Got some tips?

[Terri]

I think it was Cin that put this into my head.. she mentioned something about their fish being "shy" at feeding.

What are the steps you've taken to encourage your koi babies to eat with you in eye sight?

This can all take time... and each koi is different. When we bought our first koi it took hours and hours of sitting by the pond waiting for them to come up and eat, placing our fingers in the water with the food.. now with a resident population any new comers catch on fast that "we" are not a threat/preditor. We still have a few koi that are "dine and dash" crazies, a few that love hanging out and sucking fingers, and other's that just want to be fed - feeding at a respectible distance.

[Tom C]

I have found a few thing that work for me. One is finding one fish that is friendly. If you have one that's friendly they will all become friendly. One other thing that has worked real good for use is talking to them. Talk to them every time you come out to feed them. We always say "HI GUYS" and they come running. Also fish in numbers helps when hand feeding them. I have never had a people with them coming up for food in numbers, again it only takes that one friendly fish, and they all will be friendly.

Tom

[Terri]

Glad I'm not the only one who talks to her koi! I go so far as to call some by name, Sora always comes, Sugar spits water at me when I say her name. You know, I find that they like to hear things, your voice and even music. Your voice is a cue something "good" is about to happen. With our guys, turnig the radio on means we'll be around for a while, a water change is about to happen. They do change their behaviour with these sounds.

I've often suggested to people to use a feeding ring at first. This way the food stays in one spot, the koi are pretty much "trained" to eat in that one spot. And the feeding ring plopped in the pond is a cue that something good is about to happen... so they come rushing. Eventually they associate that with your presence.

[Jackie Ramo]

Well my tip is never put friendly fish in with an unfrendly one!! They pick up his bad habits. Maybe I should try the food ring, right now with the current in the pond the food scatters everywhere and the fish come up to feed as far from me as possible.

Sorry Terri, hopefully these babies will remember to be friendly when you get them back :wave:

[Busy B]

Mine would eat from my hands when I fed them shrimp...then as the water cooled down, their supply was limited...now I have to start all over again..

[BonnieIN]

Well my tip is never put friendly fish in with an unfrendly one!! They pick up his bad habits. Maybe I should try the food ring, right now with the current in the pond the food scatters everywhere and the fish come up to feed as far from me as possible.

Sorry Terri, hopefully these babies will remember to be friendly when you get them back :wave:


Jackie luckily I have had the opposite happen.

[Ahhuhz]

Jackie,
Try putting in just a little food at a time. In that way, they have to come close to get it before the others all eat it. Also try a spot that is a little calmer rather than close to the waterfall where the food is scattered quickly.

[Jackie Ramo]

The biggest problem with me is this is the winter setup so only 4 fish, 3 babies and one big nasty guy. I got them so they would come but then had to net one to treat it twice and now everybody hates me again. Also I haven't spent the time necessary... it does take time to get them used to you.

I will say that some fish just don't become tame as others. Others, it doesn't seem to matter as they have no fear. My chagoi ate out of my hand the next day... Tweet only gets close enough to splash me if I hold the food too long before releasing it :evil:

[Mudsow]

Jackie I believe too that some fish just have no hope of being friendly. Then on the other hand some are almost too fiendly.

When I first brought home little "Ochie" ochiba I thought she was gasping at the surface of my Q-tank..... NOPE, just hungry :smile:

She STILL comes flying across the pond with her mouth 2" above water.
:lol:

Mudsow

[Jackie Ramo]

Maybe I should get an Ochiba :grin: None of my fish are that glad to see me or that hungry

[Merlin]

Quote : Glad I'm not the only one who talks to her koi! , and names them :wink:

I named all of my large Koi, it made it easier when I had to ask the DW to check on them if I was away from home , rather than saying please check on the big red and black one etc. :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

Naming them brings out their personalities or perhaps their names define their personalities.

[Mudsow]

Jackie, I heard that Ochiba are one of the more friendly varieties, that's why I gravitated towards one, I really like the friendly ones.

And literally the day I brought her home and stuck her all alone in my quickly set up Q-tank she was head out of water looking for food. At only like 5" !

It amazed me. I don't know if they all are like this but I've sure been impressed :D

Mudsow

[Jackie Ramo]

That is why I wanted a chagoi, he's friendly enough but not as much as yours seems to be. I also have a soragoi which are supposed to be friendly and he is just indifferent to whether I am there or not. He also doesn't hang much with the rest of the group... he's not sick or anything but lives in a world of his own.

GG is queen of the pond of course.

[ozzyrockman]

Terri, I don't know what its like to feed without a food ring. Last fall I left the food ring in the pond and had a little incident with the neighbor cat where it was playing ;) in the food ring and scared the crap out of our koi. To make a long story short we only have it in the pond during feeding, I now remove the food ring when I'm done feeding and have been able to regain trust with them. Now they know when to eat and they also know when they are done eating as well although they do continue looking for more food for hours after they are done. I do feel this has worked out good so far because we have not lost any to preditors (knock on wood) and live in somewhat of a rural area. Allen

[marla]

being new at it late last summer, I tried to always feed in the same spot and the same time. I think they might have caught on but then Oct. came and no more feeding and then the freeze, maybe this year I can get a connection with them.

[Busy B]

The only way I could ever get them to like me was with shrimp...

Now I'm leaving the radio on so they get used to some noise since I'll be spending more time in there until they can go back to the pond.

They still slurp at their food when I walk away :sad:

[Razen]

I've tried everything to get my Fish to eat out of hands......to no avail!
Winter they are in pre/form in basement. I sit by it,talk to them & they HIDE in there house......so I put the food in & stand there,they come grab it FAST & RUN! hahaha Some fish just can't be tamed to do this I don't think? Ours are 3 yrs old now. Summer time the pond in ground w/rocks around & I can't reach it to hand feed them. But they do respond when they see me come & stand by pond. They get excited,dashing all around. I luv them anyway!! I still wish they would hand feed! :smile: Razen

[Jackie Ramo]

Try smaller amounts of food more often. Really hungry fish are they only ones that train easily. Aslo treats like shrimp if they like them help as well. Some fish are just born friendly some have to be trained. Even mean old Tweet will come up and almost take from my hand if I don't feed him for a few days, and he hates me.

I'd rearrange a few rocks so I could hand feed in summer as well. A nice sitting rock is what I want. Old knees get tired easily :grin:

[Brady Brandwood]

If I'm going to be netting a Koi from a pond, or am doing anything in a pond that will disturb the fish,... I feed them some right afterwards to make them feel at ease again,... then they know all is "normal again" and they go from the stressed mode back to life as usual mode more quickly and are no longer skittish.

Another thought,... when adding huminic powder or montmorillonite clay to the pond,... sprinkle it around the edges so it settles into the algae on the pond walls,... there the Koi can graze on it throughout the day, and take it into their systems,... rather than all of the clay being pulled into the filter system - though it does great things for the filter as well.

Best Wishes,
Brady

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[BonnieIN]

This will be my third summer having koi and my goldies seem to be alot friendlier than my koi for some reason.

I could hand catch the goldies, they're so tame! ( maybe they're too tame)
Not good at times... our kitty has been having a grand time playing by their pond the last few weeks. A couple of days ago, I caught him swat one. :mad: BAD CAT!

Last year I did try shrimp and the koi liked it okay. They still seem to like earthworms better than anything so far.

[Jackie Ramo]

when adding huminic powder or montmorillonite clay to the pond,... sprinkle it around the edges so it settles into the algae on the pond walls,...

Now I know what clay is but what is huminic powder?

Bonnie are the goldies in the same pond as the koi? If not you may want to consider placing a couple of friendly ones in for a couple of weeks. I'm sure the days adventure of catching them from our pond would be worth video.

[BonnieIN]

Jackie the goldies are in their own seperate pond now.
When I first got Koi I had them mixed in with the goldies but last year seperated them because as we know goldies multiply fast and I didn't want them in the large pond.
I've thought about putting a couple back in with the koi but I don't want alot of babies to catch in the big pond again.

[Cinnamon]

I must just have a lucky group! You know my new ones were eating out of my hand the third time I fed them in the QT. When I put them in the big pond they kind of spooked. I was feeding with a ring as we were about to install that floating skimmer. As soon as the ring hit the water they came running. They were there before I could get the food in it! :lol: Then I decided to break the news skiddishness. I started hand feeding again. They all come running every time. I do talk to my fish too :grin: I got out several times a day and here they come. I sit down and put my hands in the water and here they come. When they don't have food they usually hang around for a bit for some petting. One of my new ones I call Venus (the little Showa) swims through my hands a lot. Maybe I am fish magnet! !rofl :lol:

[Jackie Ramo]

I do think that if the fish have had some handling before they are sold they are much friendlier. Seems that Pam's were ring trained and new what the ring meant right away. My guys have never seen a feeding ring and would probably hide in the bottom.

Bonnie Yeah they problem with goldies... mind I was just thinkingof maybe they'd help your koi become friendly ina a week or two you'd be able to pull them out before baby time.... risky but mihgt be worth it. OTOH a few shrimp each day and nothing else will make them real hungry and eager for the treat.

I've been starving the inside guys for the last couple of days and Tweet came to me today for food. None of the others but I'd like Spice to come up so I can get a better look at his side. Still something not right there but I don't want to net him if I don't have to. I'll give him one more day ....

[BonnieIN]

Jackie I could probably do that especially with Miss Piggy because she is VERY easy to catch.

[Jackie Ramo]

Once the koi know that you are "Bringer of Good Things" they should all line up when you go out. Its just educating them. Miss Piggy has a mustache... :grin: but she's cute.

[Cinnamon]

Funny story here! My Mil and FIL came over last night on the way to my SIL's house for dinner. I showed them how I can "pet" my fish. I was talking to them and my FIL come off with this. He said Now Pam you know if some people heard you talking to a fish they would have you locked up. :lol: He popped off with "Like they can hear you" Heiko chimmed in about then and said just look at them! He was amazed watching the "fish channel" on TV. So much my MIL went to eat and he stayed here! !rofl He told her to bring him a plate! That is really the first time they have got to enjoy the camera since the water cleared so much. One of our friends has dubbed it the "Fish Channel" !wow!