[Worldwide Koi Club] A Question
Dear Don, Lorraine and Ramil,
Thank you so much for your input! I have given my partner copies of your advice and will wait a week or two before broaching the subject again, but thanks to your interventions I think it’ll be easier to convince him of the wisdom of the no-stone approach for our indoor tank. Oh, and Lorraine, I agree that it’s more difficult to keep the outdoor pond clean with all the stones we have, but as I was saying to someone else not too long ago, I really don’t have much of a choice because our water table is so high (even more-so this year with all the rain) that without the stones the liner would bubble right up out of the water. In the autumn, when I half drain the pond in order to catch the fish as well as to do the pre-winter clean-out, the liner actually bubbles even with the weight of all the rocks on top of it - can you believe it? It’s like trying to hold back the tide! So the outdoor pond rocks do have to stay, and my cleaning of the pond is as thorough as can be because I know the consequences of lax maintenance.
Now Don, my indoor winter home for the koi is as follows. The basin measures 68″ x 46″ x 24″ deep (although the water depth is only 21″). It’s one of those rigid-walled molded black rectangular containers that many people sink into their lawns or gardens to create an outdoor pond, and we have it mounted off the floor on a brick and wood platform so that the filtration system is entirely below the basin, as per the manufacturer’s recommendations.
The filter is a Fluval FX5, a canister filter that, according to the performance chart, processes 607 U.S. gallons (2300 liters) of water an hour. The manual says that this is sufficient to manage a 400 U.S. gallon aquarium, and I estimate that the basin we’re using holds about 300 gallons. In addition to this, we also use bubblers and airstones to keep the water fully oxygenated. The water temperature never goes below 60 degrees F because that’s the temperature of the basement, so the fish do eat. However, I feed them much less in the winter because of their restricted activity level, and this winter I’m going to move toward a more winter-appropriate food, as has been recommended by others in this group. I believe it’s a wheat-germ based food, but I’ll need to look in my ‘koi’ file to refresh my memory.
We did leave our first fish out through the winter back in 2004-05, but despite following all instructions to the letter we still suffered heavy losses. No one could say definitively why, but I believe our freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw cycle that winter was partly to blame. In recent years, there have always been two or three ‘uncatchable’ fish that remain in the pond all winter (with the correct interventions, naturally) but I don’t think I want to risk leaving them all out there. Not again.
In any case, any comments that you have to make on this set-up will be gratefully received. I will obtain anything that you feel will make this environment a safer and more healthy place for the koi. Just let me know what to do.
(Oh, and Lorraine? I believe we know someone in common. Helen (Bobbi) Bazay in London, Ontario. Isn’t it a small world?)
Sincerely, Brenda
On 21-Jul-08, at 3:34 AM, KeepKoi wrote:
> Hi Brenda, > There is absolutely no reason for you to be putting rocks, dirt, or > anything else in the tank you’re using to winter your koi in. Rocks > and such provide no benefit for the koi or filtration, …. and over > time can be harmful to the koi if not maintained properly. > > How big is the tank or tanks you winter your koi in? How much, and > what type of filtration are you providing for the tanks? What > temperature do you keep the tank water? Do you winter all 24 of your > koi inside? What size pumps do you use for your wintering tanks? > > I have a feeling the fish load in your wintering tanks may be way too > high, and your biofilters not adequate enough to maintain correct > water parameters. IF, … you winter all of your koi inside, you > might consider leaving the larger koi outside in your main pond for > the winter, and only taking your smaller koi in for the winter so they > can grow out during the winter. If that’s what you decide to do, you > must be sure to do a thorough cleaning of the main pond and filters > before winter arrives, and consider treating your pond for parasites. > There may not be a noticeable problem with parasites, but it’s best to > make sure the koi will be wintering in the cleanest, safest > environment you can provide. It’s during the winter months that a > large percentage of problems with parasites will get a hold in your > pond. Then when the water starts to warm, the parasitic population in > the pond explodes. That usually happens when the waters are cold > enough that the koi immune systems are not > able to fight off parasitic and/or bacterial attacks. Knowing your > water environment is at its best for the koi is your best guarantee of > them coming through the winter doldrums in good health. > > Don > ikeepkoi > > > parasites whether your koi are showing signs > > > — Original Message —– > From: Brenda Rose > To: worldwidekoiclub@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2008 3:32 PM > Subject: [Worldwide Koi Club] A Question > > > Hi everyone. My question involves over-wintering our koi indoors. > I’ve done it for the past two years but last year suffered some > dramatic losses - skin ulcers - which I believe were caused because the > tank wasn’t clean enough despite my weekly water changes. My belief is > that the filter hadn’t been cleaned properly for too long a time and as > a result bacteria accumulated in the dirt in the stones that we lined > the bottom of the winter container with. So here’s my question, and I > really would appreciate your feedback because I’ve spent the entire > weekend net surfing, looking for the answer, and haven’t been able to > find it (yet). > > My opinion is that we don’t need the stones at the bottom of the winter > holding tank. My partner says we do. I’d rather leave the bottom of > the tank bare because it’ll be easier to see if there’s accumulating > debris and waste and I can deal with it promptly, but he wants the > stones there. I know it’s early days to be arguing about this, but I > never want to experience what I went through last year. It was > devastating to me to see our three finest specimens suffer and die the > way they did, despite all the treatments I tried. Hindsight, as they > say, is 20/20. > > So, stones in the winter holding tank or not? We have 24 koi, by the > way, all of them medium and large, and (touch wood) all of them as > healthy as can be. > > Brenda > > > > > > __________ NOD32 3282 (20080719) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > > __________ NOD32 3282 (20080719) Information __________ > > This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. > http://www.eset.com > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > ———————————— > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
