What Happened To My Baby Fish?

[Mehitabel]

I have a pre-formed pond, 750L. It's well-established, with elodea filling about 2/3 of the volume, and several marginals. It's in full sun, but there's also a good covering of lily-pads and shading vegetation. I've also put up a rush screen for extra shade. I have a Blagdon combined filter/fountain, suitable for the pond size. I have - or had - four goldfish, of which the biggest is now about 6cm in the body.

So... Last autumn, I bought five new small fish. They were maybe 4cm long. I introduced them carefully and they seemed to settle in well. So far, so good.

But over winter, all the young fish disappeared.

I don't know if this is co-incidence, but in spring I noticed tiny fry, for the first time in the 8 years I've had pond fish. This is a new experience for me, so I don't know what's normal, but they seemed to grow incredibly quickly. There were at least half a dozen that I could see, when they were tiny. I now see only two or three, but they've morphed from brown to gold - or somewhere in between - and are almost the same size as the new fish I introduced last year.

Does anyone have any ideas what might have happened to the young fish I introduced in the autumn? The pond is very near the house and I've never seen herons around it. And it's deep enough for any cat to be wasting his time.. And whatever happened, might it have anything to do with the appearance of the fry?

Thanks!

 

[Mmathis]

As long as we have ponds…..we will continue to have mysteries! I think that’s what makes it so much fun.

It’s possible that the larger of the “baby” fish ate the smaller ones. They are called tobies, and it’s called survival of the fittest in nature. I copied this:

 

[Mehitabel]

As long as we have ponds…..we will continue to have mysteries! I think that’s what makes it so much fun.

It’s possible that the larger of the “baby” fish ate the smaller ones. They are called tobies, and it’s called survival of the fittest in nature. I copied this:

View attachment 152691

Wow! Thanks so much! I'll have to keep an eye. I'm wondering already how to re-home the younger fish, since there will soon be too many for my pond's capacity.

 

[Netty]

I'm afraid it's a case of big fish eat little fish. Perhaps move the small ones that are left to smaller pond or section them off

 

[Mehitabel]

I'm afraid it's a case of big fish eat little fish. Perhaps move the small ones that are left to smaller pond or section them off

I did wonder. But they weren't that little and seemed to have integrated fine with the existing ones.

 

[Relic]

Maybe the adult fish were just waiting for the newcomers to grow from snack-size to meal-size...kinda like turning down a tater-tot, preferring a full grown baked potato.

 

[Laaf]

I would wait to rehome unless you are overloaded at their current size. Many babies don't survive to adulthood.