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(Published in the Spring 2007 Issue)
Winter Wonderland
What Every New Hobbyist Should Do To Prepare for Fall and Winter.
By Scott and Ann Springer
Winter means different things to people in different regions of the country, but whether it’s 60 or 16 degrees during the winter months where you live, Mother Nature can still wreak havoc on your koi pond.
For koi hobbyists in places such as Florida or California, winter doesn’t hinder their enjoyment of their yards or koi. For people along the Great Lakes or in other places with harsh winter climates, however, winter is a time that requires critical planning for a successful spring.
Pitfalls of Fall
No matter what side of the Mississippi you live on, you must use the final days of summer to prepare for the fall and winter seasons that are upon you.
Hobbyists in Indiana start feeding their fish high levels of protein in late August and into early September.
But as the temperature begins to cool and Labor Day passes, they switch over to wheat-based diets, says Becky Maier, the president of Enchanted Koi and Watergarden Club which has members in central Indiana and central Ohio border areas.
Hobbyists should stop feeding their fish entirely when the temperature drops down to a constant 50- or 55-degree water temperature, says Jim Slider, the vice president of the Capital Area Koi and Watergardening Club which serves hobbyists in central lower Michigan.
In some climates, temperature fluctuations may make it hard to know how to maintain your pond and your fish.
“It’s possible to get a 70-degree day in December,” Maier says. “The fish may come up to the surface and want to eat.”
Maier warns that new hobbyists may be tempted to feed the fish, but she warns against it. “Once you stop feeding them, you have to quit until spring,” Maier says.
In the colder water temperature, the fishes’ metabolism slows and food will rot in their intestines, Maier says.
“In the spring, as they become active again, the [rotten food] will actually blow out their stomachs,” Maier says.
The algae that live in the bottom of the pond provide enough nourishment to sustain them throughout the winter months, says Edward Reed, the sergeant-at-arms of the Triad Koi and Water Society, which has membership in the Winston-Salem and Greensboro areas of North Carolina.
Spring Cleaning in Fall
It’s critical to get down and dirty every fall and give your pond a thorough cleaning.
In some climates, where the fall season is only a few weeks long, hobbyists may need to do a lot of work in a short amount of time before their ponds begin to ice over.
“The most common mistake I’ve seen beginning hobbyists make is that they don’t clean their pond good enough,” Slider says.
Start by trimming down your plants at the first signs of color change, Slider says.
Tropical plants should be moved inside to a warmer location and most other plants can be submerged, Slider says. The submerged plants provide an additional hiding place for the fish.
Next, don’t let too many leaves accumulate on breezy autumn days. Remember that it’s harder to get to leaves once they have settled at the bottom of the pond.
“The leaves sink to the bottom and decompose and create methane gas that can kill your fish,” Slider says.
One member of the koi club that Slider belongs to lost all his fish last year because of this deadly mistake.
Depending on how much foliage you have surrounding your pond, you may want to invest in some good netting to go over the top of your pond.
These nets may also deter predators such as raccoons, cats, birds, or other wildlife from trying to fish out a snack for itself from your precious collection of koi.
Clean out filters, skimmers, sump pumps and other pond components, Slider says.
“A new hobbyist may unknowingly do more harm than good while cleaning their ponds if they squirt everything down with their city water,” says Rod Lawton, the president of the Southern Koi Association based in Gainsville, Fla.
Lawton advises using de-chlorinated water or pond water instead of the garden hose to make sure you don’t wash away the good bacteria while removing the bad.
It’s wise to remove any UV filters, pumps, or other electronic devices that won’t be used and could suffer damage from the dipping temperatures if left in the pond.
Maier recommends doing a 50-percent water change in the fall. “We even try to do a 10- to 20-percent water change every two weeks after that if it’s feasible,” she adds.
For more experienced hobbyists, you may want to do a Potassium Permanganate (PP) treatment in late summer or early fall, Reed says.
“It’s made a tremendous difference in water clarity and getting rid of debris at the bottom of the pond,” Reed says. “It’s good for smaller things that are otherwise missed.”
PP is a water-soluble, crystalline oxidizing agent, which if used properly can eliminate more of the organic material that may be hard to remove.
In Sickness and In Health
In some cases, if a pond is not properly cleaned, bacteria can grow and spread disease throughout your pond.
“The bacteria don’t die in the winter, they just go dormant,” Maier says. “You may not recognize you have a problem until the spring.”
Bacteria growth—both good and bad types of bacteria—blossoms in the spring. “The spring is really the dangerous time of year for bacteria,” Reed says.
But that bacteria can get a head start on spring if you don’t tackle it in the fall, Reed says.
In addition to bacteria breeding, intermittent temperature changes can also put stress on your prized pets.
“When the pH of the pond goes up and down, that can cause their immune system to drop,” Lawton says. “When their immune system breaks down, the bugs can go wild in their system.”
Hobbyists should be on the lookout for early signs of stress and sickness in the fish.
“It may be hard for a new hobbyist to tell, but you should look at their behavior and notice if a fish just isn’t acting right,” Lawton says.
If you’re pond is not frozen over, and you’re able to get a look at your fish, check them over for ulcerations, pine cone looking scales, bulging eyes, red streaks in the fins, or beyond normal lethargy.
“Red spots are actually holes and can be an entrance wound for a fluke to put a hook in,” Lawton says.
Lice, which show up as a roving black dot on a koi, can also be visible on a fish that is swimming in a dirty pond, Lawton says.
“If you take care of the water, the water will take care of the fish,” Lawton advises.
The Weather Outside Is Frightful …
Once the water temperature hits 38 to 40 degrees, Maier shuts her pond down and maintains aeration with a bubbler.
“The fish go to sleep in the winter and we just hope they wake up in the spring,” Maier says who has maintained a pond through 10 years of harsh Midwest winters without a heater for her pond.
Slider recommends that hobbyists in areas of the country that have cold winters use an aerator, a heater, or a combination of the two to maintain the health of their koi.
“If you have over 200 square feet of surface area you should go to both a heater and an aerator,” Slider says.
Never beat on the ice with a tool to break it, Reed warns. “It will send shock waves into the water and stress the fish out,” Reed warns.
Instead, carefully rest a pot of hot water on the top of the ice sheet to slowly melt a hole in the ice, Maier says.
You must also check the water levels and add water when necessary, Slider says.
“I monitor my filter to flush things out, and I still continue to do backwashes, and add water to the pond through the winter,” Lawton says.
Besides dipping temperatures, Mother Nature can stress your pond and its inhabitants by stirring up hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, and other extreme weather conditions.
“If you get hit with a blizzard, you can lose power and have mechanical failure of your components,” Slider says.
Having a generator ready to go in case of inclement weather is a good idea, Lawton says. “A decent generator will run the air supply and the water pump at the same time,” Lawton says.
Along the eastern seaboard, hobbyists such as Reed get used to hunkering down for hurricane conditions by securing plastic or other coverings on their ponds. Covers can also keep heat in your pond if you experience periodic frosts or dips in temperature.
“There’s very little you can do when you get a big wind like that,” Reed says. “The fish will be down at the bottom of the pond and they may be better off down there than we are.”
… But Inside It’s So Delightful
One member of Capital Area Koi and Watergardening Club drains his pond in the winter and brings his koi indoors to ride out the winter storms, Slider says.
“He brings the fish in and houses them in a folding tank in his house,” Slider says.
While not all hobbyists have the space to bring their fish indoors, it does make it easier to keep an eye on them. Additionally, an indoor tank can be used year-round as a quarantine tank, Slider says.
One of the drawbacks to sharing your home with your koi is “the more you handle the fish, the more it can stress the fish,” Slider says.
Maier has never brought her adult koi inside for the winter. “My fish are two or three feet long, so there’s no where to put them,” Maier says.
Maier does breed her own koi and has sheltered some baby koi inside her garage to guard them from the extreme weather conditions.
“I didn’t get them acclimated in time for winter,” Maier says. “It’s a lot of work to keep the tank clean and feed them constantly. Normally we welcome the winter because it’s a break or a rest period for us.”
A Winter Oasis
Hobbyists who enjoy 60-degree temperatures in the daytime throughout the winter are easily able to enjoy the spirit of their ponds during the entire season.
Others may have to be a bit more creative.
“Some people are able to run their ponds throughout the winter and it creates some nice ice formations,” Slider says.
Even if it’s not cold enough to form ice, the cooler temperatures generally clear the water up so it’s easy to see the fish clearly at the bottom, Maier says.
“It makes the water crystal clear,” Maier says. “You could see a dime at the bottom of the pond.”
Reed, like other hobbyists in his area, bring the warmth of the indoors around their pond by lighting up a chimineya and sipping on hot cocoa.
“We like to sit out by the pond, and talk, and have guests over for hot cocoa,” Reed says.
Additional lighting may also help to boost the backyard ambiance during the season when the sun shines for fewer hours. “When you add the lights to an already nicely landscaped yard it does look pretty,” Slider says.
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