My backyard overhaul journal

[Dez]

Originally Posted by The Guy

Wow! beautiful yard and pond, you probably mentioned this somewhere in your posts, just wondering if the fish come indoors in the winter?

They stay outside all winter. Most people that I've talked to that have tried wintering indoors and outdoors prefer leaving the fish outside. Keeping large fish indoors requires tons of water changes just to keep the water quality high. With wintering them indoors, you have to feed them which soils the water.

[kien]

Originally Posted by Dez

They stay outside all winter. Most people that I've talked to that have tried wintering indoors and outdoors prefer leaving the fish outside. Keeping large fish indoors requires tons of water changes just to keep the water quality high. With wintering them indoors, you have to feed them which soils the water.

When I first started I used to winter my koi inside too. Did that for a couple of seasons until I couldn't take it anymore! You need a very large container, lots of water changes, etc. It was a royal pain in the butt. After doing more research and discovering that people overwintered their koi outside I went that approach as well and haven't looked back. Any ya, it always surprises people whenever I tell them that the fish stay outside all winter. Genetically koi are a cold water fish. They will hibernate just like any other lake fish.

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Dez

They stay outside all winter. Most people that I've talked to that have tried wintering indoors and outdoors prefer leaving the fish outside. Keeping large fish indoors requires tons of water changes just to keep the water quality high. With wintering them indoors, you have to feed them which soils the water.

How do you keep the pond from freezing solid during the long Edmonton winters? I lived in the Cold Lake area for many years and the lake ice would be several feet thick! Seems to me your 24" depth could easily freeze all the way down during a cold snap? Even though the koi hibernate as Kien mentions, don't they still need O2, especially considering the size of some of those bad boys?

[MMAX]

Originally Posted by mike31154

How do you keep the pond from freezing solid during the long Edmonton winters? I lived in the Cold Lake area for many years and the lake ice would be several feet thick! Seems to me your 24" depth could easily freeze all the way down during a cold snap? Even though the koi hibernate as Kien mentions, don't they still need O2, especially considering the size of some of those bad boys?

Do what I do....disconnect the waterfall pump and point the outlet straight up. 4280gph shooting to the top keeps a nice sized hole open.

[The Guy]

Originally Posted by mike31154

How do you keep the pond from freezing solid during the long Edmonton winters? I lived in the Cold Lake area for many years and the lake ice would be several feet thick! Seems to me your 24" depth could easily freeze all the way down during a cold snap? Even though the koi hibernate as Kien mentions, don't they still need O2, especially considering the size of some of those bad boys?

Ya I guess that was my concern with the fish in a pond 24" deep, that they could be caught in the ice, or do you run your pump all winter with a heat source?

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by The Guy

Ya I guess that was my concern with the fish in a pond 24" deep, that they could be caught in the ice, or do you run your pump all winter with a heat source?

I don't have a pond yet, it's on the to do list and it's interesting to see what other folks have done/are doing. I was going to go deeper when I dig it, but now I'm wondering if the City of Vernon has similar rules with depth, pool permits etc. Sigh, nothing's ever very straight forward in a city, rules, codes, higher taxes..... Tempted to move out into the boonies somewhere, where I can do pretty much what I want, but it's nice to be able to walk to the Village Market 2 blocks away for groceries too....

[kien]

Originally Posted by mike31154

How do you keep the pond from freezing solid during the long Edmonton winters? I lived in the Cold Lake area for many years and the lake ice would be several feet thick! Seems to me your 24" depth could easily freeze all the way down during a cold snap? Even though the koi hibernate as Kien mentions, don't they still need O2, especially considering the size of some of those bad boys?

You need to keep the water surface agitated, for several reasons:

1. Provides oxygen
2. Helps keep a hole in the ice so that gas can escape
3. Helps keep the pond from freezing solid.

You can achieve this several ways. Either with a pump as MMAX suggested or do what Dez does and just run an air stone all winter.

[Seriak]

When I had my in ground pond (I have an above ground pond now) I would still bring my fish inside. Although I recognize the hassle, it was worth it, as if my heater / airstone / whatever stopped working for a couple of days in the middle of winter, everyone of my fish would be done for. It just wasn't worth the risk as I see technology fail all the time.