Riding the East Australian Current...so to speak.

[randythawkins]

I have a 3" bottom drain line which runs from the bottom of my pond to my 100gal settlement chamber. I do not recall the specific bottom drain I am using - Rhino I believe - of which there is a gap about 3/4"...maybe an 1". I have 5 PetSmart koi ranging in size from 3" to 4.5". If you have seen the movie Finding Nemo then you recall the East Australian Current which Crush likes to ride. Well darn if several of my fish don't enjoy riding the current from the pond to the SC. One of them so much that I have actually named him Crush. Over the past 2 months I have discovered him the SC about 5 times. Actually, this past weekend I had a frog ride the ride - he was in the pond and after I flushed the SC and reopened the line he showed up in the SC. I think he was under the DB hiding from me when I reopened the line and he got pulled through.

I assume they are actually trying to get under the DB's cover as a hiding place and wind up getting sucked into the line. When I net them out of the SC, before putting them back into the pond, I do a quick inspection and they don't appear injured.

it is kinda funny and I am not too worried about this but was wondering if this happens with others...especially when there are babies?

 

[Phil]

I don't have a bottom drain, but a skimmer and a waterfall box. The waterfall empties into a small, shallow pond that I put no fish in. There is a 6' stream from the upper pond over another falls into the main pond. In June of '12 I had several babies "ride the ride", making their way into the skimmer, through the leaf net and brushes to the pump. They rode the 20' or so through the pipe, up through all of the filter media in the waterfall box, and out and over into the upper pond. Unlike your Crush, however, my fry seemed to have no interest in repeating the thrill by riding down the stream and back to the main pond. Three of these fry have not only survived but have thrived in the upper pond and are now about 4" long. I haven't fed them so they are doing it all on their own. I thought they might seek out deeper water for the winter, but they made it through last year and so far show no interest in going down stream to find deeper water this fall either, even though I "encouraged" them on several occasions. Although it's certainly possible, I am not aware of any that made the circuit more than once!

 

[JohnHuff]

I think your frog looks like he wants to get out!

 

[randythawkins]

Before placing the leave net back on top of the SC I netted him out and put him back in the pond. He might make his way back but that is up to him. Actually, it all started when I had pulled the skimmer basket out and was scooping leaves out of it - while pulling my hand out he jumped out and scared the you-know-what out of me. He landed on the ground behind the skimmer cover. After I regained my composure I caught him and put him back in the pond. It was after that when I found him in the SC.

Its neat - As simple as it is the interactions are with the fish and the frog it is kinda fun (Like when I tell Crush, as I am moving him back to the pond, that he is in trouble and not to do it again.).

 

[randythawkins]

(Like when I tell Crush, as I am moving him back to the pond, that he is in trouble and not to do it again.).

Guess who I found in the SC yesterday when I got home?