Should I keep the fish fry in the pond?

[Mr Thompson]

Hi guys,

Bit of a terrible time for my pond. My waterfall got knocked over by a cat which led to the the pump pumping out the water into the garden. Only noticed because I randomly decided to look at my video camera I have whilst I was at work. Rushed back but by the time I got there, the water level dropped to a point where a lot of the fishes were eaten up by the local heron.

What survived however was dozens of juvenile fish. At first look there are probably around 30 or so but could be a lot more. I didn't want them being eaten up by the other fish so I got a fish tank and took 10 or so out. I tank I purchased was Marina 360 from the local pet store for £40 and it came with a filter. As the fish were young, I just used the pond water to fill the tank and fed them Interpet Liquifry Number 3 Baby Plus Fish Food for All Young Fish

One thing I noticed straight away was that I could not leave the filter on. It turned the tank into a whirlpool and threw the fish around. I kept it on for an hour or so here and there but the fish did not look comfortable and I had no idea how they would even eat if they can't even stay still.

Not even 24 hours after I put them in, I woke up this morning and saw them all at the surface of the tank looking like they are gasping for oxygen. Thought it was down to the filter being turned off so turned it back on for an hour or so and same thing, fish being thrown around. Turned it off, went back a couple hours later to check on them and saw 3-4 had died. I have since put the rest of the fish in the pond.

My questions are; should I buy a proper tank and give it another go? Are the young fish simply better off in the pond? If I do want to have a tank, where did I go wrong with the above?

The juvenile fish are gold fish and carp.

 

[Mmathis]

It kind of depends..... How big are the babies? When I had some that were small enough to be eaten, I kept them in tanks. That ended up being way more work than I was expecting — a constant battle for good water quality! Those teensy little fish were super duper ammonia producers! Once they were about an inch/inch and a half long, they went in the pond. Some made it. Some didn’t. But that’s the way it is in nature.

 

[mrsclem]

If all of your larger fish are gone , I would put the babies back in the pond. Make sure your pump is up off the bottom so if something goes wrong, your pond does not empty. It sounds like the tank system you bought has a pump that is too powerful. Consider putting a net over your pond as now the heron knows where to get food and he will be back.

 

[Mr Thompson]

Thank you for the replies. The fish are less than an inch on average and seem to be doing fine in the pond, especially since I switched of the filter and now blanket weed is growing for them to feed off. Some also look like young Koi-like fish which I would be very interested in seeing them grow fully.

@mrsclem, there are a few fish left but they have definitely got wise over the heron and are simply sticking to the very bottom. I hardly ever see them anymore.