Koi dying in skimmer

[Patty davenport]

I've had babies driwn in the skimmer,but over the last 3 month's,I've lost 3 large koi. The first was our largest.ar about 15-20" long. We've had the fish for 10 years. I found him in the skimmer,scales all messed up and a lot gone. He was way too big to move around in it,and torn himself up. 2 days ago,I found another 3 year old dead in the skimmer. Yesterday I found another about 15" long. What is going on? My fish are committing suicide! No food goes in the skimmer. They look fine. I did notice one who was rolling,not flashing. I knew something was wrong. Please help!

 

[sissy]

reason I hate skimmers .I have seen people try to tie pool noodles in front of them

 

[Tula]

Patty, You mentioned a fish that is "rolling", is this a fish that's currently in the pond? I have a 1/4 inch piece of PVC jammed across my skimmer weir. It prevents my large koi from swimming into is. Inexpensive and effective.

 

[Jhn]

I would look into your water parameters, healthy fish shouldn’t get stuck in the skimmer.

What type of filtration do you have, size of pond, how many fish?

Answering these questions will better help us help you.

 

[Mmathis]

Or, are the fish being drawn into the skimmer......at the point when they are too debilitated to resist?

 

[sissy]

good snacks in a skimmer and to tempting for fish to resist

 

[carolinaguy]

Or, are the fish being drawn into the skimmer......at the point when they are too debilitated to resist?

We have seen sick fish end up in there. We had one idiot fish who just went straight to the skimmerfor about the first season. No idea why. Perfectly healthy and dumb as a post. Developed into a fair sanke. The sick ones suffered from flukes or some other undefined problem. We saved one and lost two.

The problem is probably in the pond body because of parasites or something else. We never barrier our skimmer, but we do use an air curtain to keep the food out.

 

[Mmathis]

@Patty davenport Please tell us more about your pond. We really don’t have the information we need to help you!

 

[Patty davenport]

I would look into your water parameters, healthy fish shouldn’t get stuck in the skimmer.

What type of filtration do you have, size of pond, how many fish?

Answering these questions will better help us help you.

The pond is 1000 gal. with a savio filtration pad. We had 5 large koi. Then we had 16 babies. Racoon and skimmer got 10 of them. So we had too many at one time. We ended up with 11,which I feel is too many. That was last year. No obvious problems. When I changed the batteries in my tds meter,i wonder if the calculation is off. It seems the amount of salt added,it's reading low. I've ordered the calculation bottle to check it. All tests are normal except ammonia is slightly up.

 

[Patty davenport]

Or, are the fish being drawn into the skimmer......at the point when they are too debilitated to resist?

Don't think so. They seemed fine before,except for the rolling one.

 

[Patty davenport]

good snacks in a skimmer and to tempting for fish to resist

I feed them at the other end. Food doesn't get past them!

 

[mrsclem]

Why are you using salt in your pond?

 

[cas]

The only time my fish end up in the skimmer is when they are spawning and the males end up pushing the females into it.

 

[Telion]

Sorry to hear that. Will you post a pic of your skimmer in place. I tend to lean toward the fish getting sick then too weak to fight it. I had one that had little to no visible signs of illness till the day he was too weak to swim right. Exhibited one day of minor bloating and pine coning of the scales.

 

[Patty davenport]

It keeps them healthy in several ways.

Sorry to hear that. Will you post a pic of your skimmer in place. I tend to lean toward the fish getting sick then too weak to fight it. I had one that had little to no visible signs of illness till the day he was too weak to swim right. Exhibited one day of minor bloating and pine coning of the scales.

I've list 3 large koi now. No sign of sickness except the last one rolled over a few times. Never seen that. Once they were in the skimmer,they're too big to get out without causing damage. It's like there running from something. I tested the water this morning. Everything is good. Ammonia is running below .25,but not quite 0. I checked twice on the phosphates because it shows no phosphates in the water. I've never heard of this,it doesn't seem like something that would make them go in the skimmer. We've done several water changes and vacuumed the pond,but still have dingy water. Lots of dead algea in the bottom. I'm sending pictures.Never any food in the skimmer.

Sorry to hear that. Will you post a pic of your skimmer in place. I tend to lean toward the fish getting sick then too weak to fight it. I had one that had little to no visible signs of illness till the day he was too weak to swim right. Exhibited one day of minor bloating and pine coning of the scales.

Sorry to hear that. Will you post a pic of your skimmer in place. I tend to lean toward the fish getting sick then too weak to fight it. I had one that had little to no visible signs of illness till the day he was too weak to swim right. Exhibited one day of minor bloating and pine coning of the scales.