Problem with Koi fish jumping out of my pond.?

Question

I have a small pond that had one Koi fish in it. He was approx a year old and in good health. The pond is around 100 gallon plastic in ground unit with a small upper level that has plants in it but isnt accessible to the fish. A couple weeks ago I found the hose that pumps water to the upper level had come off and pumped most of the water out only leaving a couple inches for the fish to swim in. I fixed the hose, refilled the pond and fed him. He was swimming around and eating the food like normal. A couple hours later he was doing fine then the next morning I found him out on the grass, dead. A week later I went and got 7 more small ones and put them in the pond but within a couple days 2 more jumped out and died. I just added a bunch of small goldfish today and all the fish seem to be doing fine, I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything here. I'm taking care of the pond like the owner of the house showed me to so I'm at a loss..... I dont want to loose anymore fish!

Answer 1

Unfortunately, koi do have a tendency to be jumpers. It seems to be more common if they're in shallow water, or there are shallow areas around the sides. Maybe in this kind of shallow water they tend to feel more "vunerable" to predators and if something touches them unexpectedly (even the leaf of a plant, a hose or power cord, or they touch bottom, they may panic and try to jump to safety, only to jump to their deaths.

Really, if the pond is only 100 gallons, that's too small for a full-sized koi. They should be in ponds that are at least 3-4 feet deep along the edges. Goldfish would be a better choice to keep, but if there are predators around for real (raccoons, cats, weasels, birds), that size still isn't enough to keep any fish safe unless there's a screen cover (which would also prevent the fish from jumping).

Answer 2

HI Jeff, I'm very sorry to hear of your losses & disregard this if I'm stating the obvious or going over what you have already thought but I'm wondering if poor water quality is to blame? I don't think predation is going on here as your Koi lasted a year without incident.

As you say your Koi was perfectly happy for a year-then you had the failure & had to almost completely refill your pond. Ponds just like tanks need to cycle for the fish to thrive & if the ammonia or nitrite level went off the chart jumping would be one of the symptoms. It's very possible he would have appeared fine for the first few hours or even days.

Likewise when you got the first batch of Goldfish only a week after your first tragedy the pond would not nearly have cycled in that time so the ammonia or nitrite would still have been in the critical zone ie extremely stressful for the fish & they jumped simply to try escaping the conditions.

As I have a tank but not a pond this is all speculation on my part but I think you should be monitoring your pond parameters diligently right now & doing frequent partial water changes with same temperature treated water to dilute these toxins & continue this regime until the pond has cycled again & that means ammonia & nitrite [NO2] read zero. Hope this is some use & best of luck with your new batch of fish.

Please feel free to email me if I can help further-I'm guessing you are not experienced in fish keeping as this is not your pond so anything I mentioned you don't understand-especially cycling & water parameters let me know!

Answer 3

No, the 100 gallon will not help much because it is only 25 more gallons. Koi get very large and produce so much waste and ammonia that they can easily kill themselves if the tank/ pond is not big enough for them. They need at least 100 gallons each. Even 500 gallons will be better though not ideal like 1000. With larger ponds and tanks the water quality is also better and you have healthy fish. You will have to clean the water alot more with 3 koi and only 100 gallons or you will only get dead fish. Probably every couple of days now but later you will have to clean it every day. Make sure you also have a filter and a air pump for them. The filter will help alittle with the waste and the pump will help keep enough oxygen in the water for them. You should do some research on how to build your own pond in your garage and not buy one that will only last couple months. It might cost more at first to get or install a large pond but in the long run you will save money because you won't have to replace the pond again and you will also have healthier fish. Not to mention if you don't have a correct size pond for them they can get diseases faster and also are very stressed. When they grow to their full size (2-3 feet long) they will have to have room or can get bone diseases and will die a slow and painful death. I strongly suggest that if you can't keep the fish in over 300 gallons that you sell them or give them away to someone who can put them in a proper size pond where they can thrive.

Answer 4

All of the answers suggested so far have a lot of merit and are worth checking. Poor water quality caused by the sudden addition of *a lot* of new water, without sufficient time to cycle is probably more likely than the stray electrical current, but you often see fish jump when lightning hits near or in the pond, so it's possible.

However, my guess would be flukes or some other kind of parasitism. Koi often jump and/or flash in an effort to dislodge parasites from their skin or gills, and they are especially vulnerable to gill flukes. These parasites can be brought in by birds, snails, and all kinds of other wildlife, so it's not that unusual to have this problem, really.

And, when water quality is poor (as yours probably was due to the sudden influx of non-cycled water not having sufficient time to balance out), koi are not at their best in terms of trying to fight off what might have been a borderline parasite infestation before.

Goldfish are not immune to flukes, but don't seem to get them as readily as the koi do, so maybe you'll have better luck with them. What I would recommend you do, however, is dose the pond with a combination of Pro-Form C and Praziquantel at the same time. Both are readily available on-line, and often from garden centers and pet stores, too.

The Pro-Form will kill just about everything except flukes, and the Prazi will take care of them. Follow all dosing instructions to the letter in terms of numbers of doses, amounts, water changes, etc. When you are finished, lightly salt your pond to about .3% with non-iodized aquarium or pond salt (no table salt!).

You could also try feeding a medicated food like Medikoi for a while, too, to help build up the fishes' strength and stave off any secondary bacterial infections that may develop as a result of the water and/or parasite-induced stress.

This combination of treatments has worked for me almost without fail in the past - please e-mail me if you want additional information. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

your fish jumped out because it's not in a comfort zone. There are many factors such as not enough oxygen in your pond (use air pump for oxygen or have live plants in the pond), overcrowding, water temperature is too warm, koi have been known to jump out when water level is too low. If u dont have any of these problems ignore. Definitely u need to use a net to cover your pond.

Answer 6

Have you actually seen the fish jump out of the pond or is there a sneaky little cat in the area that's tossing them out. My cat use to do that all the time but I had an aquarium.
You might have to install a net over the pond to prevent the jumping or the invading cat.

Answer 7

cover the fish pond with fine mesh chicken wire .. no more than one inch above the water surface .. make sure there is sun cover within the pond they may be getting too much direct sunlight .. try a piece of wood to cover part of the pond or some plants

Answer 8

the reason why the koi is jumping is because the nitrite levels within your pond are far too high.
to prevent this you need too do a 40% water change on your pond and then use a Nitrite remover to kill off any left in the pond.
if you do not remove this nitrite it will change to Amonia Which is highly dangerous to your fish (Kill them)

Answer 9

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Answer 10

If they actually are jumping (and nothing catching them), check the water quality, or for any electrical current or anything like that that might be affecting it, that they might be trying to escape from.