Microbe-Lift Autumn Prep. Beneficial Bacteria

[Feddy]

I've only got shabukins, and a couple common goldies. No koi for me...yet.

 

[sissy]

I gave my shubbies away they kept jumping out of the water during breeding season .This will be the first year since rebuilding my pond that I will add some .Takes awhile to build up any thing in the pond .It is a big iffy in even adding it this year .Not sure yet .

 

[teeemkay]

Thanks for the help. I've just ordered some Spring/Fall food to begin feeding, along with a water thermometer to know better when it's time to cut them off. I've tried keeping the bottom fairly clean at this point, so I'm not overly concerned with the sludge element. I appreciate everyone's thoughts.

My koi lose interest in the food as soon as the weather cools down and that water gets cold. Right now it's still warm, and all I do is walk to the edge of the pond and they are there ravenously waiting to eat whether I have food or not. A few weeks from now when it cools off, I can drop food in and they ignore it aside from maybe one or two nibbles. Most of the food ends up in the skimmer net. When that happens for a few days, that's when I cut them off and put the food away for the winter. In the spring, they nibble on algae for a good few weeks before the water is warm enough to feed them. This was on advice from our home's previous owners, and our koi have survived 2 very cold winters following their instruction.

As for the sludge element.... my #1 piece of advice is try to keep leaves out of the pond the best you can before winter. Invest in a pond net if your pond is small enough for one. Leaf debris is the biggest cause of the spring sludge in my pond. They are almost impossible to scoop off the bottom in the spring as they disintegrate as soon as they get stirred up.

 

[morewater]

I used to try feeding them in the Winter, but the food pellets just kept bouncing off of the ice or disappearing in the snow.

 

[Dave 54]

Great article! Should make some people squirm.

Not I Meyer as Chris says The temperature of around 10C or 50F is given as a guide line as you well know all cyprinids including goldfish do not posses a stomach as such, only a modified intestine.
This is hense the above guideline as we do not wish the fish to have feed rotting in the gut as the temperature sinks past the recomended cut out phase.
A koi or goldfishs metabolism is directly related to water temperature. i;e the warmer the water the more the more active fish become the more they will eat and vice versa .
Go through the list of titles books Authors names etc I've listed in the articles section of many of the books that I have so far catologed nearly all say the same thing, ulness that is you are planning on heating the pond throughout the recomend 10c as the cut off point .
Chris does rightly point out that not all koi stop eating, however if you've fed them enough in the way of high protien feeds during the summer.
Those that do eat bellow that of 10c will slow down and stop as the temperature bottoms out

Dave

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Not I Meyer as Chris says The temperature of around 10C or 50F is given as a guide line as you well know all cyprinids including goldfish do not posses a stomach as such, only a modified intestine.
This is hense the above guideline as we do not wish the fish to have feed rotting in the gut as the temperature sinks past the recomended cut out phase.
A koi or goldfishs metabolism is directly related to water temperature. i;e the warmer the water the more the more active fish become the more they will eat and vice versa .
Go through the list of titles books Authors names etc I've listed in the articles section of many of the books that I have so far catologed nearly all say the same thing, ulness that is you are planning on heating the pond throughout the recomend 10c as the cut off point .
Chris does rightly point out that not all koi stop eating, however if you've fed them enough in the way of high protien feeds during the summer.
Those that do eat bellow that of 10c will slow down and stop as the temperature bottoms out

Dave

Did you miss this passage?

"As temperatures drop the digestion slows down but does not change. So the same food can be fed year round. As temperature drop the food intake is regulated by decreasing the frequency and the quantity of the food."

And this?

"Protein digestion will take place at all temperatures. If there is no digestion then the pellet would pass through the gut and exit the vent. If digestion of a “low” protein diet takes place at all temperatures then the same apples to a “high” protein food source. This is subject to the body going into hibernation at very low temperatures. e.g. 35F – 45F. It’s the absorption rate and need for protein that varies with temperature."

This article suggests feeding at low temperatures.

"In general, it has been thought that feeding of the
mirror carp is stopped at temperatures below 10°C
therefore feeding is not done at those temperatures.
However, it has been convinced that at least a trace of
feeding found to be useful for maintaining the hormo
balance of fish when sudden temperature decreases
occurred in winter."
Effects of low temperature and starvation on plasma cortisol, triiodothyronine, thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone and prolactin levels of juvenile common carp (Cyprinus carpio).
http://masteb.comu.edu.tr/index.php/msb/article/view/45

This is the telemetry based study that is quoted in my article.

 

[Dave 54]

No I dint miss it and I took it onboard however BKKS AKCA rules state you quit at 10c , our koi have been fed 40% protien all summer long and are now eating wheatgerm and garlic ready to stop at 10c .
If the koi wish to continue eating there is plenty in the way of algea in the pond .
It is the advice our health officers give our respective sections plus in all the years weve been keeping and feeding high protien during the summer and wheat germ and garlic during the autumn and spring we have yet to loose a koi to starvation simply because it just doesnt happen .
All our juvinille koi have also made it through each winter again with no problems .
Its a bit like showing koi they say stop feeding 5 days prior to the show , but how do you stop a koi in your pond from eating when quite simply you cant .

Dave