Koi fishes are now to scared to come out

[MikeBuyco]

Hello,

I'm pretty new to pond hobby. I've started with it just a month ago. I have a small pond with 7 koi fishes. I enjoy watching them everyday. They come out usually and run away when I get close to them. After almost a month of feeding them they still run away when I get close but at least they come out from the rock hiding place. I was happy.

Here is the problem. 2 days ago, my neighbors kids throwed some rocks on the pond and now I have not seen them come out of the rock. I usually put food on the pond and they will come out. I try to see in the rock, they are still there but they won't come out ever.

What should I do?

 

[fishin4cars]

Throw rocks back at the kids! LOL, No really, It's going to take time for them to calm back down, the more hiding areas they have the more comfort they will feel. Also, If they are small try feeding from the same place, at the same time as much as possible, only feed a very few morsels, if they don't come out, don't feed, they will relate you with food and start coming back out. I do hear of some that have certain sounds they do when they approach the pond that makes the koi come to them. Yes fish can hear and koi are smart enough to relate that same noise as food is coming. Some whistle, some tap on the water, mine can hear out foot steps on the wood deck and they come running when they are comfortable and hungry. But if they have had something try and attack them through my cover they are very jittery for a few days before they calm back down.

 

[sissy]

It took my koi almost 6 months of socializing with them to get them really friendly and now they even go after my chihuahua and have food special treats and things like watermellon strawberries and blueberries and they will get used to hearing your voice and they will come as soon as they hear you

 

[MikeBuyco]

Throw rocks back at the kids! LOL, No really, It's going to take time for them to calm back down, the more hiding areas they have the more comfort they will feel. Also, If they are small try feeding from the same place, at the same time as much as possible, only feed a very few morsels, if they don't come out, don't feed, they will relate you with food and start coming back out. I do hear of some that have certain sounds they do when they approach the pond that makes the koi come to them. Yes fish can hear and koi are smart enough to relate that same noise as food is coming. Some whistle, some tap on the water, mine can hear out foot steps on the wood deck and they come running when they are comfortable and hungry. But if they have had something try and attack them through my cover they are very jittery for a few days before they calm back down.

I was actually pretty pissed after knowing that. You know it did cross my mind to throw rocks back at them. lol. They were only 4 and 6 year old kids. Before leaving the office I asked them not to throw rocks at the fishes again but I didn't scold them or anything. Thanks for giving ideas on how to feed them, I've never thought of that before. Since they don't come out, I put the food in their hiding area because I've notice yesterday that the food in the middle of the pond I put were not eaten at all which means they didn't come out ever since. So I'm putting food right now in the rock where they hide.

It took my koi almost 6 months of socializing with them to get them really friendly and now they even go after my chihuahua and have food special treats and things like watermellon strawberries and blueberries and they will get used to hearing your voice and they will come as soon as they hear you

Wow 6 months. That's a lot of time. Hopefully I won't take that long before they trust me. I saw some videos where koi owners feed their fishes by hand. I hope I can that kind of level of trust.

 

[fishin4cars]

You are sure they are in there and they didn't get removed without you knowing did they? Not blaming the boys as i don't think they could, But predators can remove fish without you ever knowing it.

 

[MikeBuyco]

You are sure they are in there and they didn't get removed without you knowing did they? Not blaming the boys as i don't think they could, But predators can remove fish without you ever knowing it.

Yup. I'm pretty sure. I took a peak at the rock where they were all hiding and they are all there. Counted myself. They just don't want to go out.

 

[stevo]

Fishin4cars lol! great answer ! feed the kids to them

 

[mogsie]

stick with it mikebuyco, ivehad my fish for around 4 - 5 weeks, at first they sat at the bottom of the deep end and didnt move then when they started exploring the pond they retreated back down every time i approached the pond, they still do a bit now if i lean over the water or put my hand in but they soon come swimming back again, i have 2 of my fish that are starting to feed from my hand already, try to spend as much time by your pond as you can, just sitting and relaxing so they get used to seeing you there, i used to sit really still while they were swimming about, now they dont mind me moving about round the pond, last week my 2 yr old son threw his little fotball in there (which i told him off about) but it didnt seem to phase the fish any, but just give them time, patience is a virtue and good things come to those that wait, good luck

 

[addy1]

I don't have koi, but my goldfish and shubunkins have been hiding since I put them in the pond. The 5 from last year I have seen twice maybe 3 times. The new ones not at all, but no floating bodies, big pond, little fish so just waiting it out...........darn things.

They get no food, but there is a bunch of side algae they can nibble on, bugs etc. The five from last year, when i did see them, had doubled in size.

Just make sure you don't put in food that they don't eat it will rot and mess your pond up.

 

[sissy]

my aggie loves people she will take food from anyone and she has learned to give fishy kisses too

 

[fishin4cars]

Mike, Something else you can do that will calm them down and get them more relaxed, Buy a Chagoi, a Ochiba, or a soragoi Koi Larger than the rest and introduce it to the group. I don't know why but these always seem to calm the rest down, they do get a little larger than some of the other koi, and they aren't as brightly colored but still some beautiful fish to own if you find one that can be seen. We named ours Lucky which in japanese the Chagoi is suppose to bring good luck and fortune to the keeper. since adding it all the Koi seemed to have calmed down, No jumpers and most seem to follow Lucky everywhere. The biggest drawback is it doesn't show well until it's right in front of us. Hard to believe that a 18" koi would be hard to spot but it is.

 

[MikeBuyco]

Mike, Something else you can do that will calm them down and get them more relaxed, Buy a Chagoi, a Ochiba, or a soragoi Koi Larger than the rest and introduce it to the group. I don't know why but these always seem to calm the rest down, they do get a little larger than some of the other koi, and they aren't as brightly colored but still some beautiful fish to own if you find one that can be seen. We named ours Lucky which in japanese the Chagoi is suppose to bring good luck and fortune to the keeper. since adding it all the Koi seemed to have calmed down, No jumpers and most seem to follow Lucky everywhere. The biggest drawback is it doesn't show well until it's right in front of us. Hard to believe that a 18" koi would be hard to spot but it is.

I was planning to buy an additional koi to calm them down but buying a really big one might be hard on the budget. I went to store and asked how much is the big one and I found out that it's 25X than the price I bought for the koi fish I got. Should I buy the same size as there in the pond? My pond is too small, I'm planning to expand it and make it deeper also. I didn't know that the pond must be at least 18 inches deep. There is so much to learn. :lol:. I'm going to see if I can find chagoi in our area. I

 

[MikeBuyco]

my aggie loves people she will take food from anyone and she has learned to give fishy kisses too

It makes me jealous when I see your pictures. I want to have that same trust as that.

 

[addy1]

If your pond is really only 20 gallons, I would not add anymore fish. They grow fast and you will have too many fish for your pond. How cold does it get where you are at? That helps with the depth you need.

 

[MikeBuyco]

There are only 8 of them and I'm planning to add 1 big chagoi fish to calm them down. It's not really that cold here in our area. I'm not exactly sure about the temperature. There are times when it's really hot. When it's hot they all hide in one area where it is deep in the rocks. Now they all hide there because they are scared. :-(