This is my second year at not feeding and letting the temperatures drop to where they want .... last lot of food fed was in October when covers went on and since then the lowest temps seen this winter was about 5/6°C - not very accurate as I have a £10 floating thermometer in the pond and that's pretty much what it read under the covers. Turnover rate for my 2000 UK gals pond remained at circa 15mins as both pumps and filters remained on all winter (so no chance of anything freezing).
My koi came out of last winter perfectly well and I expect (hope) it will be the same again. All indications so far are that they are fine (although I'm currently in Singapore and get home Thursday and will take the covers off) . Last year I began re-feeding in mid-March and brought the heating up so that by mid-april they were at 20°C and then just let the temps follow the ambient without being able to go below 20°C.
After the low temps last year, the filters recovered quickly and as I don't have an auto feeder (haven't found one that works reliably) I feed twice a day and four times on weekends. I feed at a rate that ensures that I'm not just dumping food into the static K1 ... which is about 150 gms a day of premium food.
Winter Feeding
Moderators: B.Scott, vippymini, Gazza, Manky Sanke
Re: Winter Feeding
On the heating issue (apart from those that can afford to keep their ponds at 23 all the year round) this is a sort of consensus emerging that not letting the pond fall below 7-8 has many benefits and other people of other forums seem to agree as well.
The big debate is feeding. My Koi are all foraging aggressively for food, the pond is at 9 – 10 C now and was held at 8 during the coldest spell. In the wild carp will feed when they are hungry regardless of the month of the year (just speak to any carp fisherman) so why don’t we feed our fish a little when they are foraging. I do and they are not fat and the little they get keeps them happy and the filter keeps all the parameters perfect. It seems to be almost a religion, which I could understand when our ponds were at ambient temp, but not now.
And on the question of winter food wheat germ or regular feed for feeding in the winter? Looking at the ingredients of many “winter feeds/wheat germ” they look very similar to the regular summer feeds. Where did the idea that “wheat germ” food during the winter is a must a must come from.
On a less serious note all my Koi love raw finally chopped garlic. The pond smells for a few days after but we have had no witches recently and I wonder if it really does deter some parasites?
Pete
The big debate is feeding. My Koi are all foraging aggressively for food, the pond is at 9 – 10 C now and was held at 8 during the coldest spell. In the wild carp will feed when they are hungry regardless of the month of the year (just speak to any carp fisherman) so why don’t we feed our fish a little when they are foraging. I do and they are not fat and the little they get keeps them happy and the filter keeps all the parameters perfect. It seems to be almost a religion, which I could understand when our ponds were at ambient temp, but not now.
And on the question of winter food wheat germ or regular feed for feeding in the winter? Looking at the ingredients of many “winter feeds/wheat germ” they look very similar to the regular summer feeds. Where did the idea that “wheat germ” food during the winter is a must a must come from.
On a less serious note all my Koi love raw finally chopped garlic. The pond smells for a few days after but we have had no witches recently and I wonder if it really does deter some parasites?
Pete
-
boogatee
- Bull Shark
- Posts: 544
- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:06 pm
- Location: just north of the home of the 2012 Olympics
Re: Winter Feeding
I have fed down to very low temps and the issues are not about the koi, IMHO, but around the filter being able to manage the ammonia and nitrite the extra feeding produces. I'm not suggesting not to feed, for every pond/filter is different, just telling you what issues I had.
I don't do water tests in the winter, but I do still do water changes to keep things fresh ... that's assuming I can get water out of the hose pipe.
Why am I telling you about water changes? well, a couple winters ago when I first decided to let the temps fall, my koi were begging for food every time I went around the pond, so I decided to continue feeding them.... big mistake, all appeared well until they started flashing. Got a couple out and did a scrape... nothing, all fine. Then tested water and found that I had an ammonia spike from hell. Hose pipe was frozen ... longest four days in my life as I waited for the heater to do its stuff and warm up the pond... and the outside temps to climb high enough to do a water change.
I don't do water tests in the winter, but I do still do water changes to keep things fresh ... that's assuming I can get water out of the hose pipe.
Why am I telling you about water changes? well, a couple winters ago when I first decided to let the temps fall, my koi were begging for food every time I went around the pond, so I decided to continue feeding them.... big mistake, all appeared well until they started flashing. Got a couple out and did a scrape... nothing, all fine. Then tested water and found that I had an ammonia spike from hell. Hose pipe was frozen ... longest four days in my life as I waited for the heater to do its stuff and warm up the pond... and the outside temps to climb high enough to do a water change.
Re: Winter Feeding
I agree about the filter being key to any winter feeding. My bio filter is in the garage and the sensor for the heating is in the filter not the pond and the heater is just before the filter so my filter runs 2-3 deg above the pond temp and copes very well.
I keep my hose in the conservatory and have a tap adapter for the kitchen tap so when the out side taps all freeze I can still do water changes....... lucky me !
Pete
I keep my hose in the conservatory and have a tap adapter for the kitchen tap so when the out side taps all freeze I can still do water changes....... lucky me !
Pete
Re: Winter Feeding
Hi All
I have kept my heat at 10.5 all Winter,my pond is covered with triple polycarb and use an 8kWh heater on Economy7,it manages to keep the tempreture stable,I did manage to not feed the koi for 41 days never left them without food for one day before,but I keep reading it's good for them so I have tried my best, even when they keep coming up looking at me as though I'm a terrible man hahaha,I'm now giving them a very small amount twice a day,but upto now they all look happy,
I have cleaned my Nexus and Pod twice a week as I like to change 5% of the pond water in the Winter,I like to check KH every 2 weeks because a few years ago I never bothered till someone tested it and said the KH is 0.
Regards Geoff
I have kept my heat at 10.5 all Winter,my pond is covered with triple polycarb and use an 8kWh heater on Economy7,it manages to keep the tempreture stable,I did manage to not feed the koi for 41 days never left them without food for one day before,but I keep reading it's good for them so I have tried my best, even when they keep coming up looking at me as though I'm a terrible man hahaha,I'm now giving them a very small amount twice a day,but upto now they all look happy,
I have cleaned my Nexus and Pod twice a week as I like to change 5% of the pond water in the Winter,I like to check KH every 2 weeks because a few years ago I never bothered till someone tested it and said the KH is 0.
Regards Geoff
Re: Winter Feeding
Well
Either we had an early winter in November /December with an early spring/summer to follow (I watched trout taking flies on the river yesterday) or we haven’t had winter yet……..
Which raises a question in my mind? Do we stick to the “I feed between this date and that and never feed from that date to this” or do we go with the flow.
My pond in the south of the UK is now at 12 deg I have started raising the temp of the water going into the bio filter about 2 degrees a week. My fish are eating as much as I care to give them and I am watching the water parameters closely. As you would expect I have seen a very little peak of nitrite some days (I measure NH3 and NO2 each day) as the nitrite to nitrate coveting bugs like the higher temps and have only just started to think about working at these temps.
Perhaps we need to be less dogmatic about our approach to feeding and be more guided by what the weather is doing.
Peter
Either we had an early winter in November /December with an early spring/summer to follow (I watched trout taking flies on the river yesterday) or we haven’t had winter yet……..
Which raises a question in my mind? Do we stick to the “I feed between this date and that and never feed from that date to this” or do we go with the flow.
My pond in the south of the UK is now at 12 deg I have started raising the temp of the water going into the bio filter about 2 degrees a week. My fish are eating as much as I care to give them and I am watching the water parameters closely. As you would expect I have seen a very little peak of nitrite some days (I measure NH3 and NO2 each day) as the nitrite to nitrate coveting bugs like the higher temps and have only just started to think about working at these temps.
Perhaps we need to be less dogmatic about our approach to feeding and be more guided by what the weather is doing.
Peter
-
Gazza
- architeuthis moderator
- Posts: 5306
- Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:24 pm
- Location: Essex,UK
- Contact:
Re: Winter Feeding
Hi Peter,
Yes i think the weather does make a difference and thats why sometimes my covers are on earlier than later and again in the lead up to spring the covers can come off and the heat goes up. I say that i don't feed and start the heat until Feb/march for this reason if it was milder now my covers would be off but at the moment i am just pulling the covers like today but back on of the night as we still have a bit of a nip in the air so a bit longer before i start warming up and having the covers off for the summer
Yes i think the weather does make a difference and thats why sometimes my covers are on earlier than later and again in the lead up to spring the covers can come off and the heat goes up. I say that i don't feed and start the heat until Feb/march for this reason if it was milder now my covers would be off but at the moment i am just pulling the covers like today but back on of the night as we still have a bit of a nip in the air so a bit longer before i start warming up and having the covers off for the summer