My pond

[cashay]

Hey All. I need to know about the ponds in winter, I know they can survice in the winter as long as the water is moving underneath so it doesnt freeze, but how much if any do you actually feed during the winter? I will get pics as soon as I can figured it out again.

[parker002]

Water movement is preferred but as far as I know, it's not NECESSARY. What is necessary is to have at least some exposed surface area where oxygen can be exchanged with the air. Having moving water or some other type of surface agitation will increase the amount of oxygen exchanged but first and foremost, you need to make sure the ice doesn't cover 100% of your pond. An electric pond heater will do the trick.

As for feeding in the winter, I don't. Once the ice comes on there's no food until the ice thaws.

[parker002]

By the way, thanks for reminding me. I need to post some pics of my pond!

[goldenpuon]

I second Parker regarding the ice on the top and the feeding. There needs to be an area of no ice for gaseous exchange (I'm pretty sure). As for not feeding, a fish's metabolism slows at lower temperatures and fish cannot digest food when the temperature goes below a certain level. So feeding below the temperature (its 55 F for goldfish) can be very harmful or fatal because teh fish can't digest food or can barely digest it.

For more detail information , I think Carl's Pond Care Information article will be very helpful.

Renee

[Carl]

I would suggest feeding a wheat germ based koi food during the autumn to increase apetitie and prepare your koi for winter (or if your water remains above 45F, this should be your winter food but for more tropical climates where temperatures remain above 65-70)

Carl

[cashay]

wheat germ based.. hmmmm will need to look at the ingredients on the food bag, I really wish the shipping and handling wasnt so high! because my fish in my tanks loved the sprunia ( ? ) but the sph is just as much if not more.... I dont like the first bit of food I got for my KOI because I found out it is really just a filler and not very nutrious... but then again from what I heard they dont have stomachs and it goes in and comes right back out! any good suggestions?
lets see if this comes out

[cashay]

[cashay]

I still have a lot to do the pond looks better then this now, You cant see the liner anymore, and Im in the process of building another waterfall, and doing the landscaping around it, but will show more pics when Im finished. hopefully before the end of november. Do they make floating heaters for ponds? or does anyone have any suggestions for placing a heater in the pond?

[parker002]

Yes, they make floating heaters for ponds. However, just to be clear, they're designed to de-ice, not heat the water generally.

www.americanaquariumproducts.com/ClearPond.html#winter_care

[Carl]

I love your yellow Koi, he/she is beautiful!

As for more food suggestions, I have a few here (not an exhaustive list though)

Goldfish/Koi Feeding

Carl

[parker002]

FYI, your local farm supply store may sell de-icers for cattle tanks. They work just as well (need to make sure you use a metal cage with it).

[cashay]

So they don't actually make a heater for them? just a deicer? Thanks Carl he/she is pretty to me to I don't know how to tell the sex difference although I read by their fins but thats hard to see in the pond lol I was trying to upload a new pic of my pond but it's not like it use to be..... before you could just click and it copied it from photo bucket... anyone know what happened?

[goldenpuon]

For Koi, their diet is very similiar to goldfish (if not exactly the same). They are omnivores, but leaning a little more to the herbivore side. Spirulina is a must IMO for goldfish and Koi. Great foods I have seen for goldffish and Koi (Carl sells these but you might be able to find some of them at your LFS too). Brands that are great are Aqueon, the Spirulina 20 flakes (I forget the company that makes these), Hikari and Sanyu, and I'm sure a couple others I didn't mention. Brands to avod are Tetramin, (to a *slightly* lesser degree) Wardley, and Tetra foods. As well, some Koi and goldfish foods are made to fatten them up for the winter a little since they go all winter typically without much to eat in colder areas. I forgot the specific details, but these in general (not all of them), don't have the best ingredients that are healthy for the fish.

Products with "whole fish meal" are much better than ones with just fish meal as well and artificial coloring and lots of preservatives. Anotehr article worth looking at is Aquarium Fish Nutrition. I hope this helps answer your feeding question.

Lastly, to my knowledge, pond heaters are made for ponds. They don't keep the pond totally ice-free but help warm up the water a bit and also keep ice from forming in part of the pond to ammonia and gaseous exchange between the water and air can occur (ex. Fish don't run out of oxygen).

Best of luck and i hope you are enjoying your pnd.

P.S: I LOVE the pictures you have of your Koi! they are absolutely beautiful! The pond setup looks great as well.

renee

[parker002]

The de-icer is really all you need - you just need enough surface area for oxygen exchange. I run my waterfall all winter too but the lines are buried and insulated to prevent freezing.

A heater won't be able to keep up and I'm afraid you'd create a kind of "limbo" situation where your fish are stuck between normal activity and winter sluggishness. In winter, your fish will not hibernate but they will slow WAY down. You won't likely need to feed them much (or at all - my koi get ZERO food after the first freeze and we don't feed them again until the first full thaw. They've survived 9 or 10 winters now without issue).

As Renee mentioned, I also feed them a "fall" formula prior to winter and a "spring" formula after the ice leaves. This preps them for not having any food for 4-5 months and helps them get back normal digestion after having no food for that period as well.

[cashay]

I am aware you don't feed them in the winter.and the different season food. I guess the only reason I was asking about a heater in the first place is I had some algae eaters in my tank in the house, and they started getting really big and messy so I put them in the pond which has doubled there size and I didn't really want to catch them again and bring them in for the winter, cause i know they will die out there, but I guess I will just have to try and catch them and do it anyway.

[Carl]

Oct 31, 2011 12:39:20 GMT -5 cashay said:

I am aware you don't feed them in the winter.and the different season food. I guess the only reason I was asking about a heater in the first place is I had some algae eaters in my tank in the house, and they started getting really big and messy so I put them in the pond which has doubled there size and I didn't really want to catch them again and bring them in for the winter, cause i know they will die out there, but I guess I will just have to try and catch them and do it anyway.

Yes, unfortunately these must be caught.

I had a few clients even in warm So. California that had Plecostumus and even a Scat that had to be moved in every winter (one customer attempted to get by, but even in So. CA the fish died in late November).

Carl

[cashay]

Yeah thas what I was afraid of!











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[parker002]

That's a bummer. Not only do you have to catch them but if they've doubled in size, you really don't have anywhere to take them back to, do ya?

[cashay]

I know I may just have to put them into my 55 gallon tank and just have to clean it a lot more then I have to now... "IF" I can catch them, I am not getting into that cold water to do it. I should have done it already!

[cashay]

updated pic of my pond