Last night I noticed one of my Koi was near death at the bottom of my pond. I decided to do an emergency transplant into a fish tank and slowly over the past day he has come back alive and is looking much healthier. I'm wondering how long I should wait before I start feeding him. Please also let me know what kind of food would be best for this situation. Any tips on when to reintroduce him to the pond in spring would also be appreciated.
How long should you wait before feeding koi after moving them indoors for the winter?
- Thread starter francesc0
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Meyer Jordan
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I would offer him food now. Start with a little to see if he will eat. If you are equipped to do so, keep him inside until Spring. Transfer him back to the pond when the pond and tank temperatures are the same.
As long as you have slowly brought him up in temperature then start off as Meyer says with a little food ,
This I would suggest should be wheatgerm and garlic , he wil then l be eating the same as your other koi when they finally come out of winter into early to late spring when your ponds temperature is above that of 10c for a number of weeks,
As Meyer suggests it is vitally important you match both indoor tankand outdoor pond temperatures before release into the pond.
So let's focus now on the health of your koi indoors seeing as to how this koi is now grounded so to speak we have to think about his accomodation over the next few months.
Please how big is your koi and how big is the tank you have him in ?
Do you have filtration on your tank and is the tank fully mature, if the answer is no it isnt then keep an eye on the water perameters until the tank has matured.
Do regular water changes whilst he is in the tank and we cant see you having a problem , but be aware that he may develope problems quite rapidly as the temperature in the tank rises to match that of your indoor temperature.
I would suggest you do this slowly over a 36 hour period .
Dave
This I would suggest should be wheatgerm and garlic , he wil then l be eating the same as your other koi when they finally come out of winter into early to late spring when your ponds temperature is above that of 10c for a number of weeks,
As Meyer suggests it is vitally important you match both indoor tankand outdoor pond temperatures before release into the pond.
So let's focus now on the health of your koi indoors seeing as to how this koi is now grounded so to speak we have to think about his accomodation over the next few months.
Please how big is your koi and how big is the tank you have him in ?
Do you have filtration on your tank and is the tank fully mature, if the answer is no it isnt then keep an eye on the water perameters until the tank has matured.
Do regular water changes whilst he is in the tank and we cant see you having a problem , but be aware that he may develope problems quite rapidly as the temperature in the tank rises to match that of your indoor temperature.
I would suggest you do this slowly over a 36 hour period .
Dave
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He is just under 12 inches and is in a 30 gallon tank. I know it's far too small for him, but it was the best I could find after hours when I saw that he was near death in my pond.
I have a water filter running constantly and I believe it provides enough oxygen for him, I haven't seen him show any signs that the O2 is low. Can you explain what you mean by fully mature? Like has it been running for a while and built up a good ecosystem? I bought the tank the same day I transplanted him. I made sure to rinse everything before the transplant and used only pond water to fill it.
I have honestly never had a fish tank, I'm just realizing now that I have a lot to learn regarding the upkeep.
I have a water filter running constantly and I believe it provides enough oxygen for him, I haven't seen him show any signs that the O2 is low. Can you explain what you mean by fully mature? Like has it been running for a while and built up a good ecosystem? I bought the tank the same day I transplanted him. I made sure to rinse everything before the transplant and used only pond water to fill it.
I have honestly never had a fish tank, I'm just realizing now that I have a lot to learn regarding the upkeep.
I kept my koi indoors for 22 years so it shouldnt be a problem.
Look at things like on your pond when you first started out and the filters needed time to mature well its the same sort of thing but in minature, your looking for the ammonia nd nitrates to spike before everything is matured, so keep a good eye on your perameters until things settle somewhat .
You koi is in a 30 gallon tank yes .... can he make a turn ... if not its too small for him you'd need bigger ,
What type oof finter do you have on the tank a canister internal or those ones that hang off the back of the tank and are a sort of cross breed ?
Dave
Look at things like on your pond when you first started out and the filters needed time to mature well its the same sort of thing but in minature, your looking for the ammonia nd nitrates to spike before everything is matured, so keep a good eye on your perameters until things settle somewhat .
You koi is in a 30 gallon tank yes .... can he make a turn ... if not its too small for him you'd need bigger ,
What type oof finter do you have on the tank a canister internal or those ones that hang off the back of the tank and are a sort of cross breed ?
Dave
He has just enough room to turn around, and he seems to be pretty happy in there. I'm using a Tetra Whisper 10-30i, it hangs from the back of the tank.
Be aware of the need to do regular water changes (not forgetting dechlorinate/dechlorimine liquid) along with filter cleans as koi being koi are prodigious producers of poo
Pkus keep a really good eye on the tanks water perameters and you shouldnt go wrong .
Dave