Mysterious Vanishing Fish.

[Prob2105]

Hi All
Pete from Bristol in the UK here.
I’ve had my pond for about 15 years
It’s very well kept with infrared and a 4 pot filter system
It’s a raised pond about 3.000 x 2.000 and about 1.100 deep.
The water is lovely and clear and the bottom can be seen clearly.

Ok so here’s the thing
At a quick head count about 2 months ago 35-40 fish of varying sizes from born in the pond babies to my pride and joy a Ghost Koi that I bought when I first built the pond and this boy had reached approximately 450mm long and probably weighed in at 4-5pounds.

Anyway we know theirs a Heron about our area so the pond was fully covered by a net with about an inch mesh size if that.
I started to notice that the fish were not coming up for food as normal and I had to clear food out that had not been eaten.
So long story short, after about a 5 week period I now have NO fish at all in my pond.
The garden is fenced and all gates are locked when we are out or during the night time.

We don’t have predators like snakes, raccoons etc.
So any thoughts on my mysterious missing fish.
I’m at a total loss about this.
Cheers in anticipation
Pete.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

Do you have otters? Big snakes............ Is there any gap at all in the netting? I had a heron snack on my fish through a gap in my net.

 

[Prob2105]

No big snakes in the UK.
Otters, a very remote possibility
The net covers the entire raised pond and is secured down the sides or the pond.
It’s a total mystery to me.

 

[Lisak1]

What about mink? We have those here in the midwest and they will keep coming back for more until the pond is empty. They will even go under the ice after fish.

 

[j.w]

@Prob2105 I don't think it's a bird of any kind. Has to be something that can lift the netting. Smaller than 1" netting is hard to believe much of anything can get through and you said it is tied down. Is it tight and can nothing lift it? No holes chewed in net right? How can something get that big koi outta there if all is tight and secure? Could it be a human? A mystery for sure. Time to set up a camera and see what is coming around. Course now your fish are all gone. Maybe put some dead fish from the grocery store floating in a tray in there and see what comes if you set up a camera?

 

[Tula]

I'm not sure what's native to your region, but my first thought it s mink or otter type creature. Very sorry this happened