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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Help to Prepare Pond for Winter

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21 Nov 2011 10:54 #1 by JamesG (James Gargan)
Hi Folks,

I am very new to fish keeping. I build a small (2000L) Koi pond in September and have a just a few Koi until next season. Anyhow, I want to get the ones I have through the winter if only to prove I can do it next year when I'll have more fish.

The pond is 2 feet wide, 2.5 Feet deep and about 12 feet long. It is raised (i.e. converted raised flower bed rather than dug into the ground).

I have been feed the fish wheatgerm for the last month or so.

I am most worried about the pond freezing and would appreciate suggestions about how to avoid this.

I've only 4 fish at the moment because I didn't want to risk any more until I've a bit more experience. 3 are only small and are swimming around and feeding well. I have one bigger one about 12 inches. He sinks to the bottom and does not move on colder days but recently he has taken to floating at the very top in one corner and trying to suck the algae off the pond liner in one corner!?

I have a very good pump and filter, both for a 6000L pond (don't ask!).

Any help in getting these guys through the winter would be much appreciated.

James.

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21 Nov 2011 11:22 - 21 Nov 2011 11:23 #2 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Help to Prepare Pond for Winter
The biggest risk to Goldfish is Toxic Poisoning..... This will happen when a Fish is outdoors during Winter, this happens when Food in the Stomach goes undigested, and this happens because the metabolism of the Fish is reduced to the point where it stops and the Food in the Gut decays, this can be resolved by ceasing feeding either when the temperature goes below around 9 deg c or when the Fish appear sluggish or not excited to see you come to the Pond. They will survive on Fat produced during the Winter, no harm will come to them.

The second way Poisoning can occur is if there is waste material, ie. decaying faeces or Plant material lying on the bottom of the Pond, it will rise to the surface and try to escape, when Ice forms on top of the Pond, gases will accumulate under it or stay in the water causing problems, if you wait till the pond freezes, make a small hole in the Ice, pump out 2 or 3 inches of Water from the Pond, this will leave a cushion of warmer Air which won't allow the Water below to freeze allowing transfer of bad Air to the surface, this eliminates the need for heaters etc.

Kev.

BTW James, welcome to the Forum.
Last edit: 21 Nov 2011 11:23 by stretnik (stretnik).

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21 Nov 2011 11:26 #3 by fishmad1234 (Craig Coyle)
Your in safe hands getting advice off kev so ill leave that bit to him ;-)



Welcome to the forum mate


craig

at the end of the day it becomes nite

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21 Nov 2011 11:46 #4 by JamesG (James Gargan)
Hi Kev,

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, thanks.

Have you any recommendations on how to remove debris from the floor of the pond? I have noticed more of this over the past few days only.

Any idea why my bigger Koi is sucking on the algae of the pond liner? It sounds like you think I am poisoning him by feeding. Should I do a water change? I haven't done one yet because the test results have always been within the thresholds.

The current weather is really messing me up, I don't know if I should be feeding them or not.

Thanks again for the help and I really like your solution to the pond freezing - simple and logical.

Best regards,

James.

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21 Nov 2011 12:03 #5 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Help to Prepare Pond for Winter
No problem at all.

The best thing to do at this time of the year, well, earlier would have been better, would be to empty the Pond completely, clean it out and return fresh Water into the Pond. Your pond being raised, makes this much easier than it would be if it were in the Ground. By doing this, you avoid any lingering doubts about over-wintering them

I don't think you are Poisoning him, it would be the undigested Food that would be doing that, feed them lightly , say half the norm, then miss a Week and repeat, they will let you know when they are done eating because they will go down to the bottom of the Pond, they do this because this is where the warmer Water will be.

Koi are Carp and like wild Carp, they will always like Veggies in their diet and Algae is just the ticket, they will also be doing this on the bottom of the Pond but the sides are where you will get the best growth of Algae.

Kev.

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21 Nov 2011 12:41 - 21 Nov 2011 12:42 #6 by pkearney (Phil Kearney)
Theres not much to add to Kevins advice. Stop feeding now and sink a big black plastic bucket sideways into the pond where the fish can hide from the HERON. If ice occurs break same to allow gas exchange and prevent poisoniing.
Phil.
Last edit: 21 Nov 2011 12:42 by pkearney (Phil Kearney). Reason: word missing

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21 Nov 2011 12:44 #7 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Help to Prepare Pond for Winter
Best to pour a boiled Kettle into one spot to avoid shock waves, good point about the Bin Phil.

Kev.

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21 Nov 2011 21:18 - 21 Nov 2011 21:19 #8 by christyg (Chris Geraghty)
Your pond is not deep enough for Koi if we get a winter like last year. Goldfish will survive 2ft 6 but Koi need a minimum of 3 ft and preferably 4 ft
Last edit: 21 Nov 2011 21:19 by christyg (Chris Geraghty).

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