Koi and gold fishes are feeling frisky and they are chasing each other. They end up inside the basket of the skimmer! I just removed 5 of them this morning and half an hour later they were back in! Grrr....I've had this set up for a couple of years and it is the first time this happens.
I'm just afraid that they'll get sick and I'll lose them...does anybody knows how long this behavior last? And or any suggestions? I think that tonight I'll install a wire screen in front of the opening...this of course defeats the whole purpose of the skimmer though.
Fish inside the skimmer filter!
The fish love the flowing water, and try to backswim against it, which of course puts them into a position to be pulled into the skimmer box. After two of my fish committed hari kari that way, I placed a fishnet with a short handle in front of the opening. The net clogs up, of course, but it holds quite a lot and is much easier to clean than the box itself. I keep two nets, and alternate them. That way I don't have to leave the opening uncovered while I empty the net. The open skimmer would of course be best, but a net with a fairly large mesh (1/8") saves the fish. I think they drown in the box because the flow is too strong past their gills, rather like fish on a stringer dragged behind a boat.
If the fish can swim back out on their own, you might want to just leave it be. I lost every fish in my pond to a great egret last summer - except one goldfish, who hid in the filter box. He is fine. He lives in the box during the day, and comes out and swims around in the evening to morning, when the birds aren't around. As soon as morning comes, he's back in the box. He's big though, a strong swimmer.
Well Killer, you really straighted me out on the pond deal....For 20 years I have wanted a pond here but I never put on in.....Twenty years ago, after all the planning, I realize that being on a lake, I would have every egret, duck, ibis, etc, etc, etc in my pond eating my fish and pooping in my garden...
But it has been on the back of my mind every since...More-so lately for some reason... But you have brought me back to reality....thanks...
BTW,, I did put in a Japanese garden with a "dry" pond..... no water ---- no birds...but it's just not the same I know.
Hap
The fish cannot swim out of the box because of the trap door in the skimmer. What goes in stays in.
I belive the fishes were trying to breed and chasing the female wherever she went. After the eggs were dropped and, I suspect, fertilized, the chasing stopped and all has returned to normal.
I did lose two gold fishes...I found them in the skimmer and they were on their side and quite a few of their scales were missing.
For the time been I did put a wire mesh in front of the opening of the skimmer.
Hap - I love my pond. I love the egrets, ibis, herons, and every other type bird that comes into my very own back yard. I can sit on my back porch and watch a National Geographic show, and it is soooo cool. However, I won't spend money on Koi again, not without putting in a wire around the pond to protect them. I get feeder goldfish at 10c each, and they do fine, they breed, I have tons. For me it is so worth it.
Giorio - I'm sorry you lost the two fishes, and very glad things seem "back to normal".