Goldfish Hiding In Pond

[bigtreebolar]

I have a small goldfish pond. The fish are standard feeder fish that have grown to around 3" long. Until recently they would roam around all day, but in the last two weeks, they have all retreated to their cave (protection from racoons at night) and remain there all day. It has been colder recently only around 65-70f. Any thoughts on what might be happenning and if I need to do anything or what is happening? Thanks.

 

[black angel]

If they are scared of being eaten then you wont see them much even through the day.

You need to look at ways of making them feel secure. How deep is the pond and how big is it?

 

[bigtreebolar]

The pond is 24 inches deep and 4 feet by 4 feet. For the last month I have had a hot wire arround the pond to deter racoons. I don't think that any have been in there in the last month. The fish seem healthy otherwise.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Although not the easiest thing to do, adding an extra depth so the pond stands at 3ft deep will make your goldfish feel a lot more secure as well as give them a lot more protection from predators.
Its generally advised that you have at least a 3ft deep pond for goldfish, other reasons to make the pond deeper include giving the fish a more stable environment when the ponds freezes, particularly as the goldfish get larger as they can easily be killed off in a 2ft deep pond if you have a particularly bad freeze during the winter.
How many goldfish do you have in the pond?

 

[bigtreebolar]

There are about 15 goldfish in the pond. I live in Southern California, so the temperature very rarely gets below 40 overnight. Days in winter are around 60-70. I started the pond in June, and the fish had been swimming around in the pen until about a month ago when they all started congregating in their shelter. I can't think of any change that might have caused this other than the weather getting cooler.

 

[black angel]

Place a thermometer in the pond and look at it first thing in the morning. If the temperature is getting that low then the fish start to slow down and wont be as active.
At 50f and below you shouldnt feed the fish but you need to see what the water temperature is at around midday as well.

You also have too many fish for the amount of water. Even with good filtration you are running the risk of ulcer disease and other bacterial nasties.

 

[chilledtim]

Afew months back, just befor it was getting cold all my goldfish started getting very inactive after id turned the pump off for afew days (for maintainance) , the water wasnt that cold at all. so that wasnt it.
When i turned the pump back on they all lived up again and started playing in the current by the outlet.
I put it down to them being bored so a current for them to play about in livened up there lifes abit.

Maybe they need something interesting the play around in, plants ect