How are the Pond Fish Doing?

[Melody]

I've always wondered how I'd manage a pond here in the great white North, since I'd want Butterfly Koi and would have to house them over Winter. How is everyone's fish doing now that they're out of the pond?

[Laura]

I've had to pop my remaining minnows in with my fantails - I lost most, I expect due to poor water parameters:frown:
Although I wasn't feeding much, I think I messed up with insufficient water changes. They're settling in nicely with my goldies.

[Namor]

Mine are doing fine, but have been giving me the "look" as to why they are not yet in the tub.

Actually it took a while to figure out where it should go. That's now been settled, the plug has been siliconed, and it's just a matter of now getting a few spare hours time to hook the filter up and get it filled. (Hopefully on Monday).

Sorry to hear of your losses Laura, I had a couple myself when I first brought them back.
Glad the others are settling in.

[Melody]

That's too bad Laura, but I admire the confession and truth be told, I'm sure most of us have been there, done that. :hugs: Well except for me of course :Fibbing: .

Mr. Namor, if you would simply explain this to the fishies, I'm sure they'd understand. :yes:

[Namor]

:laugh:

(Brandy doesn't like when I talk to the fish).

[Melody]

Send her out to play in the snow. :yes:

[Pamelajo]

Mine are doing great. Actually get to see their true beauty now that they are in an aquarium.

[fishykisses]

My Koi have grown A LOT since coming inside. My pond was always quite dark and green - even with a UV sterilizer it never went clear. So i guess with the extra light and extra feedings they're doing fantastic. They will also now eat out of my hand where as before they went crazy whenever anyone went near the tank. I'm really happy about that cause when they go back out in the spring they'll come to the surface to eat when someone comes to look at the pond.

[Melody]

Lotsa good news too, that's great! Goldfish don't need their Winter resting period? I have heard of people bringing them in and still changing the diet, feeding less, etc. so I am wondering if that serves a purpose of some sort.

[Gobies et al]

Koi are colorful mutations of Cyprinus carpio, while goldfish, though related, are descendants of Carassius auratus. The largest Koi I've heard of, grew to 53", whereas Goldfish comets probably top out at ~12".

Koi reportedly do best with a 3-4 month "winter" for optimum health, but they should be > 10". The Japanese breeders do not winter the young fish outside until over 2 years old. I considered the time my Koi spent in my indoor pool as their "summer", as water temperature were ~ 68 F., with a 12 hr photo period, and regular feeding. In the outside pond, the temperatures varied from 50 < 70, feeding was variable and based on temperature, so their "winter".

I have limited experience with Goldfish but probably they have a less pronounced need for seasons, as they live ~10 years to the Koi's 30 - 100 + years.

Most of people I have talked to, bring them in, keep them cold ( 40 F) so they have less care (no feed <50 F), some aeration and forget about them until spring.
::(:

[Melody]

For some reason I had it in my head that Ms. FK has Goldfish and apparently ignored her mention of Koi entirely...lol. Yes, big difference between those & Koi, but I didn't know about the 'resting' habits of either one so I appreciate the answer covering both.

There is such a thing as 'Winter feed', but I can't remember if that's for one or both. It makes sense that if they're being rested, they would expend less energy and require less food, but wouldn't they starve to death with no food at all?

The World's oldest Goldfish was 49, although some say 43. That's pretty good for a fish who should live 10.:yes:

[Gobies et al]

Koi should be fed an easily digested food such as Hikari Wheat Germ when temperatures below ~ 60, and stop feeding entirely some say @ 55 others say @ 50 as their metabolism and digestion slows down to such an extend that their requirements are almost nil. Feeding at that time would just foul the water. The 3+ year old healthy koi would probably have an adequate amoun of fat to last him/her for several months.

The oldest known Koi recently died at 225 years. If I am remembering the story right, care of this fish was the responsibility of a village. Now, that is truly a heritage fish!

:GEEK: I'm in my Koi obsession mode - forgive me if I start preaching and rattling on

A 43 + Goldfish has done very well, Kudos to it's keepers!

:SmileyOrnament:

[CACAdmin]

225 years old :swoon:... I think maybe in my next lifetime, I'll come back as a koi :cool:(somewhere, of course, where there is a community that will take good care of me. ::D: )

[sass]

Our guys are doing well so far.
This winter they moved into a 140g set up in a coolish room and are being fed sparingly.
Last winter they were housed in a much smaller tank and fed maybe once a month, since they were in a part of the house that is not heated.
I didn't realize either that they needed a resting period, thanks for that info.
Sorry to hear that you lost some of your little guys Laura.

225 years old :swoon:... I think maybe in my next lifetime, I'll come back as a koi :cool:(somewhere, of course, where there is a community that will take good care of me. ::D: )


You've got something there, I used to say I'd come back as a cat but being a koi in another lifetime is sounding quite nice.

[Gobies et al]

My Koi have grown A LOT since coming inside. My pond was always quite dark and green - even with a UV sterilizer it never went clear. So i guess with the extra light and extra feedings they're doing fantastic. They will also now eat out of my hand where as before they went crazy whenever anyone went near the tank. I'm really happy about that cause when they go back out in the spring they'll come to the surface to eat when someone comes to look at the pond.

How much have they grown?

[Gobies et al]

How about some pictures of these pond fish! ages, size, how long have you had them...

::D:

[Pamelajo]

225 years old :swoon:... I think maybe in my next lifetime, I'll come back as a koi :cool:(somewhere, of course, where there is a community that will take good care of me. ::D: )
You would never survive the cold water in the winter.:nah:

[Pamelajo]

Here are mine. 2 Shubunkins given to me by a friend so no idea how old. The old a fancy tail who was a rescue. A girl I work with kept him in small 5 gallon and he kept getting sick, so she gave him up. So far he has been very healthy.

[CACAdmin]

Such pretty goldies. Were they shy of you when you first brought them indoors?
:offtopic: That's a neat rock you have in there with them. Have you ever noticed that its shape resembles a fish?

[CACAdmin]

You would never survive the cold water in the winter.:nah:
Not sure how I missed this dig about my inabiliity to handle cold. :twitcy: I guess goldfish can't wear longjohns, eh?:wink:

[Gobies et al]

Here are mine. 2 Shubunkins given to me by a friend so no idea how old. The old a fancy tail who was a rescue. A girl I work with kept him in small 5 gallon and he kept getting sick, so she gave him up. So far he has been very healthy.

Very nice colors on the Shubunkins! It was nice of you to take in the double tail. Is that a bit of cloudy eye or just from the angles photographed? After staying in a 5 gal., he/she would be lucky if that was all he/she had to show from the experience.

:Holiday-9:

[Melody]

Koi should be fed an easily digested food such as Hikari Wheat Germ when temperatures below ~ 60, and stop feeding entirely some say @ 55 others say @ 50 as their metabolism and digestion slows down to such an extend that their requirements are almost nil. Feeding at that time would just foul the water. The 3+ year old healthy koi would probably have an adequate amoun of fat to last him/her for several months.

The oldest known Koi recently died at 225 years. If I am remembering the story right, care of this fish was the responsibility of a village. Now, that is truly a heritage fish!

:GEEK: I'm in my Koi obsession mode - forgive me if I start preaching and rattling on

A 43 + Goldfish has done very well, Kudos to it's keepers!

:SmileyOrnament:


Preaching and rattling are encouraged - I learn a lot from both. :yes:

[Melody]

I'm happy to hear that overall things are going well and the lessons learned along the way are natural enough.

These threads always make me rethink the Goldfish/Koi thing and of course I always have to admit I couldn't keep them properly, but I sure wanna! Maybe someday. :yes: When I do, I'll appreciate the info that you experienced keepers share I'm sure.

[Pamelajo]

Such pretty goldies. Were they shy of you when you first brought them indoors?
:offtopic: That's a neat rock you have in there with them. Have you ever noticed that its shape resembles a fish?
Thanks Jay, Yes they are still shy, except for the fancy one. No I never noticed the rock's shape before.

[Pamelajo]

Very nice colors on the Shubunkins! It was nice of you to take in the double tail. Is that a bit of cloudy eye or just from the angles photographed? After staying in a 5 gal., he/she would be lucky if that was all he/she had to show from the experience.

:Holiday-9:
I think it is just the angle, as the eyes were bright today. But will keep an eye on it.

[Pamelajo]

It is almost a shame to put them back in the pond for the summer, I don't get to see how beautiful they are in there. But the sunlight will do them good.

[CACAdmin]

Not only willthe sunlight do them good, for them it's like taking a summer vacation to head outdoors (and when you bring them in you get to see how they've grown and changed).

[sass]

I find the water changes on the koi tank is quite erratic compared to my tropical tanks. Sometimes the tank goes 3 weeks between changes( I'm bad), whereas the tropicals are done every week to week and a half.
I change about 25% when I do the tank.
Our guys are fed once a day and very sparingly.
Since I last posted in December, we've had an addition to the pond tank. On a buying trip to another persons house I came accross a huge shubunkin housed in a very small tank that was so dirty you couldn't see the fish.
Needless to say I took the fish home, dispite the heafty price tag. Funny how a fish that is neglected suddenly becomes worth alot to the abuser.
Hopefully my betterhalf will never find out the price:worried:.

[CACAdmin]

That was good of you to rescue that huge shubunkin. If your 'betterhalf' ever finds out, just point out the only other alternative was to leave the fish in those awful conditions which in all good conscience you could not do. Putting it that way will make it clear you made the only rational (if expensive) choice there was.

[Melody]

He'll probably say "Ooooohhhh so you paid an outrageous price for a half dead fish! Why didn't you says so? That' makes SO much more sense! :rolleyes: " lol But maybe not. Nice rescue anyway - I don't think I'd want any of that person's fish.

[firestorm]

Those are some pretty fish. I love koi, would love to keep a pond someday, but that probably won't happen anytime soon. I have heard of people leaving their fish out in the winter as well, but the pond needs to be a certain depth doesn't it? I think I would feel more comfortable bringing them in for the winter.

At my work my boss has some beautiful koi in the indoor pond he built. Some of them are at least 1' long and beautiful. I have even had the chance to pet them lol. How important is it for them to be in 50 degrees temps or less a few months out of the year?

[Gobies et al]

I don't think I have heard any statistics or any firm rules about how much time or just what temperature they need to constitute "winter rest". As I mentioned previously mine got there winter rest in the summer when their water temperatures were often 50 - 60 F. I believe it is an issue of long-term health. If you consider 70 years would be considered a reasonable lifespan for the Japanese Koi, whereas I have heard more like 30 years for our Koi.

Here in Alberta it is suggested to have your pond at least 5 ft deep to winter outside.

Here is an picture of some of my Koi taken while they were outside but had a clear plastic tent over them. The 3 largest were 22 - 24" and the smallest ~15". The 3 big ones would have been just starting their 4th year.

[Pamelajo]

They are huge!

[CACAdmin]

Beautiful Koi... and just youngsters (even at our limited 30 year lifespan for Koi).

[firestorm]

They are beautiful.

I saw the saddest obese koi at a local fish store the other day. The problem about this store is they have a candy (food) machine filled with pellets, you can put a quarter in the machine and get some food to feed the fish. The biggest problem I see with this is the koi are really fat, and probably unhealthy because of this. Yes it might be a good marketing scheme, but for the fish's sake it is really sad to see.

I love the koi in some of the tanks I service, even the ones that are being housed at my work for the winter. The koi actually allow me to pet them. Although the other day I pet them right before my boss went to feed them, so they started sucking on my hands :laugh:

I might try and do a pond one of these days, probably not until I actually buy my own house :yes: Thanks for the info on them.

[Melody]

I've seen that at the Zoo before so they probably think it's brilliant, but there's a big difference in feeding a fish a handful of food and feeding an elephant a handful of food.:rolleyes:

Beautiful Koi Gerry!

[Gobies et al]

Thanks Mel!

If it is the store I'm thinking of, several years ago there were at least 20 large koi there. The last time I was there I think 2 or 3 only. It probably worked fairly well with the large number but I think the dispenser is still at pond side. They are grossly obese.:frown:

[Pamelajo]

Update on the pond fish. Mine seem to love their indoor tank. I love being able to see them too. In the pond you just see them from the top. But I need spring now so I can move them out, need tank space for canas. LOL Or will hopefully soon.

[Melody]

I think we need to see pictures of how these fish are doing - I believe you all but it's a very good reason to demand pictures :yes: . Then you can compare them to how big they get over the Summer.