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2) NO Feeding:
As pond water drops below 50°F a
koi's digestive and immune system begins to slow down.
Their ability
to digest fish meal based foods begins to weaken. As water temps
fall less and less of the food gets digested and starts to build
up and rot inside of the fish.
The water at the bottom
of the pond is water you want to monitor.
60° is a good trigger temp to switch from fish meal foods to
a wheat germ based 'winter' food. It is easier to digest as the
koi are slowing down and will help
to prevent the fish from using up their fat reserves before winter
arrives. An alternative to commercial wheat germ foods is a pearl barley
with garlic (not garlic salt.) Pearl barley is very easy to digest and the koi absolutely
love garlic. If your koi have never tasted garlic, give them a tiny pinch
of it to see how they react. Mine went ballistic and then were surprised
by the flavor, spitting it out and taking it back in, ultimately coming
back to look for more. Garlic is also great for fighting off tapeworms and
internal parasites in mammals. I haven't been able to find a reliable reference
that says it applies to koi as well, but it can't hurt.
In 2006 I was still feeding Cheerios as a winter food but learned that
oats aren't as easily digested as pearl barley, and even worse is the list of
sugars and chemical ingredients in Cheerios. No longer recommended by plantkingdom.com.
Read here for a correspondence between me (Perry) and Sue Emerick, 2007 President of the
Upper Midwest Koi Club concerning Cheerios.
Many experienced koi hobbyists stop feeding when bottom water temps drop below 50°. Never feed or disturb the koi
during this period because the pond and the koi are stabilizing for the winter. This may seem early, but keep in mind
that the koi can pick at the algae slime layer in the pond, that the biological filter has started going dormant,
and that excess ammonia is far more dangerous than hungry fish.
Ammonia build-up is another reason to stop feeding.
At some point
you will probably be shutting down your waterfalls and filtration
system. Koi produce less waste material in winter and the
biologically inactive filter is no longer effective.
The beneficial filter bacteria shut down or die in cold weather.
Running a filter system IMPROPERLY during the
winter can actually do more harm to your fish than good. (More about
this in Step 4) No Deep Water Motion.)
When you shut down your pump system, this
would be a good time to cut back on feeding drastically so as not
to produce large amounts of ammonia.
3) NO Leaves/Debris, Clean Bottom:
Remove all leaves and debris from
the bottom of the koi pond.
Repeat: Remove all leaves and debris from the bottom of the koi pond.
Leaves and debris in the bottom break down quickly and ammonia levels
will sky rocket. Leaves also release tannins into the water which
not only turn the water a brown coffee color but will also mess
with the water pH. As if this isn't bad enough, the debris can also
be a potential hiding place for parasites and harmful bacteria that
can attack koi when their immune systems are at their weakest, both
in late fall and early spring.
Water garden enthusiasts might argue that this debris is beneficial
for the roots of water plants, but it is absolutely detrimental
to the health of any fish in the pond. Remove it.
In the fall, as trees begin to change color, pump out the water and
remove any plant matter. Do NOT scrub the
pond clean, the algae slime layer on everything provides late season
food while the koi are going dormant and may be beneficial to the
production of the koi's slime coat. The primary
purpose of the fall cleaning is to remove the heavy debris and leaves,
not sanitize the pond.
When the pond is cleaned and refilled, a leaf catching net should be
spread over the pond to keep new leaves from entering. Periodic
emptying of the net should be done to protect the netting and also
to keep the leaves from touching the water's surface. I leave my netting
in place until the ice has started to form on the water. By this time
most of the leaves have been raked up, blown away, or are frozen in place
in the garden. Some people leave the nets up all winter. I prefer
removing it because it has done its job and also to preserve it for
another year's use.
