Koi and goldfish won't eat

[Faebinder]

All Koi are going to my daughters place. They have a VERY large natural pond that's spring fed with spring house etc. Trick is to transport them and acclimate them without killing them. My pond is about 60 degrees right now. That spring water is much colder, not to mention the Ph and hardness shocker. My aquarium fish get ick with any temp change over 2 degrees. Are Koi as prone to it as tropical fish? I would think not because the well temp and the pond temp in Summer is at least 10 degrees different and it never bothered them. Actually they like swimming in the flow of the hose.

No fish likes temperature change but koi can easily adapt to 10 degrees difference if you try and acclimate them. From experience, going from hotter to colder is easier on the fish short term but colder to hotter is healthier for them long term. Koi are better at this than goldfish and goldfish are pretty resilient.

 

[Cjs123]

Really appreciate everyone's input. Very helpful.

Faebinder, fantastic news but still hate to see them go. Not sure of age but I'm guessing I had them 3-5 years.
I see you're from Hersey. I'm in Shippensburg. I must have our hardiness zone wrong. Have to check that map again. How big is your pond? We would have dug ours larger and deeper but it's over the drain lines of the septic system.

Ok, I checked the planting zone for us and it's 6b. That asks for the extreme. Then I checked the forums zone scale and it asked for the average low temp.
That would be 10-20 degrees. It hit ~8 or 9 last year for a few days but that's about it.

 

[Faebinder]

Really appreciate everyone's input. Very helpful.

Faebinder, fantastic news but still hate to see them go. Not sure of age but I'm guessing I had them 3-5 years.
I see you're from Hersey. I'm in Shippensburg. I must have our hardiness zone wrong. Have to check that map again. How big is your pond? We would have dug ours larger and deeper but it's over the drain lines of the septic system.

Ok, I checked the planting zone for us and it's 6b. That asks for the extreme. Then I checked the forums zone scale and it asked for the average low temp.
That would be 10-20 degrees. It hit ~8 or 9 last year for a few days but that's about it.

I'm only a 1000 gallons. We are 6b, this winter was unusual but we did hit 0 F a couple of times last winter. With global warming who knows what it will be next year... seems like we are officially moving up in the zone world. Your area is a bit warmer than mine I think.

I only have 1 koi in the 1000 gallons and the rest are goldfish/dojo loaches/darters and minnows. I built an above ground plant bog to support having lotsa fish and my filter is the 10 biosteps.

 

[Usman]

All Koi are going to my daughters place. They have a VERY large natural pond that's spring fed with spring house etc.

wuhu ! we r moving to big new home

 

[Cjs123]

wuhu ! we r moving to big new home

Whoa!! You have loaches in your pond?!?! I love them! How very cool is that! My pond needs more hiding places for them to be happy. I have clown loaches in my aquarium. They like to bury in the substrate and hide in the plants as well. Lucky you!

 

[Faebinder]

Whoa!! You have loaches in your pond?!?! I love them! How very cool is that! My pond needs more hiding places for them to be happy. I have clown loaches in my aquarium. They like to bury in the substrate and hide in the plants as well. Lucky you!

Dojo Loaches tolerate the same temperatures as goldfish. If you put a plant in the pond, that's enough of a hiding place for them. Mine love hanging out around the irises but I see them occasionally on the bottom of the pond.

 

[Cjs123]

W

Dojo Loaches tolerate the same temperatures as goldfish. If you put a plant in the pond, that's enough of a hiding place for them. Mine love hanging out around the irises but I see them occasionally on the bottom of the pond.

 

[Cjs123]

W

If I don't have the same algae problem as last year and can see the bottom I'm game! Trip to pet smart in my future.

 

[MitchM]

Dojo Loaches tolerate the same temperatures as goldfish.....

I wish they did.
Only down to 50F/10C unfortunately.
Goldfish are good down to freezing.

 

[Faebinder]

I wish they did.
Only down to 50F/10C unfortunately.
Goldfish are good down to freezing.

Not mine, they do well down to the 30s in the winter. This is my second winter in a row having dojo loaches. They just hide in plant roots during the winter.

Add a few, you'll see.

 

[Faebinder]

If I don't have the same algae problem as last year and can see the bottom I'm game! Trip to pet smart in my future.

PetSmart doesn't carry them. Sometimes Petco does or you'll need to go online.

 

[Cjs123]

Boy, did I get the age of the pond wrong! The pond was made 20 years ago. Time flies. Always had Koi plus goldfish and never had an ammonia problem. Ok, never checked levels either. No reason to. Lost a few goldfish over the years but very minimal - not counting that dang Blue Heron. I still totally agree that the Koi should be relocated but I must admit that hubby and son have a point, (much as it kills me to say that).
Anyway, I'm playing this out their way and see what happens.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Good luck!

 

[Cjs123]

Thanks, I have a feeling I'm going to need it - in several ways. If that Heron keeps hanging around I won't have any fish to worry about. They are staying on the bottom all the time under the falls. I've seen 4 when I feed them. Son says there's a total of 8 in there. We are moving the manikin around but too little too late. Bird's on to us and won't leave. If they stay on the bottom they should be safe. Bird will get bored and move on. I hope.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

A Heron decoy is a bad joke perpetuated on pond owners desperate to protect their fish. Ask yourself--what do hunters use decoys for? Why to attract their prey. All a decoy will do is make other herons think that the 'pickings' at you pond are good.