koimaster

many of the members on this board have fish worth £2000 plus so the health and saftey part you say about is not ott.
it is a known fact that koi are more likely to die in the winter than anyother season. i would not move any fish over winter weather i got it free or paid £2000 for the thing

newkoiman

So Koi are different from other fish is the answer to my question. "Normal" or "king" carp are harvested through the winter months as a freference, I just thought Koi would be the same.
A fish does not know how much it costs so has no bearing on weather it is safe or not. What I do know is that I wil be buying some more Koi next weekend or the weekend after (while the sales are still on) and if I thought I was wasting my money (however much) or thought the fish would die, I would not do it.
Just a little preperation, caution and care will have a happy ending

nishikiboy

Nishikigoi are not Common Carp,
Nishikigoi ( Koi ) are in fact semi tropical,
which is why so many are lost each year between Autumn and Summer,
when temperatures in unheated ponds fluctuate so much.
Below 15 degrees C the natural immune system begins to deteriorate,
Below 12 degrees C it is very weak,
Below 10 degrees C it is no match for any parasites, bacterial disease / ulcers etc.

The worst problems occur in Spring, as temperatures begin to rise and fluctuate wildly, between sunny and cold days, the bad bacteria and parasites start to increase quite dramatically,
MUCH faster than the nitrifying and de-nitryfying bacteria we are trying to grow in our filter media,
and MUCH faster than the immune system of Nishikigoi takes to get going again,
hence the horrendous amount of serious problems and fatalities !

Although NOT a popular thing to say to our " non - heated " hobbyists,
I would go as far as to say,
if you are not prepared to heat in winter, to at least 15C, then do NOT keep Nishikigoi at all, choose some other species / hobby.

It is on a par with gardening,
e.g. trying to grow ericacious plants in alkaline soil,
yes you can " barely " keep them alive with chemicals,
BUT they will NEVER thrive,
so best to grow plants to suit your conditions.

You can " barely" keep Nishikigoi alive in UK winters in unheated ponds by using chemicals to combat disease etc,
but it is not only risky,
in my opinion it is cruel !
putting aside the costs, after all these are our pets !
would yoy keep your parrot / budgie outside this winter ?
No ? ........ then why Nishikigoi ?

Incidentally a registered reputable dealer would NOT sell Nishikigoi at this time of year to go in an unheated pond !
So as for talk of sales and Koi going from inside to out in unheated ponds,
I would love to know who ????
Peter.