Lost my big Japanese koi

[mrsclem]

Glad he's still there! I use the same netting Addy uses, suspended a couple of feet above water. We have a lot of hawks here as well as osprey and eagles.

 

[Rich8888ri]

They sell large netting on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DVGL535/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_kOFHBbK9C0SS1

 

[waynefrcan]

Mitch I was going to say I was reading your post this spring about your winter fish loss. Ever find out what was going on?

 

[MitchM]

Mitch I was going to say I was reading your post this spring about your winter fish loss. Ever find out what was going on?

I tried strong aeration only this past winter, which removed a lot of heat from the pond and it still completely iced over, the ice depth extended probably 4 feet. I think the fish just ran out of oxygen with only 1 foot of water. Most of the minnows and a couple of goldfish survived. I have them all in the greenhouse aquarium now while I rebuild the pond. The most successful winters I've had are when I use the pond breathers.

 

[texmaster]

Interesting, got any pics?

Certainly! Just bare in mind these are the old 4x4x10 posts and they couldn't handle the wind. The 6x6x12 do. Learn from my mistakes

 

[texmaster]

I'll take some up to date pics tonight.

 

[waynefrcan]

Glad he's still there! I use the same netting Addy uses, suspended a couple of feet above water. We have a lot of hawks here as well as osprey and eagles.

Thanks I'll have to buy the gill net online. Alberta Canada has outlawed gill net fishing I was told so none here sells them anymore.

 

[waynefrcan]

I tried strong aeration only this past winter, which removed a lot of heat from the pond and it still completely iced over, the ice depth extended probably 4 feet. I think the fish just ran out of oxygen with only 1 foot of water. Most of the minnows and a couple of goldfish survived. I have them all in the greenhouse aquarium now while I rebuild the pond. The most successful winters I've had are when I use the pond breathers.

I'll track down your topic and read some more. When I wintered with strong surface aeration those spots and surrounding ice did not freeze sold to 3 or 4'.

 

[waynefrcan]

Certainly! Just bare in mind these are the old 4x4x10 posts and they couldn't handle the wind. The 6x6x12 do. Learn from my mistakes

Those would stop the hawk attacks and since I have never seen a heron at the pond, my problems would be solved. However I think with a 35'x21' pond it's not practical and would look worse then netting it.

 

[MitchM]

If I remember correctly, your yard has a fence so your pond is more protected from the wind than mine is.
Open water plus cold dry wind = heat loss = deeper freezing.

 

[waynefrcan]

Well the nets up, used a old good quality Laguna pond net i bought 5 years ago but didn't use, What that didn't cover I used cheap bird netting. This all just temp but I feel great now i know they all protected. And it doesn't look as bad as I thought. Next year will be the gill netting. Now 3 hawks were over yesterday, the word has spread easy pickings at this idiots pond, oops no more!

 

[waynefrcan]

One of the little bastards dive bombed the cheap bird netting, a big 18" rip I had to repair. No fish attack as I think he hit the netting and then got the heck out of there.

 

[texmaster]

Its really hard because your area is so large. I did have one other idea I had was something I used to keep ducks out. Basically I took some metal wire and some posts that sat about 1 foot over water level and tied the wire across each post and criss crossed the entire pond. Ducks saw it and never tried to land in it again. Of course you would need a ton of metal or wood posts but it could keep the hawks out and shouldn't be crazy expensive.

 

[addy1]

I have seen tin foil, streamers tied to wires, netting so the birds can see it before they hit it. Esp near the airports in Florida.

 

[waynefrcan]

Hi Addy1 what was your fish netting, different types on the website.