There's a catfish in my koi pond

[JustJack]

It's been such a busy summer that I've hardly been online at all, but I haven't had any other pond issues either until now. Some of you may remember my setup from my leaky pond issues (found the leak--it was a big hole hiding under a rock): waterfall flows into shallow bog area which flows into catfish pond which flows into koi pond. We bought the 2 baby catfish around April I think and they were teeny tiny. I was worried about their size and the waterfall, but the shop owner assured me that they would never get close enough to the surface to go over the falls. For months everything was fine, until Saturday. They're albino channel cats and they only come out at night so that's when I feed them. Saturday night, I found the little one in the koi pond, but he darted under a rock and I couldn't get him out. I got in the pond yesterday and moved the rock he was hiding under and tried again, but he's so little still that he was able to fit under the heavy rock that I can't move and I'm not sure what to do now. He's maybe 3" long and skinny. Do I need to worry about the bigger koi eating him? They're such piggies that I'm also worried about him not getting enough food. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[addy1]

I have heard of some putting in sinking food, when you feed your koi the floating food. Toss it into two different sections of the pond, distract the hungry koi.

 

[JustJack]

I do use sinking food for the catfish since they don't come to the surface, but the koi get most of that, too. I tried to get some right over the area where I last saw him so hopefully he'll get some of that--I know all the other fish are too big to get in there. Those little piggies are hanging out under the waterfall every night waiting for me to go feed the catfish so they can get the overflow!

 

[sissy]

he will find food in the pond and will hide if he can from the bigger ones .I only feed my fish every 2 or 3 days thats all they need there is plenty things growing in the pond to nibble on

 

[JustJack]

I hope so, but there's not as much growing in that pond because the koi eat the plants. If I could get him back in his own pond, he has plenty of stuff growing in there. I hadn't seen him in days and I've never seen him up near the surface so I really don't know how he ended up in the wrong pond. I've not seen the other one since then either, but he's about 6" long so I'm not so worried about him. He is very good at hiding, though, so I guess I'm just worrying over nothing.

 

[sissy]

fish will look at for themselves and hide .I had babies in my pond and did not even know they hid that well .They always find stuff hiding in the rocks growing .You would be amazed at what hides in those rocks and under them .