One fish keeps going into the skimmer

[cheeseyfella]

Hi,

I just finished my new pond and it is much bigger pond than my previous one, I am using a skimmer now and the fish have plenty of room to move around in.

I have noticed one fish is acting strangely, it seemed to sit motionless on its own at first, the others would engage it but it would just swim around with them for a bit then sit on its own again. Then it started swimming into the skimmer, there is a leaf collection tray it lands in, so I can easily get it out and put it back, but it does it a couple of times every day.

when I release it back, it get gets chased by two other gold fish, (they look more like gold fish than koi, size and color wise) but they are chasing it all around the pond. Is this a case of fish bullying or something else? The fish have been in the pond for about 4 days now, but I have taken the fish out of the skimmer 5 times.

Anyone have any advice?

thanks
jp

 

[fishin4cars]

probably a female, she has found she can hide there without being chased. This isn't that uncommon. I have close to 50 fish in my pond and one goldfish I can count on will be in the skimmer everyday. the only time I remove it and put it back in the pond is when I need to clean the filter and leaf basket. But be aware, a small goldfish or Koi can swim in and out usually with little or no effort, A large koi or goldfish may have problems getting back out and may become severly damaged or killed. It's a good idea to try and make some kind of guard or brush that can go in front of the skimmer door to keep bigger fish out. Do not block the surface water from getting in the skimmer. egg crating, PVC pipe, Brush guards, and plants or rocks can be used to help keep them out. You'll find that there are certain fish that prefer to be near faster moving water and like living in that dark fast moving water of the skimmer. It will be fine as long as it is swimming in and swimming out freely, If it's sick and getting sucked in then there may be a issue with the fish itself.

 

[cheeseyfella]

I have floating solar light balls that always get pulled towards the mouth of the skimmer I was hoping it would be enough to keep the fish away, the big ones have no interest in going anywhere near the skimmer, but I will have to do something else.

The fish just seems to sit in there at the bottom of the leaf collector, I have no idea if it could get back out by itself. It doesn't look healthy to me, the eyes seem a bit orange, but i have no idea what Im doing or looking for, I just feel sorry for it and am thinking about segregating it, into a separate container on its own for a while.

Thanks for the tips about the skimmer, I just hope the fish is ok.

 

[sissy]

Did you put your fish in the new pond to fast and is your water city water .It could be to much all at once and sometimes even to many bright lights like you have can suddenly scare fish and stress them out .I am not sure you keep the lights on all the time or not .

 

[cheeseyfella]

Did you put your fish in the new pond to fast and is your water city water .It could be to much all at once and sometimes even to many bright lights like you have can suddenly scare fish and stress them out .I am not sure you keep the lights on all the time or not .

I left the water sitting in the new pond for about 2 days while I was fixing the leaks in the UV light housing. Ran the waterfall for a couple of hours while I went out, then I feed water from the old pond (where the fish had been living since the move) into the new pond and then moved the fish. The other fish seem very happy, just this one, It went in the skimmer again, that the second time today, and while I was out, i watched it trying to get away from the other fish and it went in again, it looked like it wanted to get away, but then turned around at the last minute, but couldn't get out of the door to the skimmer. It also kept coming over to me and coming to the surface, almost like it was asking for help. I noticed a strange swimming motion, leaning to one side, and it kept bumping into the liner at the bottom of the pond when the gradient changed.

This was too much for me, and probably the little fish, so I filled up my big bucket and fitted the old pump and moved it. Not sure what to do now, but it seems happier to be segregated from the other fish. there is moving water and the bucket is massive so there is enough room for it to swim around, for the moment....

 

[cheeseyfella]

Also the lights are on a remote control plug, there are only on when we want to look out, or if we are sitting out there, but they don't seem to bother the fish. From our bedroom window we can see the whole pond and all the fish and they seem to be very happy with the lights on. Well they look happy to me.

 

[sissy]

Maybe she is just not accustomed to her new digs yet .I know when I went to a bigger pond i ran the pond for over a month and added water from the old pond also .I just added new water to the old pond after I stole some water from it .I also added stuff to the filter to help it get a bio load .I didn't want to but knew I had no choice because fish were really out growing the old pond fast .You can use a filter on the pump in the bucket to get rid of waste and also keep it where it is shaded and see if she is just ready to spawn and guys are abusing her ,darn men never give up when there is a hot chick around :razz: .Sounds like you are helping her .