Lost my first Koi today

[RobAmy]

Sorry to here of your loss, this has been the coldest for my fish this year. Hopefully they all pull thru. I just did a small video a bit ago with them and they looked okay under the ice so far but many weeks left.

 

[pecan]

We had an early cold snap in December, but it didn't get below 0 (our normal coldest point of the year) and January has been average temps. So I'd say we have had a perfectly average winter as far as temps adn snow fall. We didn't get that crazy cold the east got. It will be in the lows 40's for the next week and sunny so I suspect the ice will continue to slowly melt. Hopefully all is well under there. I should find out for sure within the next two to four weeks.

 

[j.w]

Sorry about your Rey Rey fish pecan and hope he is the only one that you lose. It's been colder than usual here at night but daytime temps pull it up to the high 40's. So far no losses this year for me. Fish are swimming around and enjoying the unfrozen water now.

 

[Lisak1]

Technically it's not. But everything is frozen to the ground so I would probably break hoses etc, trying to hook it back up right now. There are two pumps and both are submerged. I would have to swim under the ice to get to the second one. So logistically it is still too cold to hook everything up.

Gotcha. Have you ever run all winter? This is our first try at keeping the pond running all winter, so I'm curious if the water quality is affected at all by keeping things moving. Although with the pond off, the fish have always been fine, too. So maybe it was unrelated to anything, just nature taking it's course.

 

[pecan]

Gotcha. Have you ever run all winter? This is our first try at keeping the pond running all winter, so I'm curious if the water quality is affected at all by keeping things moving. Although with the pond off, the fish have always been fine, too. So maybe it was unrelated to anything, just nature taking it's course.

I have not tried it, though I hear in zone 7 it can be done without issue. I am just too afraid of something going wrong with it when it is 10 degrees outside and do not want to be out there getting wet trying to fix things. So I just shut it down around the first of December and start it back up around the first of March.

 

[Dave 54]

Sorry for your loss I really am , as to how he died I think most probably it was to the cold .sleeping sickness may well have been to blame as it effects small koi and if not acted upon immediately then they succum to the cold rapidly .
We continue with our filtrtion throughout the winter neacause weve insulated everything and then covered the pond with Polycabonate roofing sheets the same as the filter housing .

Dave

 

[pecan]

That sounds like a good plan Dave. What is the coldest temp you get on average in the winter where you live?

We generally never get below 0 F, but I think we have dropped to -5 a couple times in the last 20 years. Our average January temps (coldest month of the year) are high's in the low 30's and lows in the teen's. This year we have been about as average as you can get.

Sorry for your loss I really am , as to how he died I think most probably it was to the cold .sleeping sickness may well have been to blame as it effects small koi and if not acted upon immediately then they succum to the cold rapidly .
We continue with our filtrtion throughout the winter neacause weve insulated everything and then covered the pond with Polycabonate roofing sheets the same as the filter housing .

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

That sounds like a good plan Dave. What is the coldest temp you get on average in the winter where you live?

We generally never get below 0 F, but I think we have dropped to -5 a couple times in the last 20 years. Our average January temps (coldest month of the year) are high's in the low 30's and lows in the teen's. This year we have been about as average as you can get.

So far this winter weve had a number of temperature highs and low's , its been down to -10c but more recently -3c then upwards from 0c dependant on the weather.
Our highest being 11c
If you've dipped bellow freezing the sleeping sickness could stand, it only effects young koi it may well be that the koi wasnt prepared for winter it being the runt and all and sadly succumed .
As soon as the temerature gets above 11 c for over two weeks start feeding your koi Wheatgerm and Garlic you can make an extract of the juice yourself or buy it from the shelf at a fish outlet its made by Seachems and goes by the name Garlic Guard .
Add a little to your koi's food each day and it makes them unpallatable to parasites , it also acts a little like cat nip to cats , koi go nuts for it .

Dave

 

[pecan]

Thank you! I will do that! Amazing, garlic is great for so much! Garlic, onions, chives plated throughout gardens (even flower beds) keep the insects away Not to mention the health benefits they have in humans. I have chives planted near each one of my rose bushes to prevent bugs like aphids and such.

We have fresh garlic planted as well so making it homemade would be fun.

So far this winter weve had a number of temperature highs and low's , its been down to -10c but more recently -3c then upwards from 0c dependant on the weather.
Our highest being 11c
If you've dipped bellow freezing the sleeping sickness could stand, it only effects young koi it may well be that the koi wasnt prepared for winter it being the runt and all and sadly succumed .
As soon as the temerature gets above 11 c for over two weeks start feeding your koi Wheatgerm and Garlic you can make an extract of the juice yourself or buy it from the shelf at a fish outlet its made by Seachems and goes by the name Garlic Guard .
Add a little to your koi's food each day and it makes them unpallatable to parasites , it also acts a little like cat nip to cats , koi go nuts for it .

Dave

 

[Lisak1]

I have not tried it, though I hear in zone 7 it can be done without issue. I am just too afraid of something going wrong with it when it is 10 degrees outside and do not want to be out there getting wet trying to fix things. So I just shut it down around the first of December and start it back up around the first of March.

Oh, I hear you there. We had much trepidation, and of course now we are in the midst of the coldest winter in many, many years here in the midwest. But so far so good, and we've really enjoyed watching the ice sculptures develop on the waterfall. We've been lucky to get a few warm spells, which have given us the opportunity to top off the pond when it wasn't below zero.

 

[Sunshine]

You can also buy garlic juice from your store, it's cheaper than Garlic Guard. We did this when we had our saltwater tank and had ich problems. Now I buy fish food with it already added in it for both freshwater and pond fish.

 

[callingcolleen1]

If he was one of the smallest koi, and the other's appear well, then I would say not too much to worry about, it could be that he was just weaker than the rest and this was a hard winter for sure. If it was one of the bigger koi then I would be worried as that could mean low oxygen, but I don't think that was his problem, sounds like he was just too weak to me. It happens every now and then, I had discovered one half eatten small dead fancy fantail goldifsh the other day in the bottom pond, looked like the others were eating him.....

 

[pecan]

If he was one of the smallest koi, and the other's appear well, then I would say not too much to worry about, it could be that he was just weaker than the rest and this was a hard winter for sure. If it was one of the bigger koi then I would be worried as that could mean low oxygen, but I don't think that was his problem, sounds like he was just too weak to me. It happens every now and then, I had discovered one half eatten small dead fancy fantail goldifsh the other day in the bottom pond, looked like the others were eating him.....

In the past two winters I had one air stone running keeping a hole in the ice. This year I put three air stones in so I know there is more oxygen in the water this winter than prior winters. The ice has been thawing ever so slowly and it should be in the upper 40's today so I am hoping the hole in the ice gets big enough to see the deep end today and maybe get a visual on some of the other fish.

 

[Koilady]

I'm so sorry to hear about Rey Rey, I know exactly how you feel. I live in London Ontario Canada and I am terrified to go out and check out ponds. I haven't checked it yet because I'm afraid of what I will find. Also, the gate to the pond area is locked due to the amount of snow and ice on the ground.
In order to get my fish ready for winter, I make sure I stock them up on good quality Koi food and make sure that the water quality has been good all year round. Also, I make water changes from the bottom of my ponds until the water starts to freeze. It's worked very well for me.
In saying this, no matter how well you take care of your fish, there is always one that will surprise the heck out of you when you find it dead. Normally, always the largest and the most beautiful although I love all of my Koi equally.
I've been a Water Garden Consultant for 32 years now and one of the things that I have found is that during the year if a person looses a Koi or Goldfish, these fish could be indicators as to what is going on in your pond. So, if this fish got sick and died, why was that. When was my last water change, is my bio-filter good enough, is the pond too crowded. Also, just like in humans, some people are sick all the time and yet others never get colds or the flue.
It's also important to remember that your fish just don't die, unless of course they have frozen to death. It takes they two or three weeks before the symptoms start to show.
Anyway, best of luck Sweetie. I'll keep you posted as to what's going on in my ponds. Wish this old Canadian well. LOL LOL

Hugs, Lorraine

 

[pecan]

Found another dead koi yesterday. The pond thawed enough for me to do a good inspection and I found him on an upper shelf. Obviously dead for quite a while. I checked the water again and everything is fine. the rest of the fish are starting to move around.

He was one I got at the same time as Rey Rey and was one of the smallest as well, but still bigger than Rey Rey.

This is my second winter with koi, the first winter no losses.

I wonder if it has something to do with the cold snap we had in Dec. Around the second week of Dec it dropped from the 40's and no ice on the pond to 0 and the pond frozen solid (minus the holes from the air stones) overnight. It stayed like that for about 2 weeks and the ice was getting really thick. But as soon as January hit our temps went back up to average (high 30's and low teens) for all of this year so far until our recent warm snap in the 50's.