kennethc
Koi Lover
Jul 7, 2007, 12:48 AM
Post #7 of 7
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Re: [intergurl] my kois not tame at all
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Hi. Your pond and my father's pond are very similar, and his kois used to act the exact same way. First off, your pond definitely really needs to be shaded. Another reason could very well be that there is not enough oxygen in the pond so the kois go under the waterfalls because thats where the most oxygen is. I suggest you install a moderate power air pump and maybe 5-6 inch big air stones to greatly increase dissolved oxygen. You could be thinking that that can't be it and the waterfall is enough, and my dad thought so too, but when I did this for him (I placed airstones in the middle of the pond, right above the bottom drain), not only did the kois stop hiding, water clarity improved, and it seemed to solve the parasite problems he'd been having. I really believe installing that air pump solved all the problems, the biggest of which is the kois stopped regularly jumping out of the pond to their death! My father's pond is shallow (a little over 1 feet deep only) and open without shade much like yours. Right now he covers the pond for most of the day with polycarbonate sheets so they don't get sunburned.
To tame them, basically you need to spend time with them. Kois are very smart. It took me several weeks for my kois to warm up to me and now I can handfeed them. The way I did it is every morning, I would be the one to give them food and spend a few minutes standing there admiring them, making sure they saw me. Eventually they got the idea that I'm the "food guy". Don't be discouraged if they don't come out at once as this will definitely take time and can't be rushed, just observe and be patient. Kois are creatures of habit. Once a consistent feeding schedule is established, they instinctively know the time when food is coming and eventually get closer and closer to you until one day you'll be able to handfeed them, which is such an almost magical and endearing experience. Doing this in the early morning is the most ideal time as the sun isn't as harsh as compared to the afternoon sun. If you have a chagoi, that would be fortunate as it is known to be the more fearless koi and is easier to befriend. If not, try to observe which koi among the pack is the most fearless/greediest, there's usually at least one. Lure it with a food pellet (hold it using your index finger and thumb), but don't be too aggressive, just move slowly, stay still and let it come to you and feed off your hand. It only takes one of them to come to you and the rest of the pack will follow. Again, don't be discouraged as it doesn't usually happen overnight, you might be counting the days and weeks.
But I really believe once you address the air and/or shade issue, taming them will be a lot easier. Good luck.
(This post was edited by kennethc on Jul 7, 2007, 1:40 AM)
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