Winter pond cover & air..

SPKoi · 13-10-2011, 06:47 PM

Hi All,

Almost my first winter with this pond, and really unsure of a couple of things??

My pond is around 4ft at the deepest, and i'm wondering if i need to cover over winter? i have 8 koi no bigger than 8" and was hoping that they could winter ok at that depth?

Also on air pumps, on or off in winter?....(I have one pump into 4 airstones) I'm going to leave the outlets running, so expect enough air to be created from them..

Pond temp at 15deg, however i understand the temp gonna drop next week, so have stop feeding them wheatgerm to prepare them for the colder days to
come...

Open to suggestions.!!

Many thanks

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freddy · 13-10-2011, 07:00 PM

Hi.

As I understand it, oxygen is easily absorbed into water at lower temperatures, so there isn't really any need to keep your air running, although if you have airstones in the filter, then I guess it won't hurt to keep the media supplied with air.

Personally, I would keep feeding wheatgerm, until they showed no interest, just cut it back bit by bit. No doubt others more knowledgeable can add more.

Cheers...Freddy.

miles41 · 13-10-2011, 07:01 PM

Firstly....pump for airstones off over winter, or at least raise the airstones up so that they don't cool the water at the bottom of the pond too much.

At the depth you've got in your pond, the koi should survive the winter ok, although they will become more 'lifeless' as it gets colder and tend to stay near the bottom and they will stop feeding too.

In the depths of last December's freeze, I did have ice form on the pond (except by the water return) and a temp in the water of 0.4°c when it was -14°c outside

Just keep an eye on them all the time or as much as you can, weather permitting, and they should come through the winter ok

SPKoi · 13-10-2011, 07:11 PM

Hi Freddy & Miles, - Many thanks for the quick response!

Will turn of the air as no feed to the filter..will keep an eye on the feeding, if their sit on top lookingto eat...may give a small bit of Wheatgerm, but remove any leftovers, and cut down the next feed.

I'll wait until we get to <10degs (next week!!) and stop the feeding

Many thanks again for the posts......

freddy · 13-10-2011, 07:19 PM

Hi again.

I would keep feeding until they show no interest. Until now I've been feeding full protein, but have just started to add wheatgerm at a ratio of 4 parts protein to one part wheatgerm. Over the next week or two, I'll increase the amount of wheatgerm in the mix until it's just wheatgerm, then I'll keep feeding them (whilst cutting back) until they ignore it.

Cheers...Freddy.

SPKoi · 13-10-2011, 07:31 PM

Many thanks Freddy

Had been using a similar mix up to about two weeks ago, so probably carry on the WG, and reduce until they stop...

freddy · 13-10-2011, 07:44 PM

Oh yes, you mentioned putting a cover over. I THINK I'm right in saying that a cover might well keep the temperature up by a couple of degrees. If we get more winters like the previous three, putting a cover over would probably make the Koi a bit more comfortable. There are probably other reasons why a cover should be used, and hopefully someone will say what they are

Cheers...Freddy.

Davej · 13-10-2011, 07:50 PM

Hi

Personally I would prepare a cover, it can make that little difference between survival of the fish or not.

Dave

Doghouse Riley · 13-10-2011, 08:53 PM

I've mentioned before that latent heat is lost by the action of air blowing across the surface of a pool, that's why I like to cover mine.
Also ground temperatures are higher than surface ones, that's why water pipes usually only freeze up when they are above ground. So your sub-soil pool will absorb some heat from the earth surrounding it if it is higher than the temperature of your pool. I'm going to keep my air stones running at a lower rate as my pool cover will be on the surface of the pool. As the temperature drops I'll start feeding mine with sinking pellets until it's time to stop.
Having said all that I hope none of mine now go "fins up."

SPKoi · 13-10-2011, 10:14 PM

Thanks for all the good feedback...
I've covered the pond with some boarding i had, but left a gap for the outlet flow (also allowing to gas off), so hopefully good to go for the impending temp drop...!!

many thanks again