The mystery of the missing fish...

[ruby]

Inherited our established pond - with no sign of fish - about a year ago. Were told there was a Heron, however.

We bought 3 lovely, tasteful silver 3" ghost koi, netting the pond until waterlily cover seemed to give enough protection. However, since the koi were put into the pond, we have had literally 2 sightings - even after we bought a further 6. Not interested in fish food - though some of it might have disappeared overnight in the early days. Apparently they live up to their names - rarely seen, only come out at night, and very "coy" indeed!

Heron definitely around over this very hard winter - we not only saw it, but also signs of a fracas (with a fox?) - but by Spring, with still no sightings, we concluded that the ghost koi must have been taken... So - finally we decide to buy some cheap and brash 1" goldfish (10 for £10) ... They had been in the pond exploring for 15 minutes, and then we saw the head of a koi emerge from the depths (3rd sighting!!) - and then there were 9. This was a week ago. We netted the pond straight away - but have not seen a single goldfish since. We seem to have spent £10 on a takeaway fish supper for the resident(s)!!

Can someone with a bit of experience of these things suggest what might be going on here - and how we can safely introduce some fish that we might actually be able to see?? :bowdown: Thanks!

 

[addy1]

Laughing sounds like my pond, I put in goldies shubunkins, have sighted 5 of them three times in 7 months......... Not sure why the koi would be hiding so much, they do when in a new location just like goldies. I will let those that know koi try to help you with them.

 

[marla]

hmmmm, maybe they are scared...go out with a light in the night and see if you see them. if your nets are secure I would think they are in there, maybe just hiding in rocks or crevices of the liner...had one koi do that on me for months. Have you tried to feed them? If they are all in there, go out daily to the same spot for a while and they should get use to you sooner or later.

 

[vertigo72]

Id focus your attention first on getting the water clearer. That way you'll be able to see your fish whether or not they are hiding. Just adding more fish will likely achieve the opposite; make the pond even more dirty.

Perhaps you can take some pics and talk us through the pond setup and filtering (if any) ?