Shocking Truth Exposed: Koi Pond Heating Myths Debunked
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ก.ค. 2024
- In this video we discuss why heating a koi pond is a waste of money and that koi are coldwater fish which do not require heating in winter and should be given natural seasons.
We mainly discuss how if koi needed the water to be heated in winter, every single koi pond in the uk would have to be heated. Koi live in many ponds across the world in countries with severe winters compared to the UK and live happily year in and year out.
Here is a link to the video we found with regards to monitoring water temperatures:
• Heating my greenhouse ...
Hope you enjoy the video, please like and subscribe for more and click on the notification icon.
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Couldn't agree more. I have been keeping koi for over 30 years, never heated and never covered. Turn the pumps down a bit so the filters tick over. Never had a problem. Also save money as I don't have to feed them for 3 months. Keep up the videos very honest and informative.
Thanks for the comment appreciate it! Glad alll going well sounds like you’ve got it sussed! 😎
Thank you both!
I'm fairly new to the koikeeping hobby and when searching for help and proper advice there is just so much bullcrap out there, it seems absolutely mental at times.
So thank you for confirming my thoughts on the matter!
Even in southern Louisiana, frequent freezes. I keep the bog flowing. I throw a tarp over pool if big storm is probably. I worry about koi flipping out.
What a load of absolute common sense. Thanks for the video.
Glad it was helpful!
Had koi ponds on and off for 30 years, never heated, never will. Fascinating to listen to other koi keepers heating and of course that's their choice but not for me. Good video, plain and simple explanation, great stuff.
Cheers thanks for comment appreciate it
Subbed a few videos back, this video especially has taught me a lot first year keeping koi so anything to learn is Allways great.
Cheers Matt, thanks for the sub and comment!
So true. Keep up the good work, love your videos.
Greetings from Denmark
Cheers brian
Thank you .you have answered my thoughts on getting one 👍
Cheers thanks for the comment!
also i couldn't agree more you have taken the words out of my mouth i have been saying what you have said for years I'm so glad I'm not alone on this topic
Thanks for the comment. The entire industry is all very old-school and stuck in its ways…
Great channel excellent information, thanks for share with us...
Thank you so much really appreciate it
Shoutout from Virginia USA across the pond!❤ Your video was so informative and I’m so relieved that I don’t have to heat my 7,200 gallon pond for the Koi! I’m in zone 7A and was really stressed out about that.
Across the pond I love that 😂 glad we were of some use to you thanks for the comment
Hello Elizabeth, just a hello from southwest Louisiana. Hubby and I are working on a new 2500 gal pool now. I just found the pONdman recently. These videos are grand. Wishing you a good fall and winter for your koi. Cindy Colletti
@@thep0ndman , your videos are fantastic! I subscribed to your channel and hit the notification 🔔
@@cindyhmcdaniel4977 , congratulations! Building a new pond with family is so much fun! My son and I dug our pond ourselves by hand because we couldn’t get a digger in there because of too many trees in the way. Ours is an Aquascape style pond with an intake bay and waterfall.
We started in early Spring but we won’t fully finish it until next Spring. All that needs to be done now is pond edging and adding aquatic plants. We cycled the water earlier with a hand full of goldfish. Just added a few small Koi last week.
Good luck to you and your hubby on your pond build! It’s true what they say, “ Once you’ve built one pond, you have to build a bigger one next” That’s what happened to me 🤣
Hi Elizabeth, lovely to hear from you. Oh my, your build is really a koi dream. What is the length. Width. Depth? Maybe 1988, I remember digging my first pool, Wanted to do it all by my self and I did !!! Hubby did mortar sandstone for edges. This was in central TX, Brownwood. I visited Ft Worth …. Incredible Japanese Koi water garden 🐟🐟🐟. Feb 2020, huge freeze & snow. I covered my 1000 gallon round stock with a sun canopy and 2 heavy duty tarps. Continued the bog flow. All fish made it fine. Enjoy a great day 🐟🐟🐟
Great video!
Cheers thanks for the comment 👍
Thank buddy, one concerened to get one ....Thanks
I agree. It reminds me of the plant growing industry where people do everything the hard way. I like to let nature be in control of the soil and do things organically.
100% agree thanks for the videos
Great video, informative and reassuring.
Keep them coming 👍
Cheers James appreciate yes always more to come!
Nice video. Be good if someone done a test on the coverers to see if they do take the edge off!
They probably do but most of our videos are about what the fish need, it’s pretty pointless and makes no difference to them
I have been a pond keeper for years and I totally agree with everything you said.
Cheers for the comment Stu
ok some good points there and i totally agree with not heating a koi pond but!, heaters for koi ponds use thermostats so when up to temp are more efficient than a space heater hence a lot cheaper to run and keeping your pond at 10 degrees does to some extent keep your filter media alive so you it helps with the spring flare of white spot etc! but in the same hand i think cold water fish need the winter cycle and defo live longer in colder water and i find koi grow better in late summer and early autumn than in realy high temps!. saying that my friend heated his pond of 5000 gallons and the heater failed resulting in big koi loss due to sudden temp loss!, so no way would i ever heat my pond
Thanks for the comment yes agree about the thermo stat! Overlooked that one but rather pricey. FYI he filter bacteria are still there in the cold they just go dormant and come back as temps inc.
I've always felt bad for not heating my pond but this video made me feel better thanks.
Thanks for comment happy to help
Thanks @thep0ndman. One Q - I have a skimmer on my pond, lots of trees above so leaves falling in as it gets colder. If I don't cover my pond, can I leave my skimmer running all winter or at least for the early part of winter until all leaves have fell?
Yes see what works best for you…
Really good video! This is from somebody that heats his pond.
Cheers thanks for the comment
You are a legend. What a knowledge you have. But in my case I have introduced larger fishes in my new 1500 gallon pond and fighting to keep the parameters in 2:14 check. Wondering if parasites kicks in before Koi will get the immunity to fight them off in spring in the first year? Or should I heat the pond for this year not to kill the beneficial bacteria?
Cheers for the comment appreciate it
This year I bought an Oase Expert 26000 variable pump, would you recommend turning it down to minimum when the weather is around 0C or lower? The pond is approximately 4.2 X 2.6 metres and averages 1.10 metres deep, 3 bottom drains with 2 returns just below the surface. I also don't heat or cover.
Tbh you can turn it down if you want too, you won’t need as much flow through the filters as everything has pretty much stopped in regards to fish waste etc although If you didn’t slow it, things would still be fine. Most of our customer just leave it on the same all year…
The know it all koi keepers now desperately trying to find BS in this video… great advice! A lot of common sense, but accurate.
My ponds never heated, never covered. All koi growing well 😁
Thanks Matt, great comment, appreciate it
My pump/filter is now on a timer too, it goes off once it's dark. Zero difference to my nitrite levels etc. Come October will be 50 p a day or £182 a year saved
Also 30 years of koi keeping in total, never lost one because it got cold. even in 2009/2010 when I could walk on the ice on my pond !
Thanks for the comment!
Hi there, I totally understand what your saying and believe what you say, but my fish currently don’t no if there coming or going? Feeding in January and February and now in March in a semi state not feeding sort of floating side on and there also flashing A lot! Checked water parameters and there fine, was thinking that the weather being up and down so much it’s not doing them any good?
Hi Jame thanks for the comment. It’s usual weather fluctuations that happens all the time so the fish will be fine. The main thing is to ensure the quality is good and the fish will liven up and get back to normal once the temps increase / stabilise etc.
I live in an area in canada where we almost always get temps as low as -35°C and it stays like that for a few weeks before we get the average -15 degree weathers for the rest of the winter. Would koi fish still be able to survive out in a backyard pond?
Good question…so lots of people keep koi in Canada but as we are not from around their ourselves it suggest to speak to others who keep them. In theory it should be fine, I’m not sure how thick the ice gets, so you have clearly need to ensure the pond is deep enough to prevent them from freezing. The can live under the ice but then you may have problems if you overstock etc. naturally you wouldn’t find them in over stocked waters but frozen solid on top.
Bang on mate well said 👍👍
Cheers barry
My only comment is if you had a shallower pond and it could be at a risk of freezing and if no oxygen could escape a pond heater might be necessary?
Best thing especially if you live in the uk is to have some sort of surface movement like a filter return or similar, this will stop that area from freezing over. Thanks for the comment
I heat my stock tanks to prevent the SUDDEN drop in temperature, have lost quite a few fish due to cold shock.
Thnx for the comment but you are losing fish because of something else your doing not the cold cheers
Hi ,during the winter my goldfish were inside. The temperature was a steady 22 °. I have now put them outside in my pond and the temperature is 20° but I have it heated with an aquarium heater. Can I now remove the aquarium heater? The temperature would go down to about 16° I think
. Thank you. 😊🐠🐟🐠🐟🌻
Hi tbh you can leave them outside all year round no need to bring them in but if it works for you keep going. thanks for the comment
@thep0ndman I will leave them outside this year. Last year I had not found your channel . My pond had not been set up correctly. Now it has been and I shall be following your advice.
Makes sense. Considering I want to keep them one day. That’s extortionate amount of money to heat a pond. Don’t they get fat in shallow water though?
Cheers for the comment. They get fat when you feed them crappy food and too much of it!
@@thep0ndman that makes sense. You ever do a video on running costs of a pond? I know this very dependant on types of filtration used and size of pond. As someone who passionately wants to keep koi it’s a worry about running costs
So during winter do you turn air pump off aswell very new to this hobby and around what month would you be turning it off ???
Thanks for comment. Cold water holds huge amounts of oxygen so defo can turn it off. Ideally have some movement on the surface to help stop freezing over. Maybe a return from the filter oerhaps
@@thep0ndman thanks for quick reply so would it be ok for me to turn everything off on a night now and back on during the day would that be OK then I havnt wanted to turn anything off lol
@@cris353 No! You can slow your filters, but do not turn them off.
With colder weather you will lose some of the beneficial bacteria in your filters but if you turn them off you will lose it all!
If that happens you would need to clean the filters out before restarting as the beneficial bacteria will turn into toxic bacteria as it dies off, which is not good for the fish!
@@ces69 oh brill thanks for the advice its all a learning curve
The only caveat is keeping it heated to encourage the growth of your koi. Without it, their metabolism slows down over the water months. That said, I don't heat my pond at the expense of the koi's growth rate.
Thanks for the comment cheers
Totally on board with the "for the fish" thing. I'm new to keeping fish & bad advice got me purchasing a pleco. He's actually really got on very well in my pond. The pond is usually around 75 degrees but occasionally it drops to 60 degrees. My pond is only 120+ gallons. I brought him inside for winter. I just want to keep my pond at 75 degrees
PS
I am American. Energy Cap? Question for you Brits & Europeans. What do we call the combination of State & Corporations? Don't we have a word for that? Also do you know what happens to the elderly when they experience a cold winter? What I mean by that is. Let's say Nan is 80+ & she's used to a winter heated home to X degrees. If she experiences a 2 degree drop from that temperature. The likelihood that she'll experience a cardiac episode increases by 80x.
China & India are the most populated nations on the globe. They are not murdering their elderly in this manner.
I'm sure that if you believe we can fix everything (the environment) and you are still reading my awful grammar, spelling & mean facts. You are sure that you are very upset with me. That's ok...that's a bad idea trying to fight off death. You know forcing the elderly to turn the heat down puts them at risk. You know that Government+ Corporate interest is Fascism and that's a difficult thing to accept. You are basically a Nazi. You thought it was for the benefit of mankind but it's not. All these regulations, carbon taxes & anti Western stability. Is a clever infiltration of our governments & corporations by evil elitist scumbags. You are their brown shirt, foot soldier & patsy. Here's another thing for you to think about and you won't like either. Ok why do computers have heat sinks? Because they get hot. Bits in fact directly relate to heat. There is absolutely no way around it. Now our climate. It's a wee bit complicated. So much so that at any given moment. The data in that system becomes infinite. Worse than that, if your job is to explain something like the climate of a planet. All the data (entropy) you can't know is also infinite. Then the accuracy of the data that you do have declines with every passing second. While simultaneously that entropy increases. Ok you say, so what we have super computers. They can do all the figuring and tracking of infinity data and entropy. We humans are not doing.....Right. The computer....Is it made out of a mythological material? Nope. So if you even had a computer capable of the kind of calculations. That would be required to model the climate. To even just an accuracy of 70%. The second you hit the enter key to run that program. The computer would burst into flames. Maybe even turn straight into a plasma and drop into the center of the Earth....well ok I'm being a bit cheeky there but thermodynamics is law. All the climate modelling that's been done thus far. Isn't worth a hill of beans. So when the CCP takes over the world & your Nan is dead because we were trying to save the planet. Remember I told you so.
Great for the plec
I don't want this comment to affend you you in anyway mate but I only heat my pond in winter because of the fish being more comfortable and not haven to worry about hyperthermia under 4degrees and I can treat for parasite so medication work better and not haven to worry about temp pluss if you are gonna spend a fair bit on your fish m sure you want what is best for them and on the other hand with deep ponds I think the more water you have the better as it will take alot longer for the more water you have to be come toxic to the less water you have same as deeper to shallow pluss in my opinion am sure when your fish bulk up they would like aa deeper pond to a shallow pond hope I haven't afended you
No offence it’s a good comment. Like I said in the vid heat if you like and it suits you but the fish don’t need it. Thanks for the comment
Heating a pond has always been an expensive job and if you can aford it people will it's their money they can burn it if they want. I have never heated and even if i had the money i would not but covers now that's a good thing they will keep the wind chill off the water and give the fish a less hard winter. If you want to go on what wastes money on a Koi pond then a shower filter tops my list most run off a second pump you would not need if you did not have the shower and it has to be run fast 20k to 30k that will cost you £25 a week in power
Cheers for the comment! Glad the covers work for you! How’s the veg filter going?
Been working well this year plants are just starting to die back a wee bit now but it will get its cover as well soon and that keeps it ticking over in the winter keeping the frost off the plants
What about an above ground small koi pond?
should be fine thanks for the comment
The cost should not be a factor...we only need to focus on what the fish need...and you can either afford it or not...same as cats dogs ect...there are fancy pure breed dogs and cats worth a fortune there given the best food go to vet a fortune or groomers ect as apposded to dogs who are total muts who get the bare minimum and both can be very happy and healthy.
Well for most cost is a factor, and the fish don’t need it hence the video 😂
I agree with what your saying in totality .
Two points however,
Breeding high end Koi is different to breeding carp for angling , the bloodlines are more narrow and the koi themselves are a deviation from carp and are highly selected for breeding not in the way common carp are .
If you have paid hundreds or thousands even of pounds for one fish going into winter or coming out of winter results in large fluctuations of temperatures as you say below 10 c parasites become inactive around 10 c the pathogens are one step ahead of koi . If temps in November or April are fluctuating between say 7 and 14 c on a daily basis this will play havoc with a kois immune system the immune system of Koi and goldfish cannot react as quickly to temperature changes as can the genetic make up of pathogens ………. Koi or Fancy goldfish and I mean ahow grade Bristol, London Shubunkins or Wakin etc those bred for ponds that ate 100 per cent healthy will probably survive these fluctuations. If you have a fish seemingly healthy these fluctuations can be very dangerous.
This is why owners of high end goldfish and koi will heat their ponds to avoid these fluctuations. When your pond is full of very expensive fish the cost of heating does seem reasonable especially if you have very high end koi .
I personally used to heat
I have koi from famous koi farms but I understand why those paying astronomical amounts for fish do wish to avoid fluctuations with fish that are very highly bred .
Appreciate what you are saying. However if you put your “special” or “expensive” fish into a lake, where temp varies greatly, pathogens are present etc your fish will thrive because they are not being messed around by humans who think they no better than nature itself. It is pretty straight forward, the lease you do the better but provide good quality water. It’s easy to blame fish and breeding instead of keeping a fish in a sterile tank with nothing in it. Even a little goldfish bowl gets plants and gravel. Koi don’t thrive in fish cages so it’s naive to think that the fish would prefer it in there with respect. Cheers for the comment
@@thep0ndman well goldfish bowls are inhumane and should be banned .
Koi breeders of course place their prized Nisai and Tosai in mud ponds to grow . They have an abundance of very high quality fish and can lose some . The hobbyist or the rich hobbyist pays a lot of money for a single fish they do not wish to put them in a lake or a general pond
They are housed in systems, large systems of thousands of gallons , I used Momotaro Bakki shower 4 tier with the BHM media , drum systems or Nexus filters or bead filters etc the water they keep their fish in is superb as do I . I add minerals and filter the water through a three stage HMA system , I use a uv light to kill water born algae that’s it .
The fish are kept in fine water .
When you are the other end of a Japanese Koi farm via the middle man dealer as a customer and you spend more on a koi than a pedigree dog then heating your pond through those very unpredictable temperature fluctuations of late winter to spring and late autumn to winter can and will save you from losing some , not all , of your high end koi .
If your pond is full of common carp , ghost koi or hardy common goldfish then your fish due to their bloodlines being as common as cod crap ! Will be naturally tougher than an all Japan champion that’s been raised by Dainichi or Momotaro. That’s a fact .
And if you are fortunate to be able to afford such fish them heating your pond is another strung in your bow to increase their life chances .
Also insulating your pond and by covering it obviously leaving a gas exchange allows for a slower fluctuation and more extreme fluctuations in temperature.
If your koi come from a garden centre I would not worry about the above too much .
I would not make blanket statements however about not heating koi ponds .
I wish I could afford to heat mine again but it’s not financially viable once I’ve weighed the pros and cons up .
Many thanks for the comment. People do underestimate the sophisticated nature of fish and how amazing they are. We will be doing a video of Japanese Koi in neglected ponds to show the difference of how they should live compared naturally to what we think is best for them to please our own selfish needs, ie clear water, heat to grow them faster. Japan farmers heat the water to sell bigger fish, they are a business and good salesmen by the sound of it. Thanks for the comments appreciate it.
@@thep0ndman the warmer the water is the more the fish will eat
However with my high end fancies I only ever kept the water at 12 c away from the 10c danger area I never had it up to 20 c etc . People do heat ponds for good rationale sone certainly don’t
thanks for the info i have never heated my 2 ponds and not lost a koi through them being cold even though they ice over in some winters. you talk a lot of common sense, more (koi) keepers should listen to you
Many thanks for the comment. We are just being factual
I made the mistake of having a pond built with a waterfall, the mistake? It was built only 18 inches deep so my fish cannot go deep. Now I am worried that I need to have a heater to stop it freezing over and killing my fish. Any advice?
What type of fish do you fish?
There is a mix of Koi and goldfish most only a couple of inches up to 5” but about 4 maybe 8-10” koi
@paulcurtis4781 you will probably find that they will be ok. Just don’t over feed and over stock you will be ok. They are used to cold conditions as long as the water itself is good the temp won’t hurt them
Is it a myth then that koi need a hole in the ice to breath over winter?
TBH it depends on your fish stock, heavily stocked pond will need filters on and movement etc, to keep water aerated. If a lake froze over the fish dont die but its probably because of the amount of water and low levels of fish. Always best to have some sort of movement on the surface to help stop some of the ice developing across the entire pond.
What about feeding in the winter
Hi Andrew, they will eat if they want too. If you put food in and they don’t eat it’s important to take it out. Depends how cold it gets some people don’t feed at all, you can feed on wheat germ food if you do try to give them some.
Thanks
Hi which food is the best for feeding koi a friend told me pallets are just a money making for the big brands and just give them what we eat what do you think
My mates got a heater and his fish are ginormous!
Thanks for comment. They don’t need heating though that’s the point of the video each to their own but koi don’t need it
As long as the pond is deep enough from freezing ground i agree.
I live in Sweden, Been keeping Koi for 15 years and they are in the pond for the whole year. No heater, no cover. But theres loads of ”Koi fascists” here as well like in the UK, teling everbody what to do or else you are cruel to your fish…
But do you know what…? They are the ones who got problems with their koi.. just saying…
Hi the nail on the head. The more you mess with fish the more prone to diseases / infections etc thanks for the comment!
I note you never mention Aeromonas alley, probably because it undermines your point of view. 😉
Lol wives tales mate to make you buy a product. Bacteria slow with the temp aswell.
@@thep0ndman
You can take a camel to water…never said they are common carp, but the same genus 😂
@@thep0ndman in your video about pond depth, you called them by the wrong Latin name, and stated they were living wild all around Europe. Someone else picked you up on it, put you chose to skirt around that, and just do your usual camel to water comment.
@@gruditch what Latin name? Please elaborate