wintering you koi

[Duncan]

For the guys and galls who heat now is the time to be thinking about wintering your koi if that's something you thought about in the past

the rest of this month and the whole of next are ideal times for dropping the temp for your koi well below their immune response and taking the parasites down with them so the equilibrium is maintained

if your draw a line at 12 degrees c below this the immune response is non existent but bacteria and parasites are still very much active!!
if you then draw another line below this at 7-8c below this bacteria and parasites are in stasis and also react poorly so below 8 is where we want to be to restore the status quo koi v parasites bacteria

The reason for a short winter being? koi are seasonal creatures and benefit greatly from a very short winter say 4-6 weeks this resets their body clock for growth and health ( it takes a heavy burden off organs) and realigns there breeding cycle for eggs production and milt production and gives them a short time to reabsorb a few eggs

something to think about for the next week

dunc

[Taggy]

Duncan and all,

I live in the South East so a bit warmer than most my koi are up and still feeding,my heater has been off since middle December and won't go back on until the clocks change.

This is something different I am trying this year I used to heat all way through but times are harsh and something had to give. I was told or advised heat on when clicks change for summer and slowly take down when they change for winter.

Is this right who knows but I'll give anything a try if it saves me a bit of money but my koi health is my priority


Graham

[Geoff9]

Hi Duncan & all
For the last 5-6years I have let the pond go down slowly to 10c in December and hold it there till the weather improves as the temperature goes up I hold it there to save on Electric as I only use Economy7 on my 8kw heater and my koi seem to be fine, and I feed them Pearl Barley once every day around lunch time, if I don't give them any food some of the greedy koi get a sore mouth grubbing for food off the bottom and sides of the pond,

I have read a few times that the Winter and Summer temperature should be at least 10c difference, not sure if there is any truth about this but maybe someone could answer.

Regards Geoff

[tucker81]

i tried my koi down at 8c and they didnt like it at all

[Dave Collins]

I used to keep my pond at 10°C for January & February but this year have 8.5°C, maybe I'd better turn it down a bit more

[mark l]

hi my pond is at 12 deg heated, how quick should I take it down to 8 deg, as the weather is very cold it would not take long. how fast would you drop the temperature,i have no young koi in my pond and would like to give this ago
mark

[Duncan]

guys read my first post if you would please I said
draw a line at 12c then another at 8c between these temps give or take 0.5c is where you don't want you koi to be for any length of time
its what used to be known as aeromonas alley where bacteria could feast on your koi

at circa 8c and below the balance between koi and parasites /bacteria is a little better, not great but better

take them down a degree every other day will be fine

mine are at 6c at that temp they will sit on the bottom preserving energy if it comes up to 8 they will start swimming again

trust me sat on the bottom during really cold snaps they will be fine it takes a lot of energy to pump blood, respire & maintain their metabolism as they will be off the feed its a way of preserving energy

dunc

[Dandj]

Would it make sense to use something to keep the bacterial count lower during these temperatures then - say a weekly dose of something like virkon?
Jane

[Manky Sanke]

Jane,

There are all sorts of bugs doing all sorts of beneficial things in a mature pond and the trouble with reducing the bacterial count is that you'll reduce good bugs and bad bugs indiscriminately. Good pond husbandry will reduce the populations of any bad bugs.

I'm a firm believer in the potential bad effects of aeromonas alley but it has to be recognised that, if good pond husbandry has kept the bad bug population in check, then the strategy Duncan described will be adequate to ensure good koi health.

[Dandj]

I really don't see how good pond husbandry will reduce the number of bad bacteria. If they are present, which they always are, then they will compete for food and habitat along with any non pathogenic bacteria and it will be totally dependant on how much food they can find as to how many there are present and as aeromonas has a different food source to say the nitobacters they are not even using the same food sources. Plus they are free swimming. I do agree that healthy koi will cope with most things thrown at them but after a prolonged cold spell they are at their weakest and most susceptible to bacteria getting into any knocks or scrapes so I don't mind knocking my bacterial count down every now and again to keep everything in check, and do it every time we clean out the end chamber of our filter which can be as frequent as fortnightly in the summer, around monthly in the winter as the resulting whoosh of water back in really disturbs the biofilm on the pipework to it and after the most aggressive strain of aeromonas 2 years ago we don't leave anything to chance any more. This is the only change to our pond husbandry that we have made since the outbreak and touch wood we have not had any reoccurrence. I was wondering about increasing the frequency during winter but as the saying goes as it aint broke we wont "fix" it.
Jane

[Taggy]

So I deduce that leave at current temps no heating and all will be fine use heating to bring temps up as and when needed such as spring time for example


Graham

[Duncan]

Graham

they can be wintered as short as 4 weeks, that can be enough to reset the body clock

then bring them back up slowly

dunc