Winter Feeding

[Duncan]

ok i have kept my koi at 6 c all winter except for the odd day when it may have rissen by itself and that glitch in the boiler

point being they have not been fed since october not one single morsle not one single pellet of food, yet they have to swim 24/7 against a current and are expending energy , the so what is they look absolutly fine they aint really lost any weight and the colours look great bearing in mind they are under polycarb

the really neat thing is i aint had to clean the filters i have not dropped the vortex or cleaned the eazy once !

just a thought

dunc

[Gazza]

Hi Dunc,

6c bloody hell that cold have they got coats

Mine are at 12c and haver been since December ad don't get any food well they have had a few pellets but all seem to be looking OK apart from the Showa which always goes off in the winter and i have a feeling this could be her last winter

I still carry out water changes and i do still clean my static K1 as i like to try to keep everything as clean as i can so when the spring comes all is nice and clean and ready to get going.

I take it you have still been changing water

[B.Scott]

Hi Gazza/ Dunc,
Mine have been on a diet since mid november and are getting a handfull of food about 2x a month

[Gazza]

Hi Scotty,

We have always known you are tight

What temperature are you running at this winter

[B.Scott]

Pretty much the same as Dunc with a minumum at >7*C. This is the temperature I am usually at in the winter. I'm at about 10*C at the moment. Forked out for new covers this fall and they work a treat keeping te pond muct warmer than the old ones did.
As for being tight... well I bought a new cloverleaf auto feeder and of course the stupid timer craps out right at the beginning of the winter. I sent it in but the dealer is taking his sweet old time replacing/reparing it. I keep calling and they keep promissing a new one but it seems to always be just around the corner. With the feeder they would have gotten quite a bit more than they have had up to now.

B.Scott

[Gazza]

Hi Scotty,

Auto feeders i have tried so many and the things pack in one way or another so i bit the bullet this year and got one of the bigger solar powered ones and so far touch wood its worked a treat and as i don't feed in the winter i have it inside on the growing on system at the moment and its doing well and the fish are enjoying the feeds now so i may have to look for another auto feeder for them when summer comes...........Only problem is i cant really afford another solar powered one and then i will have to look at the ones i have used before which give up in one way or another

[greg]

I am in pretty much the same boat with temps and feeding as Gazza.

Pond has been at 12 Deg C since December (although i up to 13 Deg C for the winter show) and the koi do not get fed from the end of December till all being well the end of March. Although a new purchase was looking a little under the weather last week so they got 100grams of food over two days. This appeared to pick the koi up and that's all they got due to this. Plan is after the winter show to stay at these temps till end March and then SLOWLY begin feeding a few grams a week till around June time when i will then drop onto full summer feeding.

My understanding is that they use any food over the winter period for reserves / egg production and as hobbyists this is something we want to avoid. This gives the koi chance to focus on its condition etc during this growth resting time.

There is a school of thought out there that if your looking to "Thin" a koi down then you are better holding off food for a shorter time but at summer temps (20deg C+) - never done this but kind makes sense with the higher metabolic rate and with holding food - kinda like the human diet thing - excercise and less food = less weight??

Regards,
Greg.

[tomc]

Um, I have failed on temperature control: Still at 15c. I never really got round to lowering the temps. They haven't been fed since Christmas day.

I am considering next year changing the schedule a little based on some recent insights from Japan. I may continue feeding at 16-17c into late January and then drop down to no feeding between Feb/Mar and very very light feeding in April. Thus extending the feeding season, and also not getting into feeding in spring when perhaps a lot of the feed is simply going towards egg production?

Last year I got too aggressive with feeding too early (April/May) and that had some body shape impacts. So will take it easy this April/May with focus on feeding in the late summer.

Tom

[Thorny]

I am pretty much the same as You Duncan, although now the weather has warmed the pond itself to a massive great 9.5 degrees. Koi seem as happy as larry, They have also not seen a pellet of food, all swimming around and remaining active. I would say colours look great and no build up of mucus on the koi. Thinking I may now make the most of the little milder spell and set the heater to 9 degrees, and then let nature do the rest over the coming weeks.
Justin

[B.Scott]

As far as NOT FEEDING goes... How long would it take in cold winter conditions between 7*C and 10*C to actually harm a koi due to not having been fed? Ok I Know alot depends on the condition the fish is in at the start but let us assume it is a heathy 65 cm long female with not an unusually high amount of row to be reabsorbed. Any thoughts?
B.Scott

[Glenn]

Hi, I stopped feeding mid December and the temps have been between 8c and 10c but started feeding last week (only twice a day and not too much) as the temps are now 15c although fish have been active all winter. Heat pump is working well and warming both ponds up to the required temps. which is 15c at the moment.

Glenn

[eds]

I've got both sides of this as I have my growing on pond at 16 being fed all winter and then all the fish outside are unheated and haven't had any food since late November.

I've got a few females in the pond that i need to lose some bulk. I'm hoping that minimal feeding over spring will help keep them ticking over but won't add any more bulk to them.

[StuW]

Kept mine at 6oC until a couple of weeks ago (since beginning of December) and it is at 9oC, have not fed and fish look great. I have come from this from the opposite angle than most of you where I havent heated at all over winter but after last one thought I needed to control it a little morre. Just got to decide how quickly to heat up and when to start feeding again. Looked at the fish when i did a water change and they look great

[tomy2ponds]

Hi this year I decided not to cover my ponds I left everything running and fed when the Koi were looking for food,(I am unheated and live on the London Surrey border so not as cold here as some)the pond went down to 3 DG.Apart from one Koi that developed a patch of raised scales (it is fine now in my QT with some salt heat and CT)all are fine with good body shape and colours.The pond is now at 9 DG and the koi are always looking to feed but I only let them have a small amount twice a day.

[B.Scott]

I am very much in the camp of those who believe our koi must be kept above a minimum temperature but my limits are just lower. (but i do have them). Pictures of fish beneath an Ice covered pond I find horrendous and would never recommend to anyone under any circumstances.In my early days I endured the brow beating from the NI maffia and had sleepless night becuase my koi keeping efforts where doomed to failure because I failed to heat my pond to 16°C as the REAL koi keepers did.

MY whole philosophy on the winter is very much based on observations I have made over the years. What I have seen is thus...
Koi in general will continue to forage and feed down to temps of about 6°C. Once at or about 6°C they change their behavior. The will sink to the bottom, stop feeding and move as little as possible. To me this is a sign that they have gone into what I call "Survival Mode" and are shutting down to a point that will allow them to exist in condition that will be harmful in the long run. I would very much like to heat my pond to a point where they grow and frolic all winter but for various reasons I do not feel it is responsible to do so. Having said that it is my duty to keep the fish well and healthy from season to season.

I do all I can to keep the heat there is in the pond in side it by having 10 cm of thermo-insulation in the upper 120 cm of the pond walls, contact with ground water in the lower 60-80 cm which I feel act as a thermal buffer to raise the water temperature in the winter. I also cover the pond with triple layer polycarbonate panels 20 cm above the surface. And last of all I am willing to add heat to maintain my lower temperature limit of 7°C. All in all I have been doing this regime for the last 14 years and have yet to lose a fish (feesh? ) because of it. So to those who say letting your fish go through the winter below 10°C is an act of cruelty all I can say is I have several 15 year old fish who might be evidence to the contrary. I works for me, but what others do is entirely their own choice.

B.Scott