Simply Koi and More Koi

Hi All,
I've been reading several posts which refer to heating but haven't seen any mention of the actual costs that are likely to result from it.
I have a 2000 gallon pond which I'd like to heat, if only to 8 degrees or maybe a little more. (What heat is good?)
But how much in real terms (£'sssss) is it likely to cost me? It'll be using an Elecro 3kw or 2kw if they do one.
Cheers & Happy New Year!
Louie

Louie.
This is a good tool for working costs out..

[url]http://www.koidirectory.com/pondcalc.asp[/url]

Louie wrote:Hi All,
I've been reading several posts which refer to heating but haven't seen any mention of the actual costs that are likely to result from it.
I have a 2000 gallon pond which I'd like to heat, if only to 8 degrees or maybe a little more. (What heat is good?)
But how much in real terms (£'sssss) is it likely to cost me? It'll be using an Elecro 3kw or 2kw if they do one.
Cheers & Happy New Year!
Louie

Hi

For 2000 gallon , i would go for a electro 3 kw . cost to run depends weather or not your pond is covered or not.

Thats a good tool jason-m

jason

hi,
im in the same boat, im keeping my pond at 8 degrees and have been for the last 3 weeks, like you i havent a clue on heating costs, however what i have found out is that im using 8 units a night (from 11pm- 8 am)
this works out at 72p a night on top of the daily costs. I'm using a 4KW elecro heater on a 2600g pond which is uninsulated
hope this is a little help

Thanks a lot. That's a good link there, everyone should go there and take a look!! It's not as expensive as I thought so looks like an Elecro 3kw is overdue!!

There's one here..

[url]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/electro-3kw-pond-heat ... dZViewItem[/url]

Thanks Jason....
Got it on my "Watching List!!"
Louie

Hi guys
1st post on here so here goes

My current pond is 1500 gallons and is running a 2kw heater which is keeping the pond at a steady 14 deg C. I run the heater from 11pm at night till 7am and this works out at just under a pound a day. So for me the current running cost are around £30 per mth extra.

MUTL3Y - im keeping my pond at 8 degrees and have been for the last 3 weeks

I would raise your temp to at least 12 degrees as what i have read in different books and forums is that anything under 10 deg C isn't doing the koi any favours.

A Koi's immune system functions properly at temperatures over around 12.5 Deg C ( 55 Deg F). Under this and the immune system ceases to function effectively and at lower temperatures, a Koi's ability to fight diseases can be severely reduced. Unfortunately, many pathogenic bacteria and a range of parasites can survive and even proliferate at temperatures down to around 5 Deg C, meaning that your Koi are at their most vulnerable at temperatures of between 6 Deg C and 12.5 Deg C.

Hope this helps

Hi Graham,
Welcome to KoiQuest!

With regards to a koi's immune system I think you will find that it starts to become seriously compromised at a temperature as high as 15°C. This led to the discussions in the past about the so called "Aeromonas Alley" of 12°C to 15°C at which the koi had little to no immunity but aeromonas bacteria could still propagate.

What winter temperature is actually best for koi is a very hot subject with many answers from many different people. I believe you are correct that 12°C is better for koi than 8°C but that said the health benefit of keeping koi at 8°C instead of 4°C is a quantum leap compared to the former. Koi kept above 8°C will in general come through the winter with little trouble which cannot be said of fish kept at 4°C.

Summed up, a bit more heat is better if you can afford it but a little bit of heat can go a very long way compared to absolutely none at all.

B.Scott

ok chaps.... my first year and temp is currently 7 degrees ....... I have a boiler and HX but the Mrs as put the blocks on me having gas!!

The pond is 3800 g, 6 foot deep and wondered would I get away with having a 3 KW electric heater as this can be plugged directly into the mains without the need for a huge juciy cable..... I intended to keep the pond ata round 12 degrees and increase a degree every 3-4 days maybe until I got to the 12 degrees I wanted..... what are your thoughts please.
thanks
Carl

I have a 10K L (2200Gal) in ground pond, 5'6" deep, with waterfall still running (turned down a bit) and air still going into the pond (30 lpm). Its uncovered.

I had a cpouple of old 300W aquarium heaters and stats from my Marine tank knocking about, so I stuck one in the top pool of the waterfall and one in the first Vortex of my 2 tub filter, both set to 10C

Didnt expect it to do anything really other than stop the waterfall freezing, but its working wonderfully. We had -4 with windchill last night (0C real) and this morning the pond was at 9.8C and the filters at 10.3C. 9.7C was the lowest it dropped to overnight

Not looking for them to actually heat the pond but they have kept the temp above 8C so far this year and have stopped any sudden drops. The fish are feeding well, filters seem to be filtering. In short I'm impressed how well the pond holds its heat, and how little wattage I'm needing

Hi Carl

It all depends on how cold it gets and how long you are prepared, to keep the heater on!!

3kw will certainly have an impact but may struggle to keep at 12 if it gets real cold; but you will be able to manage this by letting it drop down if necessary. Be warned however if you end up running it 24/7 it will soon rack up the elec bill – best part of £35pw!!

As you have the boiler etc then be nice to the wife, flowers etc - gas would be approx 1/3rd the cost!

Worth getting a decent thermometer, some of the digital ones I have are more than 4 degrees out!

Regards

Dave

Hi all, I have a 2000gallon pond and i have a 2kw in line heater as i thought it was one kw per 1000gallons much the same as u/v's. I have not used it this year as my bill last year was costly. But i did run it 24/7 at 12c so it was going on and off as the temp dropped etc. I also coverd the pond with a swimming pool cover and i fed the fish on a daily basis. I also cleaned the filters out as i would in the summer. This autum winter i coverd the pond but left the heater off and i have not seen the temp drop less then 4.5c. So i am going to see how things go this spring and if i get any problem's or not. If i dont i think i will sell my heater.

Hi all
If it helps anyone my quarterly electric usage was as below for the period 13/08/07 to 7/11/07 (87 days). At this time my pond temp was still above the 12 degress that my heater was set at.

Day units used 1381 = £111.29
Night units used 588 = £21.13

My pond is 2200 gallons and the heater is 3kw. Insulation wise the pond walls and bottom were lined with 1" polyurethane foam before fibreglassing, all my filters are boxed in and pipework bubble wrapped. The only thing uncovered is my trickle tower from my skimmer (still running).
Anyway covers went on mid November (400 micron solar cover) but stat has been left at 12 degrees so still feeding twice a day. Took my meter readings last night and recorded what I had used between 8/11/07 and 4/1/08 (59 days).

Day units used 1690 = £136.20
Night units used 641 = £23.04

From these figures it can be seen that I am using slightly more electric in these last 2 months than in the previous three. Not too bad since some of this can be attributed to getting the heat up to 16 degrees on an indoor sturgeon growing on tank. Other household factors could be lighting at night is on earlier, more use of tumble dryer etc.

As many say that koi deserve (or benefit from) a winter period I had contemplated turning the heat off at the end of Jan and letting the pond drop to ambient for all of February then returning to 12 degrees (see this link). [url]http://www.koicarp.org.uk/koi_dry_goods_heating.htm[/url]

On reflection it may cost more to heat back to 12 degrees from an ambient of say 8, than leaving the stat set at 12 until the ambient rises above this.

Hope this helps

Shaun

I have an Elecro 3Kw on a 2500 gallon pond and have been keeping the temp about 14c. Not looking forward to the bill, but hey if we didn't want to spend the money in the first place......

Anyway, I was interested in the comment about plugging a 3Kw heater straight in. DON'T. Been there - if you do the maths, you require a system that is a little over 13 amps and your normal electrics won't cope with it - I know, I've got the burnt plastic to prove it. The easiest indication is the 'hot' cable. I ended up using a 16 amp circuit breaker with 16 amp rated cable. Touching wood, no problems since.

M