Shibunkin gold fish having trouble

[Dbarr1575]

Well an interesting turn of events. I went out to the pond to get the fish to put him in the travel tank and he was nowhere to be found. So, I had to eventually cancel the appointment and made it for a different day.

I waited all day for the fish to come out of hiding, no fish. So I climbed in the pond and felt around in every cranny, I don’t have many places for fish to hide because one got stuck in a hole.

So after searching through the pond twice (not that big) I found no sign of the fish. I’m truly baffled. Yes I have cats but they are very lazy cats who would never put a toe in the water to catch a fish. So unless this fish jumped out of the pond (water level is about 10 to 12 inches below the top rock line) I really don’t think one of my cats got him. But even if they did they would not have eaten him to where there is literally no sign of him at all. No head, or tail, or anything.

I even walked around my screen enclosure to make sure there were no holes in the screen where a critter could have come in.

Needless to say I was expecting any type of outcome except this one. I guess part of me is still hopeful he will turn up, but in his state if he got into a hiding place he would have drowned anyway.

Sorry I don’t have better news.

 

[Tula]

Well, that is sad news It sounds like your pond is enclosed, as you mentioned a screen? Other wise I'd suggest a heron, as they can swallow the fish whole. Are any of the other fish acting skittish....that is often a sign a predator has been near the pond.

 

[Dbarr1575]

They did seem skittish this morning but they act like that whenever a cat walks by and one of my cats was out there with me. And yes it is fully enclosed very large screen enclosure. So unless the predator can open the doors.....

I’m not sure what bothers me the most, the idea that I may yet find parts of him in my house (that’s where the unfortunate lizards that get in end up) or that the fish is stuck somewhere, dead, and going to decompose in my pond!

 

[Tula]

Keep an eye on the pond.....we've had some members absolutely convinced their fish were gone, only to see them swimming about another day.

 

[Dbarr1575]

Keep an eye on the pond.....we've had some members absolutely convinced their fish were gone, only to see them swimming about another day.

Oh I will! Checked all around again moved rocks around but alas no sign of him. But pond is in perfect shape, so I’ll keep testing too. Not sure what it will affect if he is dead in there but I’ll be ready.
I once had a fish that would hide for almost two weeks at a time. Just when I gave up on him, up he would pop to eat, then gone again. We called him Houdini. I sure hope this guy is my new Houdini!

 

[Mmathis]

Keep an eye on the pond.....we've had some members absolutely convinced their fish were gone, only to see them swimming about another day.

Yep, and it happened to me earlier this year after 8 years! Following a visit from a big white egret, thought all of mine were gone. I even swished around in all of the underwater plants, sure that if there were survivors that they’d come out. Nope! But a few weeks later...there they were!

 

[Dbarr1575]

So as an update, I found the shibunkin's "hiding" place, he was really buried in some hole that we did not know was there when we relaid the rocks, so had to take things apart to get him out. I thought he was dead, but then he took a breath, wasn't swimming so good, so I put him in a hospital tank. He seemed to rally for awhile, but when I just checked on him he seems on the verge of going to "all dead" instead of "mostly dead" (to quote the Princess Bride, one of my favorite movies).

And he wasn't done leaving me gifts, because I had to "dig" him out I guess I stirred a bunch of stuff up, I skimmed it as I saw things floating, but anyway the ammonia spiked and I wasn't right on top of it to save my Freddie girl, so now there are no fish in the pond. It's really sad, but I think I'm going to leave it that way for awhile. This has been a truly stressful week or so, and very emotional. So I have DO meter and a pond thermometer and a salt meter on order. For now I'm going to work on plants to see if I can get something to grow up the side.

But if I get ready to try fish again I'll go back to the farm where I got the shibunkin, except for eating things he shouldn't he was a very hardy little fish.

Thanks to everyone for all of your help. I will continue to admire all of your ponds from the forum here.

 

[addy1]

Aww darn so sorry to hear.