|
The problem with the koi being afraid is/was their sense of vulnerability in a small pond. In addition, koi are used to having keepers go in the water with them unless they are going to be netted. So you inadvertently conditioned them to fear your presence. Everything koi do in reaction to the outside world is intensified or dulled by experience/conditioning. The fastest way to train you fish to look forward to your approach and your presence ( it is true that a large living object hovering over a pond could be 'death from the skies') is through their stomach. You can quickly condition your fish to come to you by feeding frequently but in very small amounts. You can also hang a bell near the water surface and ring it each time you come out to feed them.
On trick in conditioning is to not always be 100% consistent. Studies have shown that animals are the most responsive when the stimuli leads to reward 90% of the time.
On the mixing of tropicals and koi, it can work OK but remember that tropicals can potentially carry disease to koi and koi can carry parasites that don't bother them too much to tropicals. So never buy a tropical from Petsmart and assume that it will not infect your koi with a foreign strain of ich. - JR
|