Where did the goldfish go.

[Bigfoot2020]

Every Spring and Summer I always had hundreds of tadpoles in my pond and would become these 1/4" - 1/2" brown frogs. This year I decided to go to Petco and get about 25 goldfish. Within a week all the tadpoles that used to hang out in the open water disappeared and only a few dozen that were left were all hiding in the plants. Now they are all gone, I thought they were too big for the goldfish to eat.

Today I went to feed the fish and none of them came to the surface for food. Came back a few hours later and none of the food was eaten. Thinking they might be hiding I dragged my hand under the plants but nothing happened. Do you think a predator got them all.

 

[AmeliaPond]

They're expert hiders! My grandma had a pond for years she thought was empty of fish so we helped her empty it of water to turn into a plant bed and there at the bottom in all the murk and muddy water was a gigantic fish that had been there unnoticed for years! They can hide really well especially if there are plants in your pond. When we first got our fish I thought they had all gone as the same thing happened, no fish anywhere and no food was eaten. They started coming out a few days later though so hopefully yours will turn up!

As an aside, we took this giant fish in a bucket back to our pond and it dwarfed our fish by a mile. We'd never had a problem with the heron before but it must have spotted the giant fish one day so came down and ate the big one plus every single one of our little ones! Nature can be mean!

 

[j.w]

@Bigfoot2020
Give it a bit longer and see if they show up. Is your pond big enough where they really could be hiding? I think for sure the tadpoles are gone but not sure about the goldfish. Of course a predator could have got them all.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

How big is your pond?

 

[Bigfoot2020]

Went out and pond measured 6' x 12' x 2 1/2'. I got my hand underneath the plants to feel around thinking maybe the fish would come out but no fish came out. Was surprised at the temperature difference between the pond and underneath the plants.

I could understand if half the fish got eaten but are predators so efficient as to eat every fish in the pond.

 

[Jhn]

Went out and pond measured 6' x 12' x 2 1/2'. I got my hand underneath the plants to feel around thinking maybe the fish would come out but no fish came out. Was surprised at the temperature difference between the pond and underneath the plants.

I could understand if half the fish got eaten but are predators so efficient as to eat every fish in the pond.

Yes they are very efficient hunters especially herons, it can take them no time at all to wipe out a garden pond. Hopefully some of the fish are just hiding as was said they are very good at it, hiding in the folds of the liner in between and under rock edging.

 

[poconojoe]

They are very quick swimmers and very good at hiding. It's possible something grabbed them, but also very possible they are evading you. I have "lost" fish for extended periods of time, even pretty large ones, only to have them suddenly reappear out of nowhere. Keep your fingers crossed. Maybe they are OK.