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| Well its official all 14 of my beautiful Koi are gone. I have tried everything but putting a net over the pond (because it destoys the purpose) to protect them. I am assuming there is a heron but I have never seen on in my yard. I have broken down and bought a net.
I just bought these koi 2 months ago and they were just starting to get friendly. I thought with the plants covering the surface and the fishing line around the permiter it would be enough. But i give up, its time for a net. I cant lay it just underneath the surface as I have several plants on the surface so would hovering it above 4 inches or so workthe same? I have some thin rebarb stakes around the pond that I will be attaching it to. I figure I can just take the net off when company comes. I dont plan on buying anymore fish this season I didnt see the point in putting them in right before winter comes. damn, always net year. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| How sad. I'm sorry your fish are gone. |
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- Posted by adriennemb z3/4 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 20, 11 at 16:08
| That's too bad... |
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- Posted by sleeplessinftwayne z4-5 IND (My Page) on Thu, Sep 22, 11 at 14:59
| Sometimes a fish can seemingly hide in plain sight so maybe you have some left. It sounds like the herons have found you and that can be a huge problem, especially since they are a protected migratory species. I lost a few fish to them as well as to raccoon who rarely eat them (they just want to play with them). The netting does work and some posters have come up with attractive ways to use it but not everyone appreciates it. One other thing that works sometimes is a pair of heron decoys or garden ornaments. I say a pair because a heron will avoid an apparently mated pair although it will join a singleton or migrating group. |
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| I have had success running fish line across the pond like a spider web. My old pond I did this. The new one I put it about 8 feet off the ground so they can't fly in and I also have a fence around it with plants and rocks. hope this helps jeff |
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- Posted by bulldinkie pa (My Page) on Fri, Sep 23, 11 at 22:03
| I have one on my pond,heron got me 2xs not a third,its not pretty but does the job,keep up enough for frogs to get in and out so they dont get stuck on net.My hubby built a frame out of aluminum pipe ,kinda arches like to keep it off the water. |
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- Posted by sleeplessinftwayne z4-5 IND (My Page) on Sat, Sep 24, 11 at 17:25
| I use the frame of a Garden Gazebo to support the net, substituting PVC tubing for the legs. It has even gotten compliments on how nice it looks.
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| After a serious predator attack it may well be the surviving fish have gone into hiding for a week or two. Dropping some chopped worms where you can see them might indicate if the fish are shy, odds on they will eat them overnight under cover of darkness If the surface cover is good, the fish did take to hiding, the plants did a good job of providing shelter... |
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- Posted by bconzelman none (My Page) on Wed, Sep 28, 11 at 14:52
| does anyone know where i can get some net to go over my pond that works, specifically I am looking for some larger openings than the 1/2 inch i've found because i was thinking about putting it on some rebarb to make it easier to get in/out of the pont for maintainence. ideas? |
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| I used some plant netting last year from a local garden center, it has about a 1" mesh. Ace Hardware may also have it. It's really good at trapping leaves in the mesh so you have to pick out each and every leaf to clean it. Makes "fall" a high maintenance time even with my little pond. |
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| The human nature reaction to the creepy feeling that a predator has found your pond is to dash out and buy whatever is cheap. Its a fair chance it will be a poor grade of plastic, tangle badly with plants, and become yucky when frogs throttle themselves on fine mesh. Black soccer net can be found which is much better long term, very tough and durable, a mesh size convenient to lay over plantings, is not so bad visually |
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| I can relate. Every year or so, I have to deal with a heron. My pond is too large to net. I ran fishing line around the perimeter with some success until I discovered the heron was landing on the lily plant stands in the middle of the pond. This week one has returned. Every morning and evening I chase it away. I used the stuffed dog and scarecrow but this heron seems used to humans and actually refuses to go away. In the past, after about a week of my chasing it, the heron moves on. I hope this one will. I am missing fish but hope they are just in hiding. |
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- Posted by gophermound none (My Page) on Fri, Oct 28, 11 at 2:29
| When I began loosing chickens and quail, I put up a trail camera. Pow, saw the culprit no questions. Some are really cheap, like 40 or 50 bucks and up. I at least found my problem. |
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