Fish seem to all be gone

[Indy Lindy]

I hope to get some possible answers as to why I'm not finding any fish in my pond this spring.
Last year was my first year having fish in an existing pond at my new house. I cleaned all the leaves and a good deal of muck, got a new pump and got the waterfall working. A friend that has goldfish gave me 5 and after a couple of months I had babies! We both bought 3 small koi from a fish hatchery place that comes to our soil and water conservation office in the summer. Everything seemed fine last fall when I took out my pump to keep it from freezing over the winter and I put in and aerator for air and to keep the water from freezing over. I live in Indiana. With the aerator running, the water never froze totally. But now that it's warmed up the fish are all gone. No bigger one or little ones. No dead bodies. Nothing. What could have happened? My friends fish are all still alive so I'm assuming my fish weren't sick because my fish and her fish all came from the same. I want to get more fish but not until I figure out what went wrong.
TIA for your help!

 

[brokensword]

most likely a predator got them; heron, raccoon, owl, mink, otter, snapping turtle. The only real way is to net the pond for protection. You can set up a trailcam to see the possible culprit, if you restock your pond. A few details might help further, like how deep, how many gallons, rural or suburban location, basic dimensions, any shelves or plant cover? The shallower and smaller the pond, the more rural and easy access the pond, the more open the pond, the easier it is for predation. Sorry this happened.

 

[Lisak1]

I'd guess the same - something took advantage of the open water and had a fish buffet. Probably happened over the course of just a few hours. Fish in cold water are much slower and easier to catch. I'd assume it was something willing to swim - like a mink - vs a raccoon that fishes from the shore. Probably not a turtle in the winter. A cave won't help much if the predator is going into the water to get the fish which is what I would assume happened.

How big is your pond? I wouldn't assume that since your friend's fish lived that yours were also healthy - lots of variables, including pond size, filtration, etc. Are you sure they aren't still in the pond somewhere? Maybe hiding? I know that maybe sounds impossible, but we've heard it before. We had one fish in our pond that would disappear for days or weeks at a time. We figured it must have found a place to hide in the rocks.

 

[addy1]

My fish are very good at hiding this time of year, always think I am missing a bunch. But then they show up. My pond is 5.5 feet at the deepest so they have places to hide.

 

[poconojoe]

My fish are very good at hiding this time of year, always think I am missing a bunch. But then they show up. My pond is 5.5 feet at the deepest so they have places to hide.

Agree.
Depending on the size of your pond, the size of the fish and possible hiding places, they can escape being seen for extended times.

What size were these fish?
The smaller they are, the harder it would be to spot them, especially if your water hasn't quite cleared up from the normal Spring conditions.

I've added fish in the past that "disappeared ", only to suddenly reappear weeks later.
This can happen when fish are introduced into a new environment or simply as they come out of hibernation as addy has stated.
So, don't give up on them yet. Keep an eye out for them.

Of course there's also a good possibility they were taken by a predator.

 

[addy1]

I loss a lot to heron in Jan, snow on the ground. Left for florida when a tenant died forgot to check the nets. Well the heron had a feast. Loss about 1/2 of the fish in the 1000 gallon pond and all of the fan tails (11) in the hot tub pond. I had not netted the hot tub, didn't even think about it.

 

[poconojoe]

I loss a lot to heron in Jan, snow on the ground. Left for florida when a tenant died forgot to check the nets. Well the heron had a feast. Loss about 1/2 of the fish in the 1000 gallon pond and all of the fan tails (11) in the hot tub pond. I had not netted the hot tub, didn't even think about it.

That's horrible. Sorry to hear that.

 

[Lisak1]

Imagine that same story from the heron's point of view - "You would never BELIEVE the spread at this place! Gorgeous fish, beautiful clear water... just delicious! First time it's been open in YEARS!"

 

[poconojoe]

Imagine that same story from the heron's point of view - "You would never BELIEVE the spread at this place! Gorgeous fish, beautiful clear water... just delicious! First time it's been open in YEARS!"

That's funny!
But very sad situation for the fish...and the fish owner.

 

[Lisak1]

But very sad situation for the fish...and the fish owner.

Indeed. Nature is all about the push and pull.

 

[addy1]

That's horrible. Sorry to hear that.

Part of living in the flight path of a rookery. They fly over every day and evening. We see them pause and look down.

 

[addy1]

Indeed. Nature is all about the push and pull.

They pushed and won, totally my error, the 1000 gallon tank had a net that had rotted a bit and it fell further apart while gone. The hot tub pond, didn't even think about it...............hey it was cold and snowy. And tiny fantails.

 

[Tula]

Do you live near any waterways? Mink and otters are ruthless hunters , excellent swimmers and the fish a slow due to the cold weather.

 

[Indy Lindy]

This is the size of the pond.
About 1500 gallons and about 2 1/2 ft. to 3 feet deep in spots.
There are plenty of rocks to hide around. As you can see I pulled some out last fall that had fallen in. There seems to be some leaf debris and a lot of string algae. I tried to net some of it and to also see if some fish were hiding but I never saw any at all while doing this.
There were about 6 or so fish that were about 4-5 inches and about 10-15 baby goldfish that were born last summer so they weren't very big. I live at the edge of town and do get a little wildlife but I wouldn't think they would get every single fish.

 

[brokensword]

This is the size of the pond.
About 1500 gallons and about 2 1/2 ft. to 3 feet deep in spots.
There are plenty of rocks to hide around. As you can see I pulled some out last fall that had fallen in. There seems to be some leaf debris and a lot of string algae. I tried to net some of it and to also see if some fish were hiding but I never saw any at all while doing this.
There were about 6 or so fish that were about 4-5 inches and about 10-15 baby goldfish that were born last summer so they weren't very big. I live at the edge of town and do get a little wildlife but I wouldn't think they would get every single fish.
View attachment 137540

that's what herons do; once they find a fishin' hole, they clean it out unless persuaded otherwise. What are the dimensions of your pond? It doesn't look nearly that large (1500 gallons). And it doesn't really matter to the heron if there's rocks; they're very patient hunters. They'll even regurgitate something up to lure the fish . And even at 3 feet, a heron could stand and fish.