I'm very new to Koi Ponds/Fish. I live in PA and it is starting to get cold up here. I bought the house 2 months ago and the Koi's came with it. The pond is about 6' long and 3' wide at it's widest point. It' not quite 3' deep. It's a lined pond. The previous owner said he just disconnects the pump from the filter every year and let's it go. I think he just ran the pump to keep water moving. My question is what should I be doing for the winter? I have 10 fish in the pond various sizes. I'm really enjoying the fish and I want to make sure I'm taking care of them.
My Pond
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sissy
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Welcome and in PA you may want a pond heater and something to provide air circulation .I am not sure why he says that is all he does,that to me is neglect .If you get leaves net your pond to make sure they do net settle on the bottom and rot .If you have city water it needs treated and see if the bottom is clean .dDoes he a have a filter if not plan on building one next year and also buy them spring and fall food .Koi produce a lot of waste
sissy
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They say dechlorinator but I have well water here and do not treat but did learn putting plants in my filters keeps my water really clean .I use lava rock and will be going bigger with my filter so I can put more plants in it .I also use activated charcoal and crushed oyster shells fro tractor supply and I use peroxide to clean my waterfall rocks .I also use quilt batting to pick up the fine stuff that comes from the pump .
Welcome! Would love to see pictures!
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Welcome, Joel!
Keep your pump running as long as possible, until things start freezing if you can. I have a waterfall and left it running until temps got really cold and had to worry about ice forming and redirecting the water. I also unhooked my waterfall/filter/skimmer and left the pump running shooting toward the surface to keep a spot open on the surface. The bad thing about doing this is that the makes the water colder, circulating the colder water at the bottom. The good thing is that it helps to keep a hole. You can also use air bubbles to keep a hole. That works unless it gets really cold (which is typically does here in IL, although not last year ...). I let my pond "sleep" for about 2 months last year, only turning the pump on after I used a floating heater to melt a hole in the ice, then used the pump to melt a larger hole. It's ok for the ice to form, as long as it doesn't stay frozen for a long period of time. That's why I opened up a hole and allowed the gases to escape. Some say air makes the algae grow in the winter, but we all know that the fish need oxygen to survive. Keep in mind that fish in local ponds survive just fine when the ponds/lakes freeze solid for months. The difference is the volume of water vs. fish in that large body of water compared to the small body of water you have. Ten fish is a good number for the size of your pond. You should be just fine.
With feeding, quit feeding when the water temps go below 55 degrees and stay there. The fish will eat algae from the sides and bottom. If you do feed, do as Sissy says and find food that is specially formulated for early spring or late fall feeding.
Netting any leaves helps keep muck from accumulating and having to be removed in the spring. Sounds like you have that figured out already.
Go to any pet or pond store and they will inform you about dechlorinating your city water. It's a very important step to keep your fish alive. Also, make sure you don't turn your hose on to top off the pond and then leave it running and forget about it. Sure disaster pending!
One more hint someone here taught me is to never rinse your filter with city water, as it will also kill the good bacteria that has formed in the filter media. Use some of the pond water in a bucket to rinse it in. I have well water, too, so don't have to worry about the chlorine. I don't clean my filter media at all during the summer. When I get ready to shut things down, I'll drain the filter and rinse all the media out really well. Otherwise, I leave it, as the "good stuff" is more important than worrying about the muck that is forming in the bottom. I have a large garbage can Skippy Style filter, though, so no yuck gets into the water once it's pumped into it.
Good luck! We would love to see pics of your set up, and congrats on buying a house WITH a pond!
Keep your pump running as long as possible, until things start freezing if you can. I have a waterfall and left it running until temps got really cold and had to worry about ice forming and redirecting the water. I also unhooked my waterfall/filter/skimmer and left the pump running shooting toward the surface to keep a spot open on the surface. The bad thing about doing this is that the makes the water colder, circulating the colder water at the bottom. The good thing is that it helps to keep a hole. You can also use air bubbles to keep a hole. That works unless it gets really cold (which is typically does here in IL, although not last year ...). I let my pond "sleep" for about 2 months last year, only turning the pump on after I used a floating heater to melt a hole in the ice, then used the pump to melt a larger hole. It's ok for the ice to form, as long as it doesn't stay frozen for a long period of time. That's why I opened up a hole and allowed the gases to escape. Some say air makes the algae grow in the winter, but we all know that the fish need oxygen to survive. Keep in mind that fish in local ponds survive just fine when the ponds/lakes freeze solid for months. The difference is the volume of water vs. fish in that large body of water compared to the small body of water you have. Ten fish is a good number for the size of your pond. You should be just fine.
With feeding, quit feeding when the water temps go below 55 degrees and stay there. The fish will eat algae from the sides and bottom. If you do feed, do as Sissy says and find food that is specially formulated for early spring or late fall feeding.
Netting any leaves helps keep muck from accumulating and having to be removed in the spring. Sounds like you have that figured out already.
Go to any pet or pond store and they will inform you about dechlorinating your city water. It's a very important step to keep your fish alive. Also, make sure you don't turn your hose on to top off the pond and then leave it running and forget about it. Sure disaster pending!
One more hint someone here taught me is to never rinse your filter with city water, as it will also kill the good bacteria that has formed in the filter media. Use some of the pond water in a bucket to rinse it in. I have well water, too, so don't have to worry about the chlorine. I don't clean my filter media at all during the summer. When I get ready to shut things down, I'll drain the filter and rinse all the media out really well. Otherwise, I leave it, as the "good stuff" is more important than worrying about the muck that is forming in the bottom. I have a large garbage can Skippy Style filter, though, so no yuck gets into the water once it's pumped into it.
Good luck! We would love to see pics of your set up, and congrats on buying a house WITH a pond!
j.w
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You can also use an air pump to keep a hole in the ice. Doesn't get as cold here tho so not sure how that would work where you are. I'd get one of those pond heaters to have on hand at least if you need it. Never know what old man winter will throw our way
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Thanks for all of the advice. I'll try to get some pictures this week. I've been feeding them a cold water blend of food. It's supposed to be good until the water gets to 39 degrees. I saw some people had lilly pads in their ponds. I think I'll try that once spring comes around. I'll stop at the pet store about dechlorinating the water too. Has anyone ever tried using water from their gutters? Or would the asphalt shinggles be bad for the fish?
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Well I go against the grain with using gutter water, I feed our gutter water into the pond, one roof metal, one roof 3 yr old asphalt shingles, the fish are healthy and happy, as far as I can tell. The pond gets a great water turn over when it rains. We are on a well, so do our best to protect it, esp with the dry summers we have had (this one was a wet summer).
I love my lilies have a ton of them, might be shipping some out next spring, they grew too good again. Watch the classified for free lilies for shipping a bunch of us do that.
Welcome. i'm also from PA. But it's a big state. What area are you in?
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Welcome to the forums! :wave:
Welcome Joel.
Cool. Not to far away. used to go through there on the way to Blue Mountain to ski.
Craig