Woke up to dead fish.

[cptmonty]

Thanks everyone for responding!

I made a trip to a local store and found a net and have installed a net over the entire pond. While installing the net I found scales all over the bottom of the pond and a few in the yard that I did not notice earlier. After searching the bushes I did find other remains (scales and Fin) so it does appear something had a very taste and expensive meal.

As you could imagine, I made a prompt trip to the pond this morning to check on the sole survivor, and luckily he is still there, hanging out under the net.
I guess I was in denial on the predator attack but at this point the sole survivor is doing fine, eating well and moving around so I will have to watch him for a few days to be sure.

Thank you nc0gnet0, I am going to head tomorrow and pickup the liquid tests just to be safe in the future. Also I think I may see if I can get aeration stones too, just to be safe. My waterfall is a total drop of about 6’ through rocks and I think it has good aeration. Is there a problem with too much aeration?

I only have 1 plant in the actual pond right now; I am going to need to get more. Anyone know a good source to pick up water plants this time of year online or around Orlando?

I was trying to upload a few pictures but they are too large for the forum, I will try to scale them down and upload over the weekend.

Also, anyone know a good place to get the 55 gallon plastic barrels to increase the Skippy filter system?

Thanks again for all the help and support.

 

[koiguy1969]

carwashs will give them to ya or sell them cheap i didnt want to wait for mine so i paid $10.00 i gonna go get one more

 

[koikeepr]

do you think you know what type of predator may have done it? Herons tend to be very precise and do not tend to miss their mark. This sounds like an animal that tried to drag the fish elsewhere for the snack...do you have racoons?

I find all the fish in the skimmer most interesting. Clearly the predator did not get them. I'm still thinking they ran into the skimmer to get away from whatever predator was going after them, and they all just couldn't get out or were highly stressed by the whole situation.

Buying the net was the right move, clearly. Sorry to hear about your loss. and hopefully in the spring you'll have new fish.

Is there any chance of you getting at least one fish now to keep the only one that is left company all winter? pond fish don't tend to do well alone...it's stresses them. Even if you got one of them 29 cent feeder goldfish it would be helpful.

 

[koiguy1969]

i was told by an aquaintence that racoons usually dont eat the whole thing. they leave the head, some of the guts and tail behind., but i cant say for sure.he said he saw a racoon running away from the pond area and found 3 fish half eaten. ive seen video of a heron tossing a fish up in the air to the ground repeatedly and stabbiing at it.it looked like it was just playing with it..who knows?
just to let you know ive caught a heron in my yard as early as 5:30 am

 

[koikeepr]

i've heard that about racoons too. Sloppy eaters...

 

[rdk]

Do pond nets offer protection from raccoons?

 

[nc0gnet0]

Good question about nets and coons, my first instinct would be no. Coons are really smart.

I am still confused about the three dead fish in the skimmer......Seems like at least one would still be alive as the OP has had to pull fish out of there in the past and they were ok.

The fact the remains were scattered about seems to point to a predator of the four legged variety. But to the best of my knowledge a coon won't get into the water to hunt, he will stand at the waters edge....

Another possibility is the fish were already dead or near dead and it wasn't so much an act of predatation as it was that of a scavenger. This would bring the hawks back into play......

 

[nc0gnet0]

ive seen video of a heron tossing a fish up in the air to the ground repeatedly and stabbiing at it.it looked like it was just playing with it..who knows?

Yeah but would a heron drag the fish into the bushes?

 

[koiguy1969]

same guy i spoke of earlier put a net loosely stretched and floating across his pond. the racoon (or another) was found floating in the pond entangled in the net..drowned.. a couple days later. no more fish were eaten. they do make larger preditor urine sprays that are supposed to work well on coons. just spray around your yard borders.

and no a heron wouldnt drag a fish into the bushes but it may throw it there, theyve been known to toss several fish out on the lawn to die. they will do this to larger fish to get them out of the way of the smaller ones..they only eat the ones they can sallow whole. so a heron may catch a fish not be able to swallow it and toss it aside. so a smaller heron or juvenile is likely to toss more fish.

 

[DrDave]

Injured fish that might have been saved if were not for the skimmer. If you are going to have skimmers, use a chicken wire mesh in front to protect your fish.

Netting works to protect them from raccoons. I have not lost a single fish to coons in over 2 years, I have shot 3 that my alarms woke me up on that tried to get them. The nets kept them busy while I was aiming. Every neighbor I have with a pond has lost all their Koi over years of raccoon attacks.

In time, they will find a way to overcome the net, they are smart. THEY ALWAYS COME BACK, UNLESS YOU KILL THEM. The same applies to the Egrets and GBH.

 

[koiguy1969]

in general i agree but i can say i successfully got rid of my heron problem with non lethal means...a half a dozen shots from a bb gun and the heron has not been back and until a month ago i saw him in the area daily(south for the winter now) but hasnt came in my yard since june...he knows here he gets no gain just pain. june 12 th was his last visit ,over 5 months ago...i call that successful

 

[DrCase]

We have thousands of herons down here, but they will not come in to town..
last week when i was hunting i watched a few of them hunting in the woods and they got what ever fish they were after

 

[oldmarine]

I have a friend that got me started in ponding years ago, and like me she and her boy friend had little room for a pond. They ended up putting a small 200 gallon molded pond. The racoons being what they are, immediately raided their pond and took all three of their 6" koi. My friend resulted in having to take a 3/4" thick sheet of plywood and cut it to the shape of their pond. Then they cut an opening in it and made a frame out of it. They painted it black and attached galvanized wire to the underside, and attached it with two brass hinges to the plastic pond. It looks like heck, but they haven't lost a fish since. My friend said she got up early one moring and looked out her window just in time to witness a large racoon sitting next to her pond and it looked like he was drewling at her fish.

 

[nc0gnet0]

I have not had to have witnessed a coon at my pond to this point, so everything I say about them is conjeture. I have witnessed them first hand in my old house years ago under different circumstances. I have watched in amazement as they figured out how to open up the lid on the garbage can (herbie style).

After this I decided to place a brick on top of the lid, only to watch a group of them get together in literally push the whole dam thing over............

From this I deduced that coons are smart, and they don't give up easily.......

 

[oldmarine]

Racoons

I have been fortunate with my pond. I now have a 6' vinyl fence around my bark yard where my pond is. I haven't had a racoon in the yard since. Appearently, they can't climb a plastic fence.:banana:

Right now, about the only thing I need to be concerned about would be a GBH dropping in when I'm not looking.:coolgleema:

Happy ponding,