Flying fish

SimonAH

Anyone have Koi carp?

I've just stocked my pond with three juniors and one does a good impression of Flipper every now and then leaping a good 6" out of the water. Web research tells me that either it's about to die from a myriad of evil diseases or it's having a giggle chasing flies. Anyone have experience?

mtb-idle

I keep Koi and have had them for circa 20 years. This is unusual for a koi.

What size pond is it and is it filtered?

Here's some footage of my pond/fish

SimonAH

It's roughly six by four and 3 feet deep, not filtered yet but very clear (aged a year before fish introduced as concrete) with bullrushes and a little weed. Fish are small at about 3".

t4tomo

watch out for Herons, they love Koi carp.

redvee

t4tomo wrote:

watch out for Herons, they love Koi carp.

He's got a daughter with a bow and arrow for the herons

mkirby

parents have ghost koi both over 2foot long. They used to do this all the time, loved to try and catch the may flies.

If you dont have a large population of flying insects test your water parameters there may be something amiss. Maybe there is something in the pond disturbing them? Dragonfly nymphs could have a go at a fish that size.

Confusedboy

Given the warm weather and that it has been standing effectively stagnant while conditioning, the water may be insufficiently oxygenated. If so, the other fishes may be spending a lot of time close to or even gasping at the surface; healthy fishes will go deep at will, or in response to a percieved threat (you, until they get used to you). In any case, a filter is a highly worthwhile investment, with the added benfit that the movement it induces at the surface of the water increases the rate at which it absorbs oxygen.

Being more limited in space I have goldfishes in a barrel, but these give me huge amounts of pleasure, and I am sure your Koi will do the same for you. You will find that each fish has it's own personality, and they will respond to you in thier own ways. People who say they have a 3 second attention span are just plain wrong; I top up my fishes' diet with flake once a week or so in summer, and they recognise the food container and react to it.

Having a small daughter should mean that, as well as an anti-heron gunner, you have a ready supply of tennis size balls to float in the pond in cold weather. This is so that, if ice forms, you can remove the balls and have starter holes to break the ice from. Hitting it with a hammer can harm or even kill the fishes with shock waves, and it must be removed daily as noxious gases rapidly build up beneath it and cannot dissapate, and oxygenation is stopped. On the plus side, fishes are cold blooded and sluggish in cold weather, and produce less waste. A plastic heron will prevent others having a go at your fishes, or, if that is aesthetically unacceptable, you can buy netting which will catch them and remain mostly invisible.

notsoblue

Don't some fish parasites cause that kind of behaviour?

SimonAH

Thanks for that.

Although the pond has been in conditioning for a year the water has been changed out within the last few weeks, and topped up on the weekend with a high pressure hose to replace evaporation = mucho aeration.

The fish are lively, swim at depth and showing no signs of broaching for air so I don't think it's an oxygenation issue.......I'm coming to the conclusion that the little fecker just likes to jump!

I will be installing a filter / small waterfall fairly soon - just got a myriad of projects on the go at the moment! Still, the pond is far from overloaded so I don't reckon that there should be much of a problem in the short term.

We love our ponds - the one I built at the old house had phalanxes of newts, frogs, great diving beetles, dragonflies hatching in the reeds etc by the time it was mature - lovely!

Sewinman

The most likely answer is that it is taking flies. Probably mayfly at this time of year. If it was me I would test this with a fishing rod and a may fly imitation!

Headhuunter

MTB-Idle wrote:

I keep Koi and have had them for circa 20 years. This is unusual for a koi.

What size pond is it and is it filtered?

Here's some footage of my pond/fish

That pond looks massive!

dcurzon

my Oscar (tropical) used to leap out of the water to take food from my fingers. Very smart fishes indeed. Not so smart that as a notorious fish well known for aggression and eating anything that will fit in its mouth, he got himself killed off by a fish a quarter of his size...

Stone Glider

I like carp, it has a nuetral flavour but an interesting texture. It picks up the flavours of the herbs and vagetables you cook with it. How long will it take before they are of a useful size?

cloggsy

SimonAH wrote:

It's roughly six by four and 3 feet deep, not filtered yet but very clear (aged a year before fish introduced as concrete) with bullrushes and a little weed. Fish are small at about 3".

You're not filtering? You could be suffering with New Pond Syndrome (NPS) You need to get a good quality water testing kit and test your water parameters ass soon as you can, otherwise your fish will be toast! Are your fish just jumping or are they flashing too (swimming near the bottom of the pond and turning on their sides and rubbing themselves on the bottom/sides of the pond?

t4tomo

Stone Glider wrote:

I like carp, it has a nuetral flavour but an interesting texture. It picks up the flavours of the herbs and vagetables you cook with it. How long will it take before they are of a useful size?

In Poland they eat Carp on Christmas Day rather than Turkey (poultry reference not country). Its apparently traditional to buy them live just before christmas and keep it in the bath so its really fresh!

cloggsy

t4tomo wrote:

In Poland they eat Carp on Christmas Day rather than Turkey (poultry reference not country). Its apparently traditional to buy them live just before christmas and keep it in the bath so its really fresh!

I know! I read about a Koi Keeper down south whos garden was broken into by a load of Latvians; they knicked the contents of his pond, which turned out to be over £10,000 worth of prize-winning show koi!

When the Police raided their property, they found them all in their freezer :evil:

Probably the most expensive Christmas Dinner never eaten

SimonAH

I was actually discussing this with a polish colleague last week.

According to my chum Marek Grzniak it is indeed traditional to eat carp, but it tastes like poop. This conversation was however held well into the final quarter of a litre of Pastis so I'm not sure of ther veracity of the statement.

mudcow007

dcurzon wrote:

my Oscar (tropical) used to leap out of the water to take food from my fingers. Very smart fishes indeed. Not so smart that as a notorious fish well known for aggression and eating anything that will fit in its mouth, he got himself killed off by a fish a quarter of his size...

i once caught an Oscar in a canal in St Helen's (the hotties) it has hot water pumped out of pilkingtons glass factory straight into the canal so its like a tropical fish tank.

rumour has it, it also contains black mollies and angels.

supposedly a pet shop was going bust so he threw his stock in the canal an its lived there ever since

Sewinman

SimonAH wrote:

I was actually discussing this with a polish colleague last week.

According to my chum Marek Grzniak it is indeed traditional to eat carp, but it tastes like poop. This conversation was however held well into the final quarter of a litre of Pastis so I'm not sure of ther veracity of the statement.

After catching them they keep the carp in clean fresh water without food for a few days. The carp then lose the muddy taste and are more palatable.