Is it normal for koi to be very inactive at 55 Deg temp?

[kmarcel]

I live in upstate NY where temps get really cold and we have already had very chilly nights. My water has been around 55 degrees and my fish seem to stay in one spot all the time. It's been that way for a couple of weeks. Is this normal? I have noticed at night they tend to swim more. Haven't seen any evidence of heron and any other creatures around.

They don't come up to eat and from what I've read is that I shoudn't be feeding them with these temps anyhow. A couple of weeks ago I was feeding them Medikoi because it appeared one of the koi had a growth on it. So they weren't getting their usual fall food to fatten them up before winter. Now they're aren't eating at all. Seem to be fine other than not moving much or eating.

Is this normal that they're so "slow" and should I be concerned they will go so many months without eating before spring comes, especially since they didn't get much of the fall food?

 

[JohnHuff]

I'm in WA state. I don't feed my fish under 55F. I don't feed them until next Spring, they will be OK. When it gets very cold, they all just disappear into the lowest spot in the pond and stay there.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

When the water is warm, and my fish are hungry (which is almost all the time), and they spot someone near the pond they swarm around the surface at the edge of the pond looking to get fed. It seems as soon as the water temp drops below 55 F the fish stop coming to the surface when anybody is standing nearby. It's pretty normal, it just tells me it's time stop feeding them, that's all.

 

[adavisus]

Might be an idea to double check the nitrite readings after a busy Summer

Regards, andy
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[Dave 54]

Test all your water perameters to see if you have anything that is abnormal with them. have you done any prepping of your pond to ready it for the long winter months i;e cleaned filters bottom of pond for debries of any sort .
As to the growth what were you looking at fungal ?
Weve just finished the prepping of our pond ready for the winter, ours is a multi bay system vortex , filter, filter bio filter everything we can possibly do to put us in good stead has been done cleaingall but the bio filter , replacing airstones filter wool etc .
Tomorrow when we do our regular maintenance we'll be adding new ceramic airstones to the bio filter then everything apart from covering the pond with polycarbonate sheeting will be complete and wecan rest sure in the knowledge that weve done everything possible to ensure our koi get through the winter in one peice with no fatalities

rgrds

Dave

 

[kmarcel]

Thanks for all the replies. Yesterday they did swim around a little more because it was a little warmer. It seemed as though they were hiding especially since they swam more at night. Glad to know it's normal.

Dave, I am now starting to do the prep work. I am currently treating the pond with Aqua MedZyme. This week we'll be cleaning out all the filters and bottom of the pond and putting the leaf net on. What is polycarbonate sheeting?