Winter feeding

[agoura2327]

I am completely new to the world of Koi ponds. This summer I dug a 4,000 gallon pond, went through what apparently are the new pond cycles, pea soup, string algae etc. When I started up the pond mid July I put in all the conditioners, bacteria and whatever else was suggested. When the water quality seemed to test correctly with the test strips I put in 10 fingerlings to see how they did. One died almost immediately, one apparently jumped out and died on the lawn about two feet away from the edge the other 8 did fine. After about two weeks I introduced three Koi that I was given that had completely overgrown their pond. They range from about 19 to 22 inches. When I went through the string algae I had a hatching. I now have somewhere around 25-30 babies in the 3 to 3 1/2 inch range. My question is winter feeding, the water temp is now hovering around 45 degrees. The ones left from the original 10 are now about 8 inches long and I have the three large. I am not worried about them as they are genarally just down at the bottom not moving much. The fingerlings on the other hand are still darting around the pond and I am concerned about their making it through the winter. I don't want to overfeed them and find them floating upside down and on the other hand I don't want them starving to death either. I am wondering if anyone has experience with small fish making it through the winter and what the necessary steps are.

 

[sissy]

My babies make it through the winter here and I just feed them wheat germ food and that is only once a moth if that .I guess some one will chime in that live in your state that will know more .oopps how rude of me welcome to the pond forum and hope you enjoy the info .Good info to add when you post is size and depth of your pond and how you filter it .pics would be great also

 

[agoura2327]

Sissy,
Pond size is hard to figure accurately as it is a kidney shaped pond. depth is 3 feet across the board sides are vertical as we do have racoon and possum. Length and width at longest points are 14 and 18 feet, as near as I can figure I am between 4 and 5 thousand gallons. I was advised when I dug this thing to make the sides straight down and minimum depth 3 feet to discourage the critters from attempting to enter the pond. The only fish I have lost was one to a heron and a water scarecrow solved that. Filtration is by a Hayward that is about 2 1/2 feet in diameter and about 3 feet high. It is buried so I am relying on memory. The filtering agent is the plastic sort of tubular pieces that are about 3/8 of an inch long. I have a large double ultraviolet filter between the hayward and the spillway. Pump is a programmable intelliflow set at speed 2. it has a low three tier spillway that is from the filter discharge. It does have a 6 foot "waterfall" that is on a dedicated pump and only runs when we are usiing the back yard. One of these days I will attempt to figure out how to post a picture or two. People of our ages are not noted for being terribly computer literate.
Hopefully this gives you some idea of pond size and equipment.
Dwight

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I've always gone by the fish's activity level... When the water gets too cold, they will group together at the bottom and have no interest in feeding, but if they are active and swimming around at the top, I will give them some food. In the Winter I won't feed more than every other day, and you only want to put in enough food for the fish that are showing any interest in it.

Do you have any live plants in the pond? If so, the fish will nibble at the greens. If your UV hasn't killed it all off, you may also have algae around the edges, which the fish will also eat.

My fish typically continue eating until the water temp gets closer to 40 degrees. With the colder temps, they will certainly eat less food, but it is unlikely they will starve.

 

[HARO]

Welcome to the forums, Dwight. You say you put in fingerlings. Of what species?? :dunno:
John

 

[j.w]

Dwight
I don't feed my goldfish(don't have koi) during the winter at all till temps get back up steady in the Spring to about 55F. Then I start w/ the wheat germ type and when it warms up to around 65F or so I switch to Summer food w/ protein in it. The goldies never really need to be fed as they could live off bugs, algae and worms, anything that falls into the pond and I didn't feed for several yrs till I wanted to have them be more friendly towards me when I come w/ the food. Still I don't feed except a couple times a week and when on vacation I will not have them fed at all till I get back. Not sure if you can do that w/ the large koi tho.

 

[taherrmann4]

I have about 40 goldfish ranging in size from 2"-6", I stop feeding them when the pond temp drops below 55 and will resume when it gets back up above that. My fish have always survived, have been doing it this way for about 8 years.

 

[sissy]

know what you mean about puters they are sometimes a real headache .I used to use photobucket but bought a picture system for my puter and it is much easier than photobucket to transfer and post and resize .I tell the puter to behave but darn thing never listens to what i say ,must be a man puter no offense men but you all know you are stubborn :luxlove: :heartpump:

 

[agoura2327]

Welcome to the forums, Dwight. You say you put in fingerlings. Of what species??
John

Koi, of the original 10 one died one jumped out and was found about two feet from the edge. They are now about 8 inches. Of the remaining 8, 7 are alive and well one was taken by a blue heron.

As for plant life I have water lillies which are not nearly as big as they were in the hot weather and about a half or three quarter inch algae growth around the edge which roughly figures to be about 600 sq ft of surface area. There is also some kind of floating plant on the surface which I am wondering if it is in some way related to the floating lettuce, that has all died, as I did not put it in the water. it ranges in size from about an eighth of an inch to a half inch. What ever it is it is diminishing in quantity also. I guess that it is quite possible that it is being eaten although I have never seen the fish eating it. I just went out and looked and there is almost no algae growth on the botttom which probably indicates that it has been eaten.

The three big ones and the 7 eight inchers appear to be laying on the bottom and not moving much. The hatchlings (or whatever you call them) are swimming around primarily in the bottom half of the depth and seem to be quite active. When I have been out observing I have not seen them come within a foot of the surface.

I suppose that I will monitor the water temp and hope that if necessary the small ones will survive on algae growth. Sometime in the spring when the water warms up and I go back to feeding I can exhale.

 

[sissy]

Do you have a water test kit

 

[agoura2327]

Yes and as near as I can tell with old eyes, the information on the label is almost impossible to read even with a magnification glass, the results are pll? 6.5 alkilinity 128 hardness 160 nitrite 0 nitrate 20

 

[agoura2327]

Sissy,
We're not stubborn we're just usually right, you women just don't want to admit it.

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! And where would we be without our reading glasses....?

 

[agoura2327]

How about contacts AND reading glasses and I still can't read the small print without major magnification

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group! My fish don't get fed from around october until march, they do fine. (goldfish and shubunkins)