence forth I am asking you'll. Please help!!!!!!!!

If your fish have stopped eating after only three weeks then it could well be a number of things that are a problem with your pond however first off what are your water perameters Ammonia Nirtrite Nitrate Ph please ?
Was the filter on your pond fully mature when you put the new fish in and where your new fish Quarentined before you put them into your pond and exactly just how much have yu been feeding your new fish please,
I'm saying what your seeing may well be a result of all of the above , if they arent then add some crushed garlic to your food , crushed garlic is sort of the catnp of the fish world and most fish go nuts for it and its a of kick starting their appitites again but please check every other aspect of the pond first and formost your water perameters

Dave

 

[Alpravinosh]

Thank you addy1 for the input and I will take note of it. To Dave 54. I am so sorry but I do not know the ammonia nitrate and nitrite pH value in my pond. Ok for the next part my filter was fully mature but the thing is I do not know if my fish was quarantine before hand. You see I am a Malaysian and these koi is a grade B koi so there is no asking if the fish is quarantine but I do know the owner for over 10 years and his fish is healthy. In my pond there is 8 fishes. 6 koi grade B and 2 goldfish no idea the breed. I feed them about 15-20 pallets (small circular pallets).
But my opinion is that the nitrate levels are stable and well, the water is healthy as aquatic plants are thriving. So what is your opinion on what I should do?

 

[Dave 54]

The problem you have is this, any koi brought by you should be Quarentined prior to them going into your pond this means around 8 weeks in what we term a QT pond this s so any problems your koi may have are picked up prior to them going in with your main population , you cannot rely on your koi dealer to do this for you .
KHV or koi Herpes Virus is very prevelant in th far eastern countries and it is a killer this is why we must QT.
Plus there are many other things such as parasites etc we must look out for again this is why we QT.
Not knowing what your pond perameters are also ties our hands because we do not know if your water perameters are wrong i'e to much in the way of ammonia etc .
If they are wrong this can believe iit or not, as with parasites put your fish off eating .
Your going to have to invest in an API pond test kit then follow its instructions to the letter only then will we know if its your water perameters that is the cause of your fih not eating .
Can you tell me a little about your fish are they swimming about naturally are their fins clamped to the sides of their bodies is there anything in the way of a fungal nfection are there any sores appearing on the sides of your fish?
What you can tell us now can give us a clue as to what s happening in your pond .
The fact that your aquatic plants are thriving doesnt really tell us alott , by the sounds of it I'd say your not over feeding , the fact you've known the dealer for ten years is niether here nor there but trust in a person I understand .
For now take a sample of your water to your dealership friend and ask him to test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nirate and Ph, ask also about buying your own pond test kit m that way your going to know just whats happening with your fish.
You can try adding garlic to your food as previously suggested as this stimulates the fish to start eating again

Dave

 

[Alpravinosh]

Dear Dave 54, I would like to thank you for taking the trouble to answer and assist me with all my problems. I have taken note of what you said and I would definately invest on a API pond test kit. For my fish no sluggish movements what so ever, fins not tucked backwards, no white spots and definately no sluggish movements. Thank you.

 

[sissy]

Plants should be cleaned also before put in the pond .I clean all the roots and repot and floating ones I clean and all my new plants go in a holding tank after with a little miracle grow .Same as fish plants can carry all kinds of bad things .I hose off the roots and dip them in peroxide and soapy water and then make sure roots and plants are clean and then they go in a miracle grow bath and I let them in there for a day or two and then repot them .oh also welcome and hope you stay to show us pics of your pond

 

[j.w]

I think your fish are just super scared due to all the action messing w/ their home putting the new plants in there. They will settle down and then get hungry again. They don't know you that well yet and still think of you as a big monster coming to eat them up

 

[Meyer Jordan]

As Addy1 and j.w. have stated, the fish need time to adjust to a STABLE environment. One without any changes for a couple of weeks. Once they feel comfortable with their surroundings and pond-mates, they will resume normal behavior.

 

[Dave 54]

Dear Dave 54, I would like to thank you for taking the trouble to answer and assist me with all my problems. I have taken note of what you said and I would definately invest on a API pond test kit. For my fish no sluggish movements what so ever, fins not tucked backwards, no white spots and definately no sluggish movements. Thank you.

Its not a problem my friend we are all here to help one another from what you've said I tend to agree with addy j.w. and Meyer, however that doesnt mean your out of the woods with this just yet , the telling will be the results of your API tests if they are fine then you've learned valuable lessons i fish keeping , to test water perameters and to QT your fish as you buy them .
Can you tell me what filtration etc you have on your pond including air pumps etc it builds up an overall picture of your pond and its setup?

Dave

 

[sissy]

Better to be scared then to be eaten

 

[Lisak1]

Fish can be easily spooked and stay spooked for much longer than you might think reasonable. Survival of the most cautious is sometimes true too! And it's really not that big of a deal if fish stop eating for a few days or even longer - if they aren't showing any other signs of trouble, then I wouldn't worry. Did you know some pond owners feed only once in a while and some not at all? Goldfish in particular do fine in a pond with little or no human handouts.

Just carry on like normal - they'll come around. Every spring our fish are slow to warm up to us... like they don't even remember how much we love each other! We have one that leads the pack - always the first to finally say "oh, hey! It's you! Where've you been?" And then we're all good friends again.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

While I agree that fish can be scared when things suddenly change in their environment and need time to acclimate to a new environment, I'm not so sure that is the case here.

The first thing anyone with fish should do when their fish are acting off is to get the test kit out and check water parameters. The two big things here that are suspect to me are that the pond is new (2 months) with fish only being in the pond for 3 weeks (per op eating and growing) and the fact that a new fish was added to the pond without quarantine (big risk for introducing parasites and or bacteria and illness)

Most likely the water quality is deteriorating because the pond has not had enough time to mature. Checking for ammonia and nitrite would be the first thing I would suggest. It would be helpful to know what the actual numbers are for ammonia, nitrite,nitrate and ph as well as water temperature.

Please post back with your results

 

[bettasngoldfish]

For cleaning aquatic plants I use a solution from Jungle called Clear Water (it is a premixed solution of potassium permanganate) you soak the plants as per directions (15-20 minutes) and then rinse with water.

I'm not sure that it's a good idea to use any kind of soap on plants especially if they are going in a pond or aquarium.

 

[sissy]

That is why besides cleaning them and rinsing them well and putting them in a mix of miracle grow is important .I just don't like to spend money on more stuff .Peroxide is 88 cents a bottle and dish detergent well I have that and if you want you can skip the detergent .I use it on my house plants also .I even spray it in my veggie garden on the plants .Leaves are shiny and healthy and bug free .Even my roses love it ,just don't spray it on a sunny day .The blueberries and blackberry plants love it also