Aerator and bottom heater?

[waynefrcan]

Glad you're back on SIS. I rather have cold wheather then too hot! I felt the same way so, for a few years I brought them into the garage, 250 gal tub. They out grew that and got some disease from over crowding.

I will see, if much winter kill, then I might put them in the garage and build a setup similar to koiguy1969 for next year winter. About 500-750 gal. Would have to get much better filtration system as well.

Mad H., what was outside temp and surface temp when you read 35F at bottom?

Where's mucky these days? He was going to do winter temps as well?

 

[callingcolleen1]

It was around minus 20c outside and I had the heater going. Didn't get the surface reading, fingers were cold. I don't think my pond is deep enough to get much of a temperature change from top to bottom.

 

[mtpond]

I have 26 degrees outside and the bottom of my pond is 35.2. We are suppose to have warmer daytime temps so hope pond warms up.

 

[sissy]

Thank you wayne and good to come back on and relax awhile .I am not sure I could stand that cold myself .I know that you really need to over filter when they are indoors and glad I do not have to do that .I am guessing my septic tank helps keep mine warmer and never even thought of that until I saw a show on TV about people who use swimming pools and septic tanks to heat there houses .They wrap pipes around them to pull the heat from them ,like geo thermal

 

[waynefrcan]

Well since Nov 11 until now the bottom temp reading is same as surface at 32.5F, with no heater running. This is with both air stones at 1 ft level. I plugged in heater today and see what that does to bottom temps.

Either the temp unit has frozen or this pond stratification just aint working here. The pond heater is set to come on at 35F or colder, and it did come on so temp is probably close to 32.5F, maybe 1 degree warmer at most.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Wayne, my pond is the same top and bottom too, been that way for a long while... 20 years and fish still here with running water. the creek here in town runs similar too, and sustains fish threw the winter, so I built by ponds like the creek. I think sometimes we worry too much... although if you had winter kill last year, I would say that the fish were weakened from moving around and cleaning pond before winter. Moving fish is very stress full, even if they appear to be ok, and cleaning the pond of all the string algae and natural plants, deprives them of the winter food they need to survive under the ice with. I read many years ago that the fish need to eat algae and other natural plants such as hornwort and even aquatic mint shoots under the ice, to survice the harsh winter environment. This food is their natural " high carbohydrate winter diet" that is easy to digest and pack full of essential vitamins and nutrition to get them threw the long cold winter months.

I would get some hornwort from the pet store and throw in the pond, it may even grow if your fish don't eat it all first. Lots of people tell me they can't grow the stuff cause the fish eat it all, then I look into pond and see no natural algae and "too clean" pond, and that is why their fish eat it right away, cause they were starved of the natural greens, and were craving it. I have big koi too, huge koi that are a foot and a half long or more, and a huge round body, and they "graze" on the greens even under the ice I see this, but because it is always there for them, they don't have to go "crazy" and eat everything in sight! See here look at the pictures of my big koi for just today, and deep down there is lush green hornwort flowing in the water....

 

[callingcolleen1]

Sorry about the pictures, it is hard to get a good picture of the deep water this time of the year, sun's angle is too low and everything glares, and there is a thin layer of ice, but there is huge amounts of hornwort and other plants deep in the water. If you lived here I would give you some hornwort and aquatic mint snips from my pond to help you fish winter better.

 

[waynefrcan]

Interesting to see koi eat algae under the ice. Told they don't eat anything below 40F. I think you need to write an internet book too give these so called experts a good run for the money!

 

[crsublette]

Only eat what nature feeds them with, which we can imitate such as Coleen has pointed out with her ponds as an example. When below 40F, fish don't eat anything that casual pond hobbyists typically feed them. Folk that talk of "stop feeding below 40F" are talking about food we typically feed them such as wheat germ, etc. You can feed the fish as usual, such as wheat germ (a typical cool weather food) and they'll swallow it, but the fish's metabolism can become slowed down so much, due to the cold, that the fish does not have the energy to digest the food so the food just sits and rots inside the fish; it is this or fish eating something that naturally occurs causing the same affect may possibly be one of the causes due to some winter fish kills. Have you tried a formula similar to algae or maybe even baby fish food when temps drop below 40F? Often, I have read this type of food residing around and inside the plant roots and sometimes the plants them self such as duckweed; duckweed is often used as one of the primary foods fish eat. I bet ya even Coleen's fish would still go crazy over some duckweed.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes, they always eat the duckweed, but duckweed is not naturally available in the winter as it dies off, but other plants continue to grow under the ice, in very cold water, such as yellow monkey flower shoots, hornwort, algae, and aquatic mint are still green and full of energy below the ice in my pond. The aquatic mint shoots are very strong with scent below the ice, and just touching the mint tips will release large amount of the sweet liquorice mint scent all around the water. The scent is much more powerful once the plant has died back and the energy is returned to the roots and concentrated in the tips. Early in the spring the koi can be seen ripping and eating the root tips, and pieces break away and spread naturally to other areas of the pond. The fish will not hand feed when the temperature is so cold, nor will they come to the water surface, but the will graze the natural greens, but not very often when this cold. Algae is a very good source of food that is the easy for fish to digest. Algae is a very simple plant, and must be the easiest to digest, as they seem to prefer this when extremely cold. Alage also grows quite well under the ice in the spring.

Duckweed also never seems to stay in my pond, so I grow in tanks in the house and throw it to the fish in the spring. Duckweed is the most preferred plant it would seem.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Oh, and I have never tired feeding them at all after late September, and would only recommend a natural diet if possible.

This is the reason I am up so late tonight..... was working of the gingerbread train.

 

[Craig58]

Now there's a sugar rush!!

Beautiful!

Craig

 

[callingcolleen1]

The crazy thing is I rarely eat sweets, just don't crave sweets at all, but just love to make the gingerbread houses and stuff. made a house the night before....

 

[mtpond]

Beautiful day 39 outside. Its cloudy but once in awhile the sun comes out for a short time. All the ice has melted off the pond and all fish are accounted for except one but I'm sure it's just hiding. Top of pond is 36 and bottom of pond is 37.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes very nice day here too, ran around without a jacket!! Pond looks good, fish were more active and enjoying the sun, from the shelter under the marsh, with some hornwort close by. It looks like some fish have been eating it, as the hornwort is "thined out"!