Missing fish...... Electrical storms? Alien abductions?

[Mmathis]

I will admit that this post is a little disjointed. It's more of a musing.....just thinking out loud.....contemplating a mystery....!

Here's a subject I've talked about before: lightening and fish deaths -- or in this case, missing fish. My pond is 3000 gals. and I have [or had] about 40-50 goldfish, all on the small to medium side [nothing over 5" long]. A few weeks ago I noticed that I wasn't seeing a couple of the fish.....then, again......a few more fish.....just....not there anymore! No bodies. No evidence of predators, no fish acting ill, no changes in pond routine.

But, we have had a lot of rain -- and thunder storms......with lots of lightening -- bad, very close lightening. It's always in retrospect, but in the past I have had unexplained deaths occur following bad electrical storms. With those fish, I was [usually] able to scrape them prior to actual death, and there was nothing on the scope to indicate parasites...... And no visible wounds.

But it's like these guys have been abducted by aliens! No bodies to examine! We are seriously considering installing a security camera. Just because I don't SEE predators, doesn't mean we don't have them.

I'm going out to check my water in a few minutes, since I'm sure there have been some pH changes [though I keep crushed oyster shells in the turtle bog, and just recently refreshed those]. Gotta cover all the bases!

 

[Mr.Wizard]

Definitely Aliens!

 

[sissy]

Reason for my cameras .Now ebay and amazon has elec security cameras for less than 60 dollars for 4 of them

 

[Spartamets]

A heron is a real possibility. I couldn't fid one of my shubunkins for a few weeks. There was no sign that anything was amiss. I just assumed that it and another one that looked like it kind of took turns coming out; I just never saw them together, and they were both fairly new. Then when one of the koi went missing, I knew something was up. The next day I saw the heron. I had heard that they clean out ponds in one shot (that's what happened to my neighbor about 12 years ago), so just taking out one fish didn't seem consistent with the way herons worked. But the koi disappearance and heron came a day apart. I think I'm missing two others, but with algae right now, I can't tell for sure. I hope it's not a heron you're dealing with.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Great Blue Herons typically feed at sunrise and/or at dusk. It is very easy to miss their visits.

 

[cas]

Bull frog? My brother-in-law saw a bull frog with one of his 5" goldfish.

 

[Mmathis]

Definitely Aliens!

Yep!

Great Blue Herons typically feed at sunrise and/or at dusk. It is very easy to miss their visits.

But only one or 2 fish gone missing at a time, over period of a month or so. Don't they usually wipe everything out at once? Or make frequent visits?

Bull frog? My brother-in-law saw a bull frog with one of his 5" goldfish.

Don't have bullfrogs, and frogs I do have are too small. Rest are toads.

Tested my water and the results are all WNL for my pond: ph 7.8 / ammonia 0 / nitrites 0 / nitrates 0 / KH 126 / O2 8.

Can't today, but soon will catch a couple of random fish and do a scrape & scope. Haven't done that in a while. I know that dead fish won't necessarily float which could explain why I don't find bodies, but still, really wonder what's going on, and why they are......missing. Strongly suspect the lightening strikes [unless I find something with the scrape & scope].

 

[Nyboy]

Go to sporting good store and pick up a trail cam, make sure it has night vision. Hunters use them to see what living in the woods. They are cheap and take good night time photos. Are Aliens like vampires and not show up on film?

 

[Mmathis]

Go to sporting good store and pick up a trail cam, make sure it has night vision. Hunters use them to see what living in the woods. They are cheap and take good night time photos. Are Aliens like vampires and not show up on film?

IDK if they show up on film or not, but would guess "NO," since none have ever been photographed well enough to recognize.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

But only one or 2 fish gone missing at a time, over period of a month or so. Don't they usually wipe everything out at once? Or make frequent visits?

Typical for any heron specie. These birds can only eat so much at one time. If a pond is "cleaned out", then you are looking at multiple birds. And, no, these birds are not that territorial when it comes to eating, at least the ones around here aren't.
The frequency with which a predatory bird will visit is based on the availability of food in there hunting range. If your pond is the only body of water within a few square miles then you can expect regular visits, but if you live near a natural body of water and/or there are several backyard ponds in your vicinity, then only the occasional visit (if any) can be expected.
In ten (10) years at my last location I never lost a fish to predatory birds. Although my pond was visited by a Bald Eagle and a Green Heron (never saw a Great Blue) I never lost a fish.

 

[waretrop]

@sissy Those 4 cameras don't come with a hard drive or monitor, do they? I just got 8 cameras and hard drive, no monitor, for $400.00 and I thought that was good....

 

[Nyboy]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3MP-Hunting-Night-Vision-Trail-Camera-Scouting-Black-W-LED-Flash-Mini-Cam this is a really cheap one, the more money the better quality

 

[Mmathis]

Typical for any heron specie. These birds can only eat so much at one time. If a pond is "cleaned out", then you are looking at multiple birds. And, no, these birds are not that territorial when it comes to eating, at least the ones around here aren't.
The frequency with which a predatory bird will visit is based on the availability of food in there hunting range. If your pond is the only body of water within a few square miles then you can expect regular visits, but if you live near a natural body of water and/or there are several backyard ponds in your vicinity, then only the occasional visit (if any) can be expected.
In ten (10) years at my last location I never lost a fish to predatory birds. Although my pond was visited by a Bald Eagle and a Green Heron (never saw a Great Blue) I never lost a fish.

Hmmmm, food for thought -- thanks! We aren't quite the water paradise that FL is, but we do have a LOT of natural (and man-made) water sources where I am. And with all of our recent rains, ponds, bayous, lakes, and rivers are full and accessible. But why would a GBH only stop at eating one or 2 occasional, measly goldfish.....?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

May have been its last stop on its scheduled pond tour.

 

[Nyboy]

Some snakes have a taste for fish. They leave no evidence they where there.