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  • Results 1 to 18 of 18

    Thread: havent seen my fish in a month, none come up to eat

    1. #1
      coco is offline Junior Member
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      havent seen my fish in a month, none come up to eat

      Help! New koi and pond owner here. We dug a 30x50 ft by 10 ft deep mud pond with a smaller 15x15x5 section to the side 2 years ago. Let it sit and settle last year, this year we added 5 goldfish and 3 weeks later we added 16 koi, small and medium small and a few larger comets over the course of a week.

      2 days later i added my airstone. the water has become very murky, probably from the fish rooting in the mud, but the sad part is, i haven't seen no hide nor hair of any of them! When i had the goldfish in there they would swim all over the pond and i would spot them in the mostly clear water in various places. Once i added the 10 koi and then the other 6 its gotten muddier and muddier and now i don't see them at all. Not in the shallower area that i could probably see them through the cloudiness or closer to the banks but nothing.

      I've been throwing in floating food and NOTHING comes up. i've thrown goldfish flakes and nothing comes up. I tossed in a piece of bread 2 days ago and its still there. for the last week, i have turned the airstone off, and then thrown food, waited 10 minutes and then turned the airstone on hoping they would learn to associate the airstone off with feeding time.
      Are all my fish dead? We don't have predator birds, we have cats but the banks are steep and they don't go to the water. there hasn't been any sign of dead, floating fish. The water cant be too cold, its the middle of summer, or too hot as its pretty deep.
      Does my pond just have so many bugs and shrimp that they don't need to eat the pellets? I do see a very large abundance of water beetles and water skimmers every time I'm down there.

      Why wouldn't they come up to eat? its a good brand of food, the pellets are small, as my fish ranch from 1 inch to 5 inches.
      i feel like im just going through the motions at this point as my pond seems completely empty.

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    2. #2
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      I suspect that the large size of the pond and the small size of the fish has something to do with it. Koi are natural bottom feeders searching for natural food in the muddy bottom, consequently, the pond gets very heavy with muddy water.

      I don't know where the air stone is with relation to the depth of the pond, but if it is close to the bottom, it will also stir up the mud, making the water dense with mud. Setting the air stones a foot or more off the bottom should help to clarify the water. That few fish that are that small in a pond that big shouldn't be able to make it but so cloudy.
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    3. #3
      coco is offline Junior Member
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      My air stone is in the very middle on the bottom. I will put the stone up onto something a couple feet which I was going to do before winter anyway. Hopefully that helps with turbidity. But should I be concerned they aren’t eating or don’t appear to eat any food I put in the pond?

    4. #4
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      There is a wealth of food in there if the pond was uninhabited for a year. Don't worry about them needing food. That is a lot of water for fish that are no bigger than 5", if I am reading your post correctly.
      Mud ponds are not ideal for viewing koi. As Rich said, they are bottom feeders by nature. It's the safest place for them to eat. I don't know what the area is like for you but predators would be more of a concern for me than lack of food.

      Still learning as I go but y'all can call me Marilyn

    5. #5
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      Agreed that food isn't a concern, but having the pond cleaned out by a heron or some such is a possibility.

    6. #6
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      I'm sorry, but it's hard not to poke a little fun at you a little because it comes across as, "Help, I have a mud-bottom pond and can't see my fish because the water's muddy!" Gee, really? The fish probably have no idea you've even thrown in food because they can't see.

      You have to decide what's most important; what you've created is great for the fish in terms of security and gives them something to do (root around in the mud), and it's much like what breeders build. This, unfortunately, is exactly the opposite what most people want from an enjoyment-of-the-fish point of view, where the goal is perfectly clear water, no rocks on the bottom, and either liner or concrete containment. It all depends what your goals are - what are they?
      Last edited by kimini; 07-13-2018 at 05:24 PM.

    7. #7
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      Really??

      Quote Originally Posted by kimini View Post
      I'm sorry, but it's hard not to poke a little fun at you a little because it comes across as, "Help, I have a mud-bottom pond and can't see my fish because the water's muddy!" Gee, really? The fish probably have no idea you've even thrown in food because they can't see.

      You have to decide what's most important; what you've created is great for the fish in terms of security and gives them something to do (root around in the mud), and it's much like what breeders build. This, unfortunately, is exactly the opposite what most people want from an enjoyment-of-the-fish point of view, where the goal is perfectly clear water, no rocks on the bottom, and either liner or concrete containment. It all depends what your goals are - what are they?
      Kimini - How many mud ponds do you have or had that you feel entitled to poke fun

      https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showth...ntucky-Toto-JS

      Coco - I suggest that you feed them at the exact same location every time you feed. If they are not dead, they will eventually come around. When you feed, also splash the water around for a few seconds with a broom or something. Then view them at a distance.

      Good Luck!

    8. #8
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      Zero*

      The linked thread shows visibility of about 4-5", so not surprise that in a 10-foot deep pond, the OP will hardly ever see them since they're bottom feeders. They probably have no idea he's even there, and as you point out, he'll have to make noise to attract them. This assumes that he doesn't care that he can't see them at any other time - does he care?. If not, great, but if so, he's right back to having to improve visibility one way or another.

      *Edit: now that I think about it, I take that back. I managed to spill an entire wheel barrow full of dirt into the pond once and until it was cleaned out, couldn't see the fish, so yeah, entitled!
      Last edited by kimini; 07-13-2018 at 07:38 PM.

    9. #9
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      You Got Me There! My Bad!

      Quote Originally Posted by kimini View Post
      *Edit: now that I think about it, I take that back. I managed to spill an entire wheel barrow full of dirt into the pond once and until it was cleaned out, couldn't see the fish, so yeah, entitled!

    10. #10
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      My main concern is that my fish are alive. If you notice my first reply, I’ll take the advice (and actually have already done so) but I’m wondering why they don’t eat. As another user suggested that there’s lots of food in there for them. Thank you. I am a koi owner of only 1 month. I didn’t know if there was enough bugs in there or not. I don’t mind only seeing the fish at feeding time, but that hasn’t happened, which can be dismaying. Like I also mentioned, we don’t have herons here. I live very far northern Alberta. We get snow in May and have 6 months of winter. I haven’t seen a heron in this city or county in my 30+ years here. We wanted a mud pond because it’s main purpose is a rain water run off and we didn’t want to be lining the pond and adding drains and contraptions that will have to be taken in for 6 months or more of the year from freezing temps.
      Hoping the fish get larger, and that the alum I ordered helps settle out some clay. Name:  0CFDEDD8-2985-440C-8A8B-309FD775FCF1.jpg
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    11. #11
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      Hoping to have the remainder of the gravel done next weekend and add my benches. My husband has to lend me the truck though! Can’t keep dainty lady arms with all the rock and gravel hauling I’ve been doing!

    12. #12
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      I have a "turbid" mud pond also. Your fish will eventually show up. Like Steve said you should do something associated with the feeding to indicate when the food has arrived. I stomp my feed on a wood dock and they show up at this sound before I can even get the pellets tossed out. It took a little time for this training so just be consistant and patient "they will come".Name:  20180215_145745.jpg
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    13. #13
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      If the pond is a flow through, with stream entering and leaving, the fish may have taken the stream. When I first started with koi I had two preformed puddles that I called ponds with a stream between them. The fish in the top puddle kept going downstream to the lower puddle and the ones in the lower puddle were trying to swim up stream.
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    14. #14
      nmtsaki's Avatar
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      I gave my friend up in Flint about 30 KOI and over the winter she basically didn't do any water changes over the summer and didn't clean it out for the winter and when spring came around the following year, I was yelling at her that she needed to do water changes and vacuum. So I came over with my vacuum (Of course I sterilized it after hers) but after vacuuming a lot of the muck out, we happened to see a few of the kois still alive --we were all very very surprised. I wouldn't be at all surprised if you also have some fish that are very hearty you just have to bring down the water level and start cleaning up the muck scene very gently --you might also want to keep on hand some potassium permanganate just in case you're mixing up hydrogen sulfide gas. Potassium permanganate will neutralize that hydrogen gas as it is geqnerated Of course it will make the pond water pink and dark, but eventually you will be able to see your fish



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    15. #15
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      Look who showed up! After 2 months. I added 25 Linda of Alum to the water yesterday afternoon. I definitely see a difference already and now my fish have come up to the surface! I am out there every day and I have not even seen so much as a tail fin until today! I am beyond happy! There were two groups that would merge and separate. Counted 20, out of 26 fish. Didn’t see any Goldie’s tho. I’m sure they’re around!
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      Last edited by coco; 07-26-2018 at 12:47 AM.

    16. #16
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      Nice mud pond!
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    17. #17
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      So glad you have the fish coming up now. Patience paid off.

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    18. #18
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      Glad your fish are coming up now. Nice pond.
      Nancy



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