Lost my first Koi today

[pecan]

Rey Rey passed. Not sure why or how

Never lost a fish over the winter before. Temps here have been in the low 40's during the day and high teens at night. There is a hole in the ice about 4' x 4' and the rest of the pond is still frozen solid. I was talking the electrician and contractor about running the electrical in the new not finished addition and they said, hey, do you know you have a dead fish over here.

Sure enough there was Rey Rey laying on top of a lily pot about 2' down in the open water area of the pond. Still too cold here to get the pond running again. Rey Rey looked perfectly fine. No sign of disease or anything and did not look like he had been dead long. I took a close look to see if he was still alive . I haven't seen the rest of the fish since before the pond froze in December and I hope they are all ok.

Rey Rey was one of my smallest Koi was about 8" from nose to the tip of his tail.

I better grab the test kit and see what the readings say.

Poor little Rey Rey.

Here pictures of the pond just taken. The second picture is looking down in the open water. He was just laying on the lily pot on the right.

 

[pecan]

Just tested the water.

PH 9 (this is normal, my ph has never been below 8 in the 3 years I have had the pond)
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 0

I am at a loss.

 

[Mmathis]

So sorry to hear, and hope he's the only one! Maybe something tried to get at him through the hole in the ice.... RIP, Rey Rey!

 

[Tula]

So sorry about your loss of Rey Rey I've read where our koi are cold and weak in the winter….and if he was smaller, perhaps he just succumbed. ….still doesn't make it any easier.

My pond has never gone through such a cold winter….hoping my fish pull through.

 

[dieselplower]

Did you test for nitrate?

 

[Lisak1]

Not that it matters, but why do you say it's too cold to run your pond?

 

[dieselplower]

Not that it matters, but why do you say it's too cold to run your pond?

it is not uncommon for a pond that has waterfalls, streams, or fountains to freeze in such a way that emptying the pond can happen.

 

[HARO]

Sorry for your loss, Pecan; I know the feeling. So far I've fished out nine of my twelve koi, the biggest 8" S.L. This is their second winter outside, last year all survived. :disappointed_anim:
John

 

[pecan]

Did you test for nitrate?

Sorry mistype, that was the Nitrate readings.

I spotted a shubunkin under the ice resting. He seemed normal.

 

[pecan]

Not that it matters, but why do you say it's too cold to run your pond?

Technically it's not. But everything is frozen to the ground so I would probably break hoses etc, trying to hook it back up right now. There are two pumps and both are submerged. I would have to swim under the ice to get to the second one. So logistically it is still too cold to hook everything up.

 

[jmajid]

sorry about your koi. Hope all the others make it through OK.

 

[Sunshine]

Sorry for your loss Pecan.

 

[pecan]

This is the second winter with Koi in the pond. All the Koi were added in the Summer of 2012. Interesting about Rey Rey, he was bought with four other Koi who were all the same size. He never ate like the others and as the others grew to double his size, he didn't really grow. I always thought of him as probably the most weak and frail of all the Koi.

 

[Sunshine]

I had a Koi like that. Bought him with another, he just never kept up size wise with the other Koi. He eventually died. It is sad, but if the others are doing well, I don't think it's anything to do with your pond perimeters.

 

[sissy]

I wonder why so many deaths of fish this year .Sorry to hear about reyrey .