In my case, it was a heron attack. Several, in fact. We set up 2 Scarecrow motion detector sprinklers and - so far - that has worked. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's been 3 weeks and no more missing fish. We lost a total of 6 fish in 8 weeks.

We could always tell when something had been around because the fish were pretty spooked for a few days after. Living in the suburbs doesn't make a difference. We have a fenced and heavily treed yard, and that didn't stop the heron. I don't know what's going on with your fish, perhaps another predator, perhaps something else. The only way to tell is to get up very early every morning and see if you can catch a visitor - or set up a nanny cam aimed at the pond. Our heron typically visited between 5AM and 7AM. If we didn't actually catch him a couple times, we still wouldn't know what was eating our fish.

Sometimes I think feeding them is a mistake. Luring them to the top is a death sentence if you do have a predator lurking. You're making them easy prey. I have mixed feelings about that now after having lost so many fish - a few of my favorites amongst them. We've switched to food that sinks to the bottom. We can still enjoy them when we want to feed them. Also, make sure you have some kind of "cave" or a place they can hide if they feel threatened. You can make your own very easily - do a search. The fish may just feel too exposed. Plants that cover the surface help a lot, too.

Heron was my first thought, also, when I read this. I have a Scarecrow too (I've been zapped more times than I care to admit!), plus I've strung filament around the edge of the pond with a second strand a little higher, and I have pets in the back yard that I hope will be an added deterrent. My pond has yet to be attacked by a heron, but I hope my efforts will help keep them at bay.

I too, thought I was well protected, a Scarecrow, alligator, dog in the yard, electric fence, fishing line strung around the pond. None of the above worked for me. My Heron walked through the electric fence got through the fishing line and walked around the shalllow edges of my pond and got my favorite, most beautiful fish. My pond was 4 ft.deep in the center and I also had lots of plants and ceramic hollow logs for hiding in the bottom. He will sit there and wait until the fish make the wrong move. He is very patient and can be very still and blends in with his surroundings. The only thing that worked for me was a net. Glenda
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Here he is frustrated, after walking round and round the pond trying to figure how to get to those fish again. This was the pond last year. Re-built it this year, but still have a net.

thanks for the responses. After reading your thoughts I am thinking we do have an owl in a neighbors tree and some kind of hawk that flies overhead every now and then. You think either one of these feathered predators could be the culprit?

Probably not the owl, as they are more likely to go after frogs or small rodents around the pond than fish. I don't know about the hawk. My bet is still on the heron or some other water bird.

Pikecoe, what is the recommended height for placing a net? I've heard everything from lying it right on the water to placing it a couple of feet above. I ask because I found one of my ornaments, too heavy for the wind to blow over, lying on its side this morning like something took off in a hurry and knocked it over when it got blasted with the Scarecrow. It could be one of my pet cats got too close, but I'm always alert to the possibility of a heron. I will definitely net if necessary.

Kingfisher, Heron, Raccoon are the top three. You aren't likely to see any of them, they come at night or very early morning. There is more than one type of Heron out there too but the Great Blue as in Glenda's photo above is found nationwide as are Raccoons. Even in cities.

Cats, owls, hawks are much less likely to have scared the fish. My fish come right up to my cats, they are both curious about each other.....

Hey, the same thing happened to me 2 nights ago. I have a small watergarden with koi and goldfish on my enclosed sunporch. for two years happy friendly fish..eating out of my hand...next morning, not one to be found, not even for food. After 30 min of food sitting there, out pokes one and then two and then some of the rest. They were very scared. I believe a racoon must have come onto my porch and been "fishing". Luckily he did not get one. Now I close my sliding doors. This must have been what happened,
but I also thought they were sick at first.
Lori

UPDATE ; I stopped at Petco last night and bought 4 feeder gold fish for .26 each. cheap. I put them in the pond thinking that new fish might push the old fish to the surface and it worked. The old fish have calmed down a little but they are still moving pretty fast. But for the first time in over a week they ate fish pellets from the surface of the water. Its a start, we'll see what happens from here. THANKS to everyone for your responses.