Direct sunlinght

[callum]

I Have a pond which is in direct sunlight all day, around miday i notcied that most of the fish where sitting at the bottom, in a shaded corner. Is it because of the sunlight??

[B.Scott]

Callum,
Most likely. Mine do the pretty much same though I don't get sun all day. When the sun is on the pond the seek shadowed corner and will swim in and out of it. They won't stay there all the time but they do tend to congregate there.
It's a defensive reaction. A fish will try to stay out of reach or out of sight of preditors. Sitting in the sunlight means you are potentially a sitting duck. Other factors may be the depth of you pond and the size of you fish. Smaller fish are more vulnerable thus they tend to seek shelter to hide in. Likewise if the pond is shallow they will feel less secure and possibly feel the need to hide as well.

B.Scott

[dick benbow]

Sounds like your pond could use some shade. Why don't you put up some shade cloth across a third of it?

[B.Scott]

Dick,
If his fish are only look for the shadow and finding some, why go to the expense? As long as there are no problems with over zelous algae growth I don't see the problem. This is of course assuming the pond is deep enough and taking in consideration thet the fish are on the young side.

B.Scott

[Ruth Rice]

Callum how deep is your pond and what is the temperature?
Our fish used to sit at the bottom and hardly move when it was more shallow and the temperature got really hot.

[marco]

Callum, I had the same thing two years ago when my pond was 1 metre deep, but since I dig the pond deeper (1.6 metre) most of the koi continue to swing all around the pond even if the sun shine very hard (I'm in the south of France).

[callum]

My pond 6.5 ft deep, and the temp is 20c, the only two fish which sit on the bottom when in direct sunlight are the shiro utsuri.