Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Fish Behavior After Heron Attack
We have a 500 gallon pond with an assortment of Butterfly Koi,
Shibunkin, Cat Fish, and Gold Fish--all have names. We did not know until 2 weeks ago that there are herons in Southern California. We came home from vacation to find Groucho gone; while we did not see the attack, there were gill remnants beside the pond, and the next day a large heron was spotted in our yard. Our neighbors then excitedly reported that they had seen 2 herons in their yard the previous day; their joy at the sighting was substantially greater than was ours. The circumstantial evidence is pretty strong that Groucho lost the heron vs. fish battle. Anyway, 2 scarecrows and an electric fence seem to have protected us since then. The problem now, though, is that our fish have been seriously spooked. Or at least that is what we surmise. Prior to our vacation, they were quite active and seemingly fearless. Afternoon is feeding time, and we could anticipate the fish once they saw us to start circling furiously in anticipation of their food. Now, they are profoundly less active, and head for the bottom when they see us. If we sneak up on them at night, and suddenly turn on the flashlight, we discover that they are more active than during the day, but then immediately they hunker down on the bottom until we leave. In hopes that the problem was something other than psychological, I tested the water for pH, ammonia, and nitrates--high pH (normal for us), but all other parameters normal. I exchanged about 20% of the water (using a dechlorinator) to no avail. We have tried withholding food in hopes of enticing them to the surface, but their food reserves and the algae in the pond keep them on the bottom. We have tried feeding them while standing quietly at the pond side in hopes of operantly reinforcing increased activity, but unsuccessfully so. For the fish, we would like for their apparent anxiety levels to decrease so that they could resume their previous carefree existence. For us, we found them to be much more enjoyable prior to the heron attack. If anyone has any suggestions about an approach we can take to bring harmony back to our situation, we would be most appreciative. Many Thanks in advance. BA and Missy Finstead |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Heron Attack on movie | Ponds | |||
Recovery from Heron Attack??? | Ponds | |||
Heron attack on movie | Ponds (alternative) | |||
Heron after fish! Help!! | Ponds | |||
Heron Attack!! | Ponds |