Shy Koi

pondlover

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This might be a silly question.... how can I get my Koi to be less shy? I've had them a few weeks and they still seem to head to the bottom of the pond whenever we walk up. Is there something I could do to encourage them to come when we approach the pond or am I just being impatient and they will start to do that eventually?
 
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Feeding them and then staying to watch them eat. They will figure out you are where the food is coming from and then bug you all the time :)
 

fishin4cars

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Always approach the pond quietly and get as low as possible, Manda Fu is a great treat/supplement for koi. Highly recommended by many of the show koi keepers for taming koi. Keep in mind that standing and arms waving above a pond resemble a crane or heron to the fish, getting low makes you look less like a predator and helps you blend with the background to the fish.
 

koiguy1969

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manda fu is a highly digestable food suitable for colder water feeding. but they'll eat anything from your hand.. when theyre ready. when you feed them stay there. at first maybe 8 to 10 feet from the edge. stand still, no quick movements. they'll eat, see you, and they'll start to get comfortable with your presence. the more time you spend around the pond the sooner they'll get comfortable with you. everytime they feed try standing just a bit closer. it will happen. and let them see you put the food in the pond. my fry hand feed at or before 3 weeks old every year.
 
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I started out with a small pre-fab pond, and once my fish grew, they didn't have a lot of room to move around. Last year within a month of moving the fish to the new, much larger pond, there was a noticeable difference in their behavior...

My theory on this is based on how comfortable your fish are. Do they have a lot of places they can easily hide when they get scared? Do they have good plant cover, such as from lilies, to hide them from overhead prey? It seems to me that when your fish know they have a safe spot they can dart to, they aren't so nervous all the time and are much more willing to come out in the open. The depth of the water may be a big factor as well - my new pond is 3 feet deep, twice the depth of the pre-fab.

As for working with your fish, I would suggest working with the biggest fish first. The smaller ones always follow the lead of the larger fish, so if the big ones are out in the open, the rest will follow.
 

pondlover

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Our pond at the deepest point is about 3 1/2 ft. They have a Koi Kastle and also a 5 gal bucket that we've turned on the side. They can go to both of those areas. Right now there is no surface cover other than just a few leaves from a water lily. Fish are between 6 - 8 " in size.
I'm going to try and be patient and bribe them with some yummy food. :>)
 
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During a recent trip to our local Aquarium, I noticed that nearly all of the 'plants' in their tanks are actually plastic covered in algae. We have done something similar for our home aquariums, and I figured I could do that in my pond as well. I made up some bundles of vines, about a foot longer than the depth of my pond, and tied them together at the bottom, then wrapped them into a mesh bag with some rocks for weight. After dropping these into the pond, the vines floated apart from each other, and seem to make a nice covering for the Winter. My fish have something to hide under, and as the algae starts growing on the vines, they will look more real.

Another idea I had was getting a rear-window sunscreen for a car... the kind that you can twist to fold up. This one is unpainted, and is just a black mesh. It sinks in the water, so I put it down in a spot where it's resting across two lower shelves. This gives the fish a tunnel they can swim under, and provides them some shade until the lilies grow in for the Summer.

Through the Winter my fish have been in a tight group down at the bottom of the pond, but when I added these items for them, they suddenly got a lot more active and were out swimming in the open more often. You'll see some that like to stay close to the vines or will swim under the sunshade occasionally, but otherwise the majority of my fish are now swimming out in the open again. As my lilies grow in, I'll remove the sunshade, but I think I'm going to leave the fake plants in place to give the fish good cover year-round.
 

j.w

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Neat idea's! I would have never thought of the idea w/ using the fake plants and I have quite a few left over from when I had my aquariums. Might just try that around here in the winter. Don't need sun shades here tho. We are always waiting for it to come out!
 
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My baby koi I had in the basement pool were very shy at first, PL. They are smaller than the ones you bought. But, in time they figured out to come when I "called". I always talk to them when I go to the pool. Now, they come readily with the older koi, who were begging.
BUT, the goldfish I got from PondKid, never did feed or rarely, in the basement pool. I was worried as they started out not feeding in in the new pond. BUT, last weekend while I was working on the bog, right next to where they were, in time they figured out I was not going to "get" them, and started swimming nearer and nearer. It's just a matter of time and they will learn you are not a predator. Give them time, they will come around. Just be patient and stand quiet. I stand on my deck to feed the koi, so I'm far above them, and they have learned that's where the food comes from. So, it's not necessarily that getting low is the best, it's what they get used to. If you can toss food from your new deck, use that as your typical place to feed from. They will soon learn you are far enough away to not be a threat, but close enough to feed! Good luck!!!
 

koiguy1969

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SOME PICS OF 3 WEEK OLD, 3/4" FRY HAND FEEDING...
SANY1198.jpg

SANY1197.jpg

SANY1196.jpg
 
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What are you feeding them, KoiGuy? Look like a chunk of dog food. :) I'm sure it's something special for the babies. And, BTW, the babies are adorable!!! I have never seen any baby koi, only baby goldfish. Thanks for sharing these pics!
 

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