Have I spoiled my fish?

[richyd]

Its been getting very cold here in the UK. at the moment air temp in 2.5degrees c (think thats around 36degrees F)
My fish are still very active and also very hungry. I've been feeding them a couple of times a day during the summer........now i've switched to wheat germ and try and feed them once a day.
This is my first winter i'm preparing for. Every time I near the pond they rise to the top looking for food, especially my 3 koi which have outgrown everything else in the pond. My local aquatic center guy has advised me to keep my pump and bio filter running, he's just told me to reposition the pump so the main body of water is undisturbed. Its literally freezing here now but my fish are always looking for some food. Should I stop feeding them altogether? or continue with one daily dose of wheat germ? Complete newbie to winter stuff.

Edit I should have posted in Winter thread

 

[Dave 54]

As cruel as it may sound you should now totally stop feeding until the spring , dont worry the koi will make it through without food if they do feel peckish then they will snack on the algea on the sides of your pond, in the spring when the temperature is over 10c for a number of weeks you can start feeding again , however make sure you start again with wheatgerm remember that the koi are at their weakest at this point and open to attacks from Parasites so add chopped garlic to your food or buy the Medikoi wheatgerm and garlic from your local dealers ( order it if you have too). the garlic does two things , it stimulates the koi's urge to eat and also protects it against parasites as it makes the koi unpallatable to them .
I advise you stop feeding next winter at the 10c mark , how deep is your pond please ?
I ask this because it is recomended ponds with koi in should be between 4-5ft deep .
Most koi keepers either heat the water or protect their ponds like we do with Polycarbonate sheeting or if you cant affoard this knock up a frame with some wood with cross bars then buy bubblewrap sheeting and cover both sides laying the whole thing over the pond but keep the snow off of it otherwise it'll collapse under the weight.
Heating the pond can be a rather expensive thing to do , we took the steps of insulating the pond as it was being built and the large fitration system is also insulated, we used 22mm polystreen sheets wrapped around the outside of the pond nd covered this with silversided bubble wrap , then added re-cycled plastc loft insulation from B&Q the filter housing is double glazed and is also protected with 22mm polystreen everything was then covered with decking ,
At the moment in the South West we are down to 5c but the pond thanx to all the preperations is still at 15c meaning we can still feed our koi.
Koi go torpid bellow 2c and because unlike other fish they only have a gut and no stomach this will cause any food they have had to rot in the gut killing the koi.
Please PM me if you need too for further advice .

rgrds

Dave.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes never feed fish in winter, I stop feeding in September here in Canada. The fish will feed themselves a better diet, eating algae and other plants like hornwort, which is high carbohydrates, easy to digest, and a natural winter diet rich in vitamins and minerals. In the summer they get the high protein diet from bugs, which also is their natural summer diet.

Feeding a diet that is not natural, like too much protein in winter is hard for them to digest, and hard for your pond to digest, as the good bacteria will slow down as well.

 

[sissy]

That really depends on where you live as here we can get days that temps do not go below 30 degrees and then we can get days in the 70's .The weather seems to really go up and down like a yoyo here .

 

[richyd]

As cruel as it may sound you should now totally stop feeding until the spring , dont worry the koi will make it through without food if they do feel peckish then they will snack on the algea on the sides of your pond, in the spring when the temperature is over 10c for a number of weeks you can start feeding again , however make sure you start again with wheatgerm remember that the koi are at their weakest at this point and open to attacks from Parasites so add chopped garlic to your food or buy the Medikoi wheatgerm and garlic from your local dealers ( order it if you have too). the garlic does two things , it stimulates the koi's urge to eat and also protects it against parasites as it makes the koi unpallatable to them .
I advise you stop feeding next winter at the 10c mark , how deep is your pond please ?
I ask this because it is recomended ponds with koi in should be between 4-5ft deep .
Most koi keepers either heat the water or protect their ponds like we do with Polycarbonate sheeting or if you cant affoard this knock up a frame with some wood with cross bars then buy bubblewrap sheeting and cover both sides laying the whole thing over the pond but keep the snow off of it otherwise it'll collapse under the weight.
Heating the pond can be a rather expensive thing to do , we took the steps of insulating the pond as it was being built and the large fitration system is also insulated, we used 22mm polystreen sheets wrapped around the outside of the pond nd covered this with silversided bubble wrap , then added re-cycled plastc loft insulation from B&Q the filter housing is double glazed and is also protected with 22mm polystreen everything was then covered with decking ,
At the moment in the South West we are down to 5c but the pond thanx to all the preperations is still at 15c meaning we can still feed our koi.
Koi go torpid bellow 2c and because unlike other fish they only have a gut and no stomach this will cause any food they have had to rot in the gut killing the koi.
Please PM me if you need too for further advice .

rgrds

Dave.

Thanks for your comment Dave. Our pond was never originally meant for Koi. I started off with a few common goldfish, comets, auf and shubunkins. It was my father who decided to add the 3 ghost koi. As such the pond is only 3 ft deep. I've taken your advice and stopped feeding. I was out there today and I could actually see them pulling the algae from the sides of the pond. They all seem fine so far. Guess we haven't had the brutal weather yet though. I have a Oase Swim Skim floating skimmer which also injects bubbles in to the pond.
I was thinking about shutting down my pump and filter. My pond is roughly 5500 litre and the pump is going at 8000 litres an our. My bio filter is presurised and can handle twice the fish load I currently have. I already have a wooden frame over my pond which I throw my net over. The bubble wrap idea sounds great and I will use during the harsher temps.

Also one more question. My two lilly plants, all the lilly pads have turned yellow and are starting to decay. Do I cut these back ?

Many thanks
Rich

 

[callingcolleen1]

I would go ahead a prune the lilies back.

 

[richyd]

I would go ahead a prune the lilies back.

I spent around 2 hours earlier doing some pond maintenance, the lilies are now pruned back, but they are still putting out some fresh pads. Backflushed my bio filter, moved my pump and inspected the fish. They all seem happy, one of my commets is actually changing colour. Its got some red stripes appearing on its back. Looks cool.

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Thats here in Nebraska to...our weather hit 80 one day last week and then 70's then back to 60's and 50's...cant make up it's mind. I have my fishkids on the back porch in an aquarium and yes it will get "cold" on the back porch but wont freeze (persay) I have cut back on feeding them though...yet wonder what or if I should continue feeding through out the winter. They are ornery as ever in the aquairum though...as only two of my previous fish have ever experienced this (last winter). They've figured out they cant just swim like they can in their pond though. My lillies went nuts and I had to cut them out of their containers and split them to get them into buckets of water where they will be wintered inside the basement. I'll have to post pics of the fishkids as this is the first real time I've gotten to watch em up close and personal.

 

[Jason]

Ok, So I have a 1ft shallow pond with some goldies and around 300 gallons, Here in FL it only gets 30 at the coldest so should i stop feeding my gold fish or is this just koi? Thanks!

 

[CometKeith]

I think most people agree that somewhere in the water temperature of the mid 50 degree F range goldfish and koi should stop being fed. This is because they are unable to digest the food. Any food given to them below these temperatures will make them sick. Because their metabolism is slowing down they don't need to be fed. Also they certainly will not starve because if they do need nourishment they can eat the algae in the pond. I try not to feed my fish much in the spring because excessive feeding can substantially raise the ammonia levels. Once I know my pond has cycled I resume normal feeding. This can typically take anywhere from 3-6 weeks once the water temperatures reach the mid 50's and above. It's important to monitor your pond in the spring and if ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate levels get high then you need to take immediate steps to lower these levels. The easiest way is to do frequent water changes.

 

[Jason]

That's the thing, I don't have ANY algae growing in my pond!? It's been up and running close to 2 months and NO algae present (or not that i can see, no green)? so should I feed them once a week or just let them feed on the plant I have in there? thanks

 

[Dave 54]

We Quit feeding here in the UK at !0c and arent tempted to feed them again till spring algae you will find will start to grow over time in Florida in my many visits to your beautiful State I wouldn't call your winters overly cold so you would most probably start feeding again a long time before we do.
Make sure your koi get wheatgerm to start off again with if you read the bit about adding garlic to the mix to help prevent parasites do that too.
We dont start feeding again in the UK ontil the temperature has been above 10c for at tops a month before feeding again check your koi for any problems when you start feeding again i:e learn to read your fish be on the lookout for any problems etc

rgrds

Dave.

 

[j.w]

Today is the last day here that my fish will be getting anymore wheatgerm food. Temps are in the steady 50's now and will be dropping from now until Spring returns. This will be their last Trick or Treat..........They will be extremely mad at me

 

[Jason]

Ok, thanks!