dead fish don't always float to the surface.
yes, fish hide. There is plenty to eat on the bottom.
If the others aren't spooked then its less likely that you have a predator


"cbbode" wrote in message
...

I am new pond owner having constructed a 1100 gal garden pond with two
waterfalls this spring. I have surface about half covered with
floaters and lillys. My fish population consisted of 11 goldfish from
three to five inches.

To protect the fish from herons (we live on a 100 acre lake with a
small heron population) I have the pond encircled with two strands of
20 lb test fish line at 8" and 20" in height and two strands crossing
the top about three feet over the surface. I have noticed no
disturbance in these lines or the vegitation in the pond. The pond is
roughly 11 X 6 and 36" deep with shelve along one side. Bottom has
river rock.

A fish has simply disappeared. Earlier (a few weeks ago) one of my
fish died and I found it floating on the surface. The remaining fish
are very active, not spooked, and doing well. I have also noticed a
few very small fish in the pond that can only be offspring as I did not
add them to the population.

My question is: Do fish always float to the surface when they die? Do
some fish simply not feed and stay on the bottom out of sight for days?


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cbbode