Winterizing Fish Question

[Chef Dave]

As the weather gets colder, I've noticed that come morning, my koi and goldfish are lying on the very bottom of the pond with their bellies resting on the bottom surface. The pond is four feet deep and the bottom is covered with sand.

Is this normal winter behavior for these fish?

 

[clm]

Yes, they normally go to the deepest spot in the pond and don't move around much when the water gets cold.

Cindy

 

[DrDave]

My tanks hit 57 degrees yesterday morning. When I went out to check the Koi, they were on the bottom in all 5 tanks. As it warmed up they became active.

 

[Chef Dave]

Thank you all for your replies.

It's been several years since I had a pond. I don't recall my fish being quite so lethargic ... but then again, I also used to live in south Texas where it's several degrees warmer than south central Arizona.

:icon_wink:

 

[DrDave]

As winter approaches, a pond owners best friend is the digital thermometer. I got mine for $10.00 at the meat counter in our grocery store.

 

[Chef Dave]

As winter approaches, a pond owners best friend is the digital thermometer. I got mine for $10.00 at the meat counter in our grocery store.

A good chef always has a thermometer at hand. I have a dial oven safe, dial instant read, digital, remote oven probe, deep fry, deep freeze, confectioner, infrared, and oven thermometer all stuffed into a pocket in my knife kit. I also carry a digital thermometer in my chef's sleeve pocket.

Sadly ... the thought of putting any of these thermometers in my pond gives me the screaming willies ...

:banana:

I think I will have to buy a garden thermometer designed for yard usage.

 

[DrDave]

For $10.00, mine is kept with my pond stuff in the shed along with the tanks. As for barbequing, I used it several times but for steaks, my eyes seemed to be the better judge when they were done.

 

[Chef Dave]

For $10.00, mine is kept with my pond stuff in the shed along with the tanks. As for barbequing, I used it several times but for steaks

ICK! ICK! ICK! :icon_eek:

 

[DrDave]

I think you missunderstood my comment. After finding little value for it while cooking, I retired it to use it for the ponds. A good chef does not need the thermometer.

In fact the only good use I found for it was soup, so I didn't burn my very sensitive mouth.

I have won many contests in cooking. Not bad for an Engineer...

 

[Chef Dave]

A good chef does not need the thermometer.

Hmmm ... I agree and disagree.

When cooking at home, I rarely use a thermometer because when it's just me or a small party of less than 20 people, I'm not particularly worried. On the other hand, if I'm in a restaurant kitchen with a busy staff ... if I have l have line cooks coming on shift and going off shift ... if there are fifteen tickets in the window with multiple orders on each ticket ... then thermometers become very useful.

Any dish that goes out undercooked is a meal that may well have to be comped ... and comped meals lose money and engender negative feedback.

Health inspectors also like to see thermometers in use. Depending upon your county, restaurants may well be required to have one or more thermometer in each freezer, refrigerator, or walk-in.

All hot holding devices such as steam tables, steam drawers, heat lamps, and hot cabinets should also be checked on a regular basis to verify holding temperatures. Units that are too hot dry out food but if the temperature is too cool, you may find yourself slapped with a health code violation for time/temperature controls.

It's also never a good idea to strictly rely on the temperature control especially if you have new equipment because one never knows whether the unit was properly calibrated. Since even calibrated units are subject to equipment failure, having one or more thermometers handy is always a good idea.

 

[DrDave]

In a commercial environment, I agree. I have had food poisnoing 3 times from Chefs. The last one nearly killed me.

 

[Chef Dave]

In a commercial environment, I agree. I have had food poisnoing 3 times from Chefs. The last one nearly killed me.

I'm sorry to say that knowing what I know about food sanitation practices and food handling, I only eat out if I know the restaurant owner, general manager, or chef.

One of our more popular restaurants in this area just had an outbreak of rotavirus ... all because someone was too stupid or lazy to wash his/her hands and wear food safety gloves.

All area restaurants (including mine) are now suffering from repeat inspections from the health inspector. The health inspector is also taking pictures to document his files.

 

[DrCase]

that dosent make me want to go out and eat...but i do have a pond themo