Pond goldfish always hiding -- Please Help

W Dale wrote in message ...
Probably because they saw something that frightened them, like a hungry
bird or other predator. I noticed below someone suggested that your
pond water need to be 1 year old before introducing fish. Well, that
may be a bit long to wait. When I first started up my pond (2 seasons
ago now) I waited 7 days before introducing gold fish from my next door
neighbors pond. He was wanting to get rid of some anyway and I was in
need of some. Anyway, the fish were fine, did not hide or show any
signs of distress. After that, I began to gradually introduce a couple
of koi at a time (once every couple of weeks or so). No problems. Just
give them a little time. They will come around.
Happy Ponding!
W. Dale

googlefan wrote:

Hi,
I'm a new pond owner.
About 2 weeks ago I bought 6 goldfishes and the first day they seemed
to be fine, but after that they always been in hiding. 3 days ago I
bought 5 more goldfishes and pretty much the same thing happened, at
first they were very active but the next day they went to hiding with
the "old" guys.

It's a 160 Gallon pond with a lot's of rocks. I'm using underwater
pump and filter kit, which includes Biofilter. I tested the water at
the local Petco and it seemed to be fine.

Any ideas why fish will be hiding all the time?

Thanks in advance

Googlefan



Thanks for the advice, I guess all I have for now is wait

On 10 Oct 2004 11:00:52 -0700, (googlefan)
wrote:

Any ideas why fish will be hiding all the time?

Thanks for the advice, I guess all I have for now is wait
It also seems like you have plenty of fish for now. Where are you,
geographically speaking?
Good luck.
--
Crashj

"googlefan" wrote in message
m...
W Dale wrote in message
...
Probably because they saw something that frightened them, like a hungry
bird or other predator. I noticed below someone suggested that your
pond water need to be 1 year old before introducing fish. Well, that
may be a bit long to wait. When I first started up my pond (2 seasons
ago now) I waited 7 days before introducing gold fish from my next door
neighbors pond. He was wanting to get rid of some anyway and I was in
need of some. Anyway, the fish were fine, did not hide or show any
signs of distress. After that, I began to gradually introduce a couple
of koi at a time (once every couple of weeks or so). No problems. Just
give them a little time. They will come around.
Happy Ponding!
W. Dale

googlefan wrote:

Hi,
I'm a new pond owner.
About 2 weeks ago I bought 6 goldfishes and the first day they seemed
to be fine, but after that they always been in hiding. 3 days ago I
bought 5 more goldfishes and pretty much the same thing happened, at
first they were very active but the next day they went to hiding with
the "old" guys.

It's a 160 Gallon pond with a lot's of rocks. I'm using underwater
pump and filter kit, which includes Biofilter. I tested the water at
the local Petco and it seemed to be fine.

Any ideas why fish will be hiding all the time?

Thanks in advance

Googlefan



Thanks for the advice, I guess all I have for now is wait

You should also montor them daily for any changes in behavior to rule out
disease or poor water quality. You should also monitor the water quality
regularly since it is a new pond.

(googlefan) wrote in message om...
Hi,
I'm a new pond owner.
About 2 weeks ago I bought 6 goldfishes and the first day they seemed
to be fine, but after that they always been in hiding. 3 days ago I
bought 5 more goldfishes and pretty much the same thing happened, at
first they were very active but the next day they went to hiding with
the "old" guys.

It's a 160 Gallon pond with a lot's of rocks. I'm using underwater
pump and filter kit, which includes Biofilter. I tested the water at
the local Petco and it seemed to be fine.

Any ideas why fish will be hiding all the time?

Thanks in advance

Googlefan

Hi Again,
Goldfish slowly started to come out of the hiding, I guess something
must've frightened them. Even though during the day they never show
up, in the evenings when I turn on my underwater lights, they are
coming out.

"googlefan" wrote in message
m...
(googlefan) wrote in message
om...
Hi,
I'm a new pond owner.
About 2 weeks ago I bought 6 goldfishes and the first day they seemed
to be fine, but after that they always been in hiding. 3 days ago I
bought 5 more goldfishes and pretty much the same thing happened, at
first they were very active but the next day they went to hiding with
the "old" guys.

It's a 160 Gallon pond with a lot's of rocks. I'm using underwater
pump and filter kit, which includes Biofilter. I tested the water at
the local Petco and it seemed to be fine.

Any ideas why fish will be hiding all the time?

Thanks in advance

Googlefan

Hi Again,
Goldfish slowly started to come out of the hiding, I guess something
must've frightened them. Even though during the day they never show
up, in the evenings when I turn on my underwater lights, they are
coming out.

You might want to consider putting netting over the pond to keep predators such
as Heron from turning your fish into lunch.

googlefan wrote I guess something
must've frightened them.

Predation by birds leaves frightened fish and no evidence. You can usually tell
when a raccoon visits, they leave a mess and nosh on plants as well as fish.

Herons and kingfishers will leave little or no evidence of a visit (did have
one kingfisher leave a feather and small oil slick behind once).

Netting works. Other devices are motion activated sprinklers, electric fences
that surround the pond or lay over the edge, decoys that lay under the water's
surface.
Some folks lay a tunnel of sorts on the bottom of the pond for the fish to hide
in after the intial strike.



kathy :-)
zone 7, SE WA state