Wintering Tosai Outside - Tips?

[carpe diem]

I have about 100 tosai left in my pond from a flock spawn in May. Almost all of the tobies were all picked off by kingfishers and herons in July and August, so the fingerlings I have now are all 1-6". I know the 1-inchers won't make it, but what can I do to help the bigger tosai out? If they continue growing the way they have the past few weeks, about a dozen of them will hopefully make it to 7" this month.

I'm in a 7a zone, and my big guys (12-24") usually start slowing down in October and begin hibernating in November. They don't come out from the deep areas of the pond again until March. I'm afraid my tosai don't have enough fat stored to keep them going for 4 or 5 months. Should I keep feeding them wheat germ until they stop surfacing?

Side note: my pond is 30,000 gal, but it obviously can't hold 100+ koi, so I'm not expecting all of the small ones to make it. But I do have some favorites in the 5-6" range that I'd hate to lose.

A couple photos of my koi: The first shows the general size of the fry compared to my larger fish, and the second is my poor 12" male being overwhelmed by little fish at the beginning of a feeding session.

 

[gouldianguy68]

I stop feeding when water temps hit 50° or lower, not air temps, I also am trying to pack weight on them for Winter shut down. Feeding 4 times a day, to try and prepare them for winter

 

[gouldianguy68]

I have about 100 tosai left in my pond from a flock spawn in May. Almost all of the tobies were all picked off by kingfishers and herons in July and August, so the fingerlings I have now are all 1-6". I know the 1-inchers won't make it, but what can I do to help the bigger tosai out? If they continue growing the way they have the past few weeks, about a dozen of them will hopefully make it to 7" this month.

I'm in a 7a zone, and my big guys (12-24") usually start slowing down in October and begin hibernating in November. They don't come out from the deep areas of the pond again until March. I'm afraid my tosai don't have enough fat stored to keep them going for 4 or 5 months. Should I keep feeding them wheat germ until they stop surfacing?

Side note: my pond is 30,000 gal, but it obviously can't hold 100+ koi, so I'm not expecting all of the small ones to make it. But I do have some favorites in the 5-6" range that I'd hate to lose.

A couple photos of my koi: The first shows the general size of the fry compared to my larger fish, and the second is my poor 12" male being overwhelmed by little fish at the beginning of a feeding session.

View attachment 165667
View attachment 165668

Absolutely Beautiful!!!

 

[GBBUDD]

Welcome. The reason we stop feeding isn't as much that the fish aren't hungry more so the bacteria that we all know help keep them alive, is barely funtioning. It can not do much to convert gases to lesser lethal amounts.

 

[Laaf]

Very small/young fish can survive the winter. Just do what you usually do for your pond.

 

[carpe diem]

Thanks all. I'll keep monitoring the water temp before I feed them. It measured 71°F the other day, so fingers crossed that it stays out of the 50s for as long as possible.

I'll also see if I can bump up the number of feedings per day. They're growing so fast, I swear they're noticeably bigger every day. Considering I let nature do the "culling," there are a lot of promising colors and patterns that are developing. I'd always heard that natural selection results in koi reverting to dark colors like wild carp, but 90% of them have an orange base, and the rest have white or red bases. There are several promising gosankes and matsubas. They won't win any prizes for form, but they're very pretty pond-grade fish.

I stop feeding when water temps hit 50° or lower, not air temps, I also am trying to pack weight on them for Winter shut down. Feeding 4 times a day, to try and prepare them for winter

Gorgeous little guys! Those fins!

 

[Laaf]

There seems to be an unfortunate "rule" of ponding, that your favorite fish are the ones that get eaten/ disappear. So I try not to have favorites. But I still do. Maybe we just notice more when the favorites are gone. I have had a fish "disappear" for days, then I start seeing them again. Hopefully your favorites will be there in the spring, bigger than they are now.

 

[carpe diem]

There seems to be an unfortunate "rule" of ponding, that your favorite fish are the ones that get eaten/ disappear. So I try not to have favorites. But I still do. Maybe we just notice more when the favorites are gone. I have had a fish "disappear" for days, then I start seeing them again. Hopefully your favorites will be there in the spring, bigger than they are now.

Too true. There's a super friendly orange one that I've spent all summer trying not to get attached to. It's so vivid that I could see it from across the pond when it was only a few inches big. Now it's almost 7". Every day when I go out, I expect it to be gone. It's like it was made to break my heart.