Small high fin sharks with Large Koi

[Leona]

We have a 4000 Gal out door pond, with 6 Koi. Largest ones are 2ft. & 1 High Fin Banded Shark ( 1ft long). We added 2 more small HF Sharks in May 2017. It appears the Koi ate them. The Koi were coming out of their dormit stage. We hadn't start feeding them yet. When we had our pond cleaned the 2 little guys were gone! We waited til the end of July, when the Koi had been eating for a couple months. At that time we bought 2 more 6in. HF Sharks. I think the Koi ate them too. What do you recommend as the smallest size fish to add to our pond, without them becoming fish food?

 

[moby]

If it will fit in their mouth they will eat it, they're omnivores so eat both plant and animal food. Best you get fish that are bigger than the six inch one size in future! That said I've got two Koi, admittedly not as big as yours, mine are 15/18 inch and I've added 3 inch goldies with no issues at all. Maybe it was because they were so hungry, so would say don't add them at that time of year again. How sure are you that the fish hadn't died from some other cause and then got eaten?

 

[Tula]

Is it possible the larger shark ate them? My koi will not eat even small fry, once they resemble fish.

 

[sissy]

My koi are over 2 feet long and seem to eat the eggs but not the babies when they are about an inch or 2 long .Plus those baby fish move fast and if they have a place to hide they will .I have seen the baby fish swim right along side the koi now

 

[Faebinder]

Your Koi gotta be REALLY big for them to eat 4" inch fish.

The High Fin Banded Sharks are expert hidders. When I put mine in the pond it took me forever to start seeing them. Don't be surprised if they don't show up for a while, they are eating the algae.

PS: High Fin Banded Sharks don't eat other fish, they are primarily algae eaters but are very sensitive to water variability compared to koi.

 

[Tula]

Your Koi gotta be REALLY big for them to eat 4" inch fish.

The High Fin Banded Sharks are expert hidders. When I put mine in the pond it took me forever to start seeing them. Don't be surprised if they don't show up for a while, they are eating the algae.

PS: High Fin Banded Sharks don't eat other fish, they are primarily algae eaters but are very sensitive to water variability compared to koi.

Interesting, I don't know anything about High Fin Banded Sharks. I assumed when the OP said they had their pond cleaned, that it was emptied of water, but maybe not and they're hiding ?