Fish not moving

[webbo]

Hi guys, i thought i would join the site as i have recently dug a pond in the garden and began stocking with fish.

The water was put in three weeks ago and over the past two weeks i have slowly introduced fish which are two 8-10 inch koi, 4 small koi, 3 comets and 3 gold fish. Since day one the fish havent been energetic and rarely move around the pond and wont feed from the surface. I was wondering whether anyone may know a reason as to why they seem so lathergic

A few other things to mention are

A heron has tried to take one of the comets, although it failed and just resulted in the fish losing scales ( would this have scared them so much they would barely ove for a week?).

And also when edging the pond some of the mortar mix did inevitably get into the pond water, would the lime present poison the fish?

After purchasing a water test kit everything seems to be ok apart from the Gh which is reading at 16.


Any information would be a great help!

Thanks

Matt

 

[stroppy]

hi webbo well a heron would make the fish very skittish do they have anywhere to hide ? anyway you can cover the pond for a while ?because that heron may well come back ! also what are your water temps up there, as down here in the southeast its only just warming up creeping up to 60 today

 

[webbo]

Well at the moment there just hiding behind a few plants that are in the pond, although there not that established due to it being new! Yes we bought a net the other day so hopefully it wont be a problem now! In all honesty i couldnt tell you the water temp as i havent got a thermometer as of yet, it did feel quite warm when i moved the pump earlier though!

 

[koikeepr]

Ok, webbo, to start off you've introduced way too many fish into the pond that is 1000 gallon. That pond would have done just fine with a dozen goldfish. Though you've bought fingerling sized koi, they can grow 18-24 inches in length. So, they are not suitable for a small pond.

Also, it does sound like you introduced the fish a bit too soon and didn't give your pond time to settle. Do not add more fish.

You need to make sure you are doing 20% water changes each week. When you refill the pond a new round of water, do make sure to add a dechlorination product.

It can take fish many months to warm up to a new pond and they will hide and remain on the bottom for some time until they warm up to you. Cover the pond with bird netting if you have predators such as herons.

 

[webbo]

Thanks for that Koikeepr, i assume when you talk about the water changes you mean to freshen the water and possibly remove any lime over time? Hopefully the fish will warm to us soon!!

 

[koikeepr]

no, not lime. Poop, urine, detrius, decaying food matter, etc. Think of a pond as a toilet. Water changes are the FLUUUUUUUUSSH! Otherwise the water gets stagnant and poopy and the fish die.

 

[undrtkr_00]

If the pH is OK, then the lime should not cause problems.

The fish may be sluggish due to cool temps?

 

[koikeepr]

forget lime. you are focusing on something that does not have extreme relevance or importance

 

[webbo]

I have a pump and filter, i wouldnt have thought these water changes were neccessary with them? The fish seemed a little more lively today, hopefully its just a confidence thing!

 

[DrDave]

Netting on a frame will help keep the GBH at bay.

 

[rdk]

I found that new fish do not like a new setting or even new changes to their pond. They get upset for a time until they get use to it. RDK

 

[nigil]

Give it some time. The heron scarred them add that to the fact they are in a new environment. I added four new koi almost a month ago and they still are skittish when i come around. They just began schooling with the others this past Monday.

 

[koikeepr]

I'm expecting my fish to go shy for 2 or 3 weeks once I have to go through the tortuous act of catching them and then putting them in the new pond. Though I do expect at some point they'll come out and say--well, heck, she moved us to the Taj Mahal! LOL!