So the 100+ ebay babies finally got moved outside to the new 4500 gallon pond 8-10 weeks ago, and all has been well in the new pond, but I cant make up my mind if I want to bring them in for the winter, or leave them outside ...
I have some concerns of how this pond will winter if we get the nasty winter some are projecting. Full it is only 36" deep, but running now about 30" deep (need to finish the edges to finish filling it) with a large surface area (I need to measure it again, but guessing the surface area to be 12' x 18')
When they got moved outside from the 750 gallon QT, their growth had the biological load at the tipping point (was starting to see low ammonia readings).
Hubby improved the filtration on the 750, added a fractionator (not sure if I am getting this term right, I know the term protein skimmer) and larger venturi, so it should handle more load better ...
On the positive side of being uneasy of putting so many fish back into the 750 now that they have grown more (growth exploded outside), Koiguy gave me a link to get zeolite in bulk via ebay, so I can look at that as a possible crutch ...
AND the 600 gallon basement pond has no inhabitants, but doesnt have as much filtration as the 750 ... The 600 is basically running just with a 45 gallon skippy style filter off of a 25? gallon tub acting as a solids seperator, but not sure of how many KOI it can handle ... This time last year I had about 80 fish in there, but a high percentile were goldfish that started out about 3" and the couple dozen koi that started about 4" ... by spring, most had doubled in size. My hesitation is the koi babies are already into the 6-8" range for most with maybe a handful of runts that are JUST now coming up on 4".
A benefit of bringing them in, is I can start sorting what we want to place sooner. Put them all into the 750 initially, and as we decide on those definately going, they could be moved to the 600 ...
After all this rambling, I missed asking the one question I had LOL ...
IF I bring them in, what would be the lowest temps (air and water) you would wait til? Air temps are still in the upper 60s to low 70s during the day, and dropping to the mid to upper 40s at night ... Pond is currently 60* at 10 am.
I have some concerns of how this pond will winter if we get the nasty winter some are projecting. Full it is only 36" deep, but running now about 30" deep (need to finish the edges to finish filling it) with a large surface area (I need to measure it again, but guessing the surface area to be 12' x 18')
When they got moved outside from the 750 gallon QT, their growth had the biological load at the tipping point (was starting to see low ammonia readings).
Hubby improved the filtration on the 750, added a fractionator (not sure if I am getting this term right, I know the term protein skimmer) and larger venturi, so it should handle more load better ...
On the positive side of being uneasy of putting so many fish back into the 750 now that they have grown more (growth exploded outside), Koiguy gave me a link to get zeolite in bulk via ebay, so I can look at that as a possible crutch ...
AND the 600 gallon basement pond has no inhabitants, but doesnt have as much filtration as the 750 ... The 600 is basically running just with a 45 gallon skippy style filter off of a 25? gallon tub acting as a solids seperator, but not sure of how many KOI it can handle ... This time last year I had about 80 fish in there, but a high percentile were goldfish that started out about 3" and the couple dozen koi that started about 4" ... by spring, most had doubled in size. My hesitation is the koi babies are already into the 6-8" range for most with maybe a handful of runts that are JUST now coming up on 4".
A benefit of bringing them in, is I can start sorting what we want to place sooner. Put them all into the 750 initially, and as we decide on those definately going, they could be moved to the 600 ...
After all this rambling, I missed asking the one question I had LOL ...
IF I bring them in, what would be the lowest temps (air and water) you would wait til? Air temps are still in the upper 60s to low 70s during the day, and dropping to the mid to upper 40s at night ... Pond is currently 60* at 10 am.
