We have about 16 goldfish around 6 to 8 inches in length. We've had them in our large pond(about 4000 gal.)for a couple of months now. We have seen alot of babies,some already an inch or so long. The past couple of weeks all the fish seem to congregate together and just lay on the bottom of the pond almost all the time. When they do swim around it's very quickly and in spirts. The only time they will eat is when they're flying around like that. I put some salt in and the ponds tests fine for PH and such. Is this abnormal? Am I stressing out over nothing?

I would guess that they have been visited by a predator, most likely something like a heron or maybe raccoon if you're in the US. After a predator visits, goldfish may hide on the bottom for a few weeks until they get over their fear.

For more on predators, see http://www.fishpondinfo.com/pmamm.htm

The other option is that they are sick. It would be rare for all of them to become sick all at once like that though. You've checked your pH. You should also check ammonia, nitrite, hardness, and oxygen if you can.

My guess though is that they have been spooked. Are any of the fish missing or plants knocked over? Keep an eye out for predators. My link above has information on how to deter them. I keep the deep part of my pond netted all year to keep the heron out. A raccoon dumped one of my goldfish on the ground last week, an 8" white common goldfish. She was barely alive but is still alive today despite a bite wound to the face.

I hope your fish get over their fear, and that the fear is unfounded.

Thanks for the info. We've had the fish for a couple of months and they hid like that for the first two weeks. They came from a pond that was uncared for and the guy only fed them every other day or so. No one was ever around them.I think they may just be afraid of us because we're out there all the time.Hopefully that's the answer. How long should I give them to loosen up? We live in Nebraska so the heron thing is out. However the racoon thing could be in. No messed up plants or anything abnormal like that. I tested the pond today and everything came up okay.

So, they hid for the first few weeks and then came out of hiding before hiding again recently? How "out of hiding" were they when they were? It may be that although they've been in there for two months, they're still skittish. If they previously had little contact with people or feedings, they would be more apt to hide.

To help them get over being scared, add more places for them to hide like PVC pipes, clay pots, floating plants, potted plants, etc.

They seemed to act pretty normal swimming all over the pond for a couple weeks. Then they started their spawning dances and were chasing each other everywhere. One day I went out there and they were all on the bottom together barely moving at all. I thought maybe they were tired from all the chasing but it hasn't changed a whole lot since then.We have a lot of water lettuce and floating hibiscus I think it's called. We also have big bunches of cattails,and 3 large water lilies.They do hide behind the pots. I'm glad that may be all that's wrong. I'll just give them more time to get accustomed to my face! Thanks for the info.

If they were actively spawning, then they weren't scared at least at that point. Not only is the spawning exhausting but it will reduce the quality of the water by adding a lot of organics. When they were actively spawning, that might have attracted the attention of predators if that's why they're hiding now. Otherwise, I would just give them places to hide and some time. The floating plant I think you mean is water hyacinth. I would love a floating water hibiscus though!