Indoor 400 gallon pond in NJ

[LindaMcL]

Hi everyone! I've had a 400-gallon pond inside my home for over twenty years. Just moved my last gorgeous old koi to an 8000 gallon outdoor pond nearby with over 100 fish. He seemed overjoyed five days ago when he first entered the pond... had so much space and new friends. I watched him for an hour and felt good when I left him. Today I went to visit him and couldn't find him anywhere! He's 22 inches long... one of the largest fish in there! The pond has an elaborate netting system and is about 4 feet deep at one end. Its a smooth bottom and doesn't appear to have hiding places big enough for him. I'm freaking out... where is he????

 

[LindaMcL]

I've had a 400-gallon pond inside my home for over twenty years. Just moved my last gorgeous old koi to an 8000-gallon outdoor pond nearby with over 100 fish. He seemed overjoyed five days ago when he first entered the pond... had so much space and new friends. I watched him for an hour and felt good when I left him. Today I went to visit him and couldn't find him anywhere! He's 22 inches long... one of the largest fish in there! The pond has an elaborate netting system and is about 4 feet deep at one end. Its a smooth bottom and doesn't appear to have hiding places big enough for him. I'm freaking out... where is he???? Could he really work that hard to hide... and why!

 

[j.w]

@LindaMcL
They are very good at hiding and it could be he just had some kind of a scare and being in a new place he just didn't know what else to do but hide hopefully. Could have been a fish bullying him or a loud noise or who knows what?

 

[snoozer]

Wish i could answer your question. Does this pond belong to someone you know? Maybe they would be able to help with an answer.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Unfortunately, there really isn’t any way we can know where your fish is. I agree with @j.w, that he’s probably hiding. Fish are like other animals in that they have to adjust to new places. Going from 400 gallons to 8000 gallons is a big difference.

Why did you have to move him, and I hope you had the owner’s consent to add him to their pond?

 

[LindaMcL]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, of course I had permission. My pond servicer also services this large pond and we've been talking for over a year about where to move him. When I got him 23 years ago he was four inches. He's been in 400 gallons. His buddy died last October and because of his size and the space I couldn't get any more fish. I also had a leak in my waterfall and was in need of reconstruction. So the only option was to find him a new home. Believe me, it broke my heart. I was so thrilled when we took him there on Wednesday when he seemed to settle in nicely and was swimming with the other fish. Today, he was nowhere to be found. The owner was with me. She has so many fish and not the "personal" relationship with them that I had so she hadn't really noticed the last few days. I won't rest until I go back and find him and make sure he's ok. It seems from reading that it's not unusual for them to hide... I pray that's all that's happening...

 

[cas]

I hope you find him.

 

[JamieB]

I'm very interested in your pond, pray tell how you had such a big pond inside? With pictures please! I've got an idea for an indoor pond/ large aquarium set up I'd like to so once we get around to finishing the renovation of our sun room.

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[LindaMcL]

We found Jazz today. He was dead inside the skimmer box. :-( I am completely devastated. Guess it was all too much of a shock for him. I've been crying for hours... only you guys would understand. I feel incredibly guilty. He'd still be here if I hadn't moved him. What else could I do? He was lonely and too big for the space. I planned this for a year... can;t believe this happened. He seemed fine last week when he first got there. Here are a few pictures. Jazz with his former buddy Blaze from a year ago (Blaze died in October). A picture of Jazz the day before I moved him last week. And a picture of my pond now, after we demolished the leaking stream and waterfall (reconstruction starts later this week). Starting all over. When I recover from this awful news, I need to figure out what to get now... can't get koi again... they get too big too fast. Don't want to go through this again. Only have 380 gallons. I want color. Anyway, thanks for listening and the support. Only other pond people would understand how upset I am. My friends think I'm crazy.

 

[Mmathis]

I’m so sorry! It is devastating to lose a pet, whether it has scales, fur, an exoskeleton, or feathers. We become attached.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I'm so sorry! People on this forum definitely can understand how heartbreaking something like this is.

On a side note - your indoor pond set up is absolutely beautiful! Once you get it back up & running properly, take a look at shubunkin goldfish. They are colorful like koi, but don't get nearly as big.

 

[JamieB]

You could also go for smaller colorful tropical fish. But if you like big cold water fish, easy to interact with, shubinkin are pretty.

 

[Tula]

Oh gosh, I am so sorry to read of the loss of Jazz He/ she was gorgeous and you must have taken very good care of it for him to live so long.

Your indoor pond is lovely, I would love something like that. I have 4 adult koi and didn't realize how big they got when I bought them....but I've had three of them for 16 years now.

One of our favorite plant nurseries has an indoor pond about the size of yours, perhaps even smaller. They've had the same koi and turtles for years !!

I can understand you not wanting another koi due to their size, however keep in mind goldfish breed rapidly.

 

[snoozer]

I am so sorry for your loss of Jazz. We all understand how you feel.