Kamakazi Koi?

[JStrider]

so I bought 4 beautiful little Koi yesterday afternoon and put them in my 300 gallon container pond.  They were all about 4-6 inches long

This morning when I woke up they had all gone Kamakazi in the night between 10pm and 8ish AM.  :(

They all landed within a foot or 2 area...

the water level is about 4 inches below the top rim of the tank.

What makes Koi jump out like this?


the only thing I can figure is that I've got a 5 gallon bucket hanging in the water on the side of the pond under the filter return.  I use it to raise the water level where the water comes back in to help reduce water splashing out.  the place they had jumped out was next to that.  What I'm guessing is they got zooming around in circles and then ran into where the bucket is and made an emergency maneuver that sent them flying...  does this sound like a good explanation?

I definitely dont want to put any more in untill I'm pretty sure I've significantly reduced the chance of them jumping out...

how High can they jump?  I could lower the water level a bit...
does the amount of cover they have affect how much jumping they do?  I dont have many good hiding spots, but they seemed fine after I put them in chilling next to the pump, and under the 5 gallon bucket...  but no other real hiding spots...

just wondering on y'alls take on this... dont want to get more koi, just to lose them again...

thanks

[katypond]

Re: Kamakazi Koi?

Koi will jump and they can jump high.  They jump because they are not comfortable.  Make sure that you have something for them to hide around, behind, in.   I would lover the water for the first couple of days and keep the water healthy.

[islander]

Re: Kamakazi Koi?

Howdy,

Sorry to here about your bad luck!

I am know expert but a couple things come to mind.  Is your pond in full sun? If so the water probalby got pretty warm especially if there are no plants in there to ad shade and keep cool spots in the pond.  Come to the HAS auction on Sunday and buy some water lillies & hornwort or other plants to shade the pond.  It should also give the Koi places to hide and feel comfortable.  Until the plants fill in drop in some big pieces of driftwood for the Koi to hide.  During the heat of the day they should be at the bottom of the pool where the water is cooler and will come out feeding in the morning and eving when the hot sun is not out.  Test with some cheaper gold fish to see if they want to leave your pond.  Good luck!  later, ken

[JStrider]

Re: Kamakazi Koi?

The pond is in almost full shade, its on a covered patio, it gets a few hours of semi direct sun
which also means I probably cant get any plants to grow


see the thread "thinking of a container pond" thats what I have setup. http://houstonfishbox.com/modules.ph...ewtopic&t=5684

I dont have as much cover as I should have, just the space under the 5 gallon bucket and some holey rocks...


I've also read that its not uncommon for them to jump when they're stressed, and when they're in a new environment, especially if that environment is smaller then their old one, which my pond is.

[finfan]

Re: Kamakazi Koi?

sorry about your loss, good luck next time