If you have a pond with no natural cover, especially if the pond is shallow, we recommend a fish shelter as this will make hunting much harder for predators. As they won’t directly deter herons, fish shelters are best mixed with other deterrents, such as pond netting, decoys, or automatic repellers (water or sound). Product Inspection Approval for all ponds, private home ponds, Schools, care homes, adoption and foster carers ponds etc Keeping leaves and other plant debris out of your pond has long challenged gardeners and fish enthusiasts but our Pond Covers provide the perfect solution.

Falling leaves are also bad news for your fish as they will upset the nutrient balance of your pond. The debris, will form sludge at the bottom of your pond as it becomes water logged and sinks. One of the main causes of a smelly pond come spring is pond debris; when the water starts to warm up and the oxygen content has been low over winter. Fish shelters are a cost-effective and easy way to create a durable cover system on the pond floor, giving both koi and goldfish somewhere to retreat and de-stress. They won’t scare away a heron, but they allow your fish a much better chance of not becoming easy heron food.

A great heron and cat deterrent which provides pond fish a safe hiding place at the bottom of your pond. Koi and goldfish shelters are designed to sit naturally on the pond floor and blend into the surroundings, helping to hide signs of fish. If you have a pond with nowhere for fish to hide, they’ll become very stressed every time a heron visits, even if the heron is unsuccessful at catching any fish. One of the best heron deterrent methods is to simply install a strong pond netting over your surface water. Both netting and covers will immediately deter most herons and will also add an extra layer of protection between them and your fish. Overall, an interesting heron solution that may be worth a try in smaller ponds, but we would only really recommend this method when all other deterrents have failed.

If you notice fish are disappearing from your pond but you’ve not seen a heron, this may because they tend to arrive very early in the morning or late in the evenings. Feeding at first and last night is generally safer, and they have less competition for food from other predators. Tell tale signs of heron activity would include feathers on the water, broken plants, torn netting, or injured fish (who just managed to get away).Often pond owners attribute their fish dying over winter to the cold, but it’s more commonly caused by buildup of sludge (waste) which has been left to decompose and build to dangerous levels. During this process, oxygen levels in the pond drop, and harmful ammonia and nitrite levels rise, which places a huge amount of stress on pond fish. Since the goal of most heron deterrents is to cause panic and scare the heron into flight, what better way than by showing them a picture of themselves! Although this is an often overlooked method of deterring herons, it actually works surprisingly well for smaller garden ponds. If your fish pond is close to surrounding foliage, such as trees or bushes, or if you have predatory birds or cats in the area, then installing a pond net is highly recommended. Generally speaking, purchasing pond netting with small/medium (3/8 – 1/2 inch) size mesh holes will provide protection from both leaves and predators effectively. This is the best size to combat both debris and predators, and is the most common with most pond netting manufacturers.

An ideal resolution here is to invest in some pond plants or caves, where your fish can take refuge if a predator comes nearby.

Either choice of fencing would be fine for most ponds, but we would probably recommend regular fencing first as it’s cheaper and easier to install. If the heron continues to persist, you can then try upgrading to an electric type fence system. We recommend Veldas Pond Protector electric fencing products (pictured) which are available from the UK and have been designed with heron control in mind. Sea birds and herons are some of the most difficult predators to deter because they're less likely to be put off by pond cover netting and may dip into the pond to retrieve your fish. Pond Safety Ltd are now proud to have been awarded The Silver Medal Award by the Royal Horticultural Society at The Hampton Court Palace Show. Herons and Garden Ponds Blue herons are incredibly common at ponds, lakes, and wetlands in the U.S.. Public domain. In terms of deterring snakes, I agree, that’s a tough one. Since they like to hide away in nooks and crannies very close to water, closing off as many hiding spots as possible around the pond may help prevent them from hanging around, but I doubt this would keep them away all together. Your advise of simply keeping a close eye on your pond everyday, as well as monitoring fish for injuries and unusual behaviour, is likely the best way in most situations to determine if a predator is present. Reply

Having a mirror in the garden may sound odd, but it’s a method that can work better than actual decoys in some cases. Herons are intelligent birds, and the closer they get to a decoy, the more likely they are to notice it’s not the real thing. A mirror image of the heron itself with actual movement will likely confuse even the smartest of birds, and is a good alternative to regular decoys. The best brands, such as the ScareCrow sprinkler, can cover large distances with their water jets, so are suitable for both small and large garden ponds. They’re ideally placed alongside regular pond netting for maximum protection, but work very well on their own at deterring most predators from ponds. Today AllPondSolutions looks at some of the best options to safeguard your koi fish and other pond life from predators with smart solutions that will put your mind at ease. What Is the Best Way to Stop Birds From Eating My Pond Fish? With that said, some herons may not be deterred by decoys at all, as it all depends on the personality of the heron and whether or not it’s already become used to eating with company (or decoys) in other ponds.The first which just emits a loud noise works well for most pests, especially if the recording is something the animal is naturally wary about, such as gunshots or barking noises. The downside of this type of device is that they’re activated by motion sensors, so will go off whenever anything larger passes through the sensor. If you have pets or regular garden birds, this could prove quite frustrating if the noise keeps going off. Automatic garden sprinklers work very well for cats, dogs, and even herons. Cats and herons in particular like to hunt prey slowly and silently, so any sudden movement will give them a scare. Automatic sprinklers can be fitted around the perimeter of your garden pond where herons like to fish, and they will automatically detect the bird’s movement and start spraying out water when it gets close. The Solar Pond Oxygenator is perfect to have on hand in sunny weather when pond oxygen levels deplete and are at their lowest. This ingenious and efficient pond oxygenating device uses the sun to help keep your fish healthy and your pond clean and algae-free. Pond netting works well in both floating and raised forms, and will help stop herons from entering the water so long as the netting is secured and maintained properly. Since herons need to physically reach into a pond to make catches, having a net over the surface makes stalking the fish much more difficult. It also prevents a heron from wading into the pond water when fish begin to retreat further into the center.