Hello,
After feeding my fish today it came to my attention that a smaller Koi in the pond (about 11cm long) has not been coming up for food for the last 4-5 days. It was a pure orange coloured Koi and it was beginning to show signs of maturation in that certain blobs of colour were beginning to appear. It always used to appear at the surface with the rest of the shoal and had a good appetite. As I say, for the past 4-5 days it hasn't been coming to the surface which is very uncharacteristic of it.
Unfortunately, the pond does have a bit of green water so I can't determine whether it's sick or has took to eating food at the base of the pond. I know fish can eat algae but this is attached all around the pond (on the base and walls) so I see no reason why it would stay at the base to eat it. I have looked all around the garden and underneath the decking to see if it has jumped out and died somewhere on land but there is no sign of it.
The only place it could be, and which I think is 0.1% likely, is that it has found some source of food at the base and wishes to stay there. I know fish can also become lethargic and come away from the shoal if they have some sort of parasitic infection which would explain him/her being at the bottom of the pond but my water stats are absolutely perfect so the fish are not as susceptible to illness.
Water Stats
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
PH: 8.2
Me and my family live in a surburban area on the outskirts of Chesterfield town. Our pond is 1400 litres and we live about 1 mile from woodland containing two ponds where you'd expect to see Herons. I find it shocking that something like an Heron could have landed in a small 60-80 feet by 40 feet garden and took a fish out of my pond. How likely is this to happen and would it only take the one fish?
Any feedback appreciated,
Mark.
After feeding my fish today it came to my attention that a smaller Koi in the pond (about 11cm long) has not been coming up for food for the last 4-5 days. It was a pure orange coloured Koi and it was beginning to show signs of maturation in that certain blobs of colour were beginning to appear. It always used to appear at the surface with the rest of the shoal and had a good appetite. As I say, for the past 4-5 days it hasn't been coming to the surface which is very uncharacteristic of it.
Unfortunately, the pond does have a bit of green water so I can't determine whether it's sick or has took to eating food at the base of the pond. I know fish can eat algae but this is attached all around the pond (on the base and walls) so I see no reason why it would stay at the base to eat it. I have looked all around the garden and underneath the decking to see if it has jumped out and died somewhere on land but there is no sign of it.
The only place it could be, and which I think is 0.1% likely, is that it has found some source of food at the base and wishes to stay there. I know fish can also become lethargic and come away from the shoal if they have some sort of parasitic infection which would explain him/her being at the bottom of the pond but my water stats are absolutely perfect so the fish are not as susceptible to illness.
Water Stats
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
PH: 8.2
Me and my family live in a surburban area on the outskirts of Chesterfield town. Our pond is 1400 litres and we live about 1 mile from woodland containing two ponds where you'd expect to see Herons. I find it shocking that something like an Heron could have landed in a small 60-80 feet by 40 feet garden and took a fish out of my pond. How likely is this to happen and would it only take the one fish?
Any feedback appreciated,
Mark.