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Koi additions 1/12/06 HEY THERE Fellow
enthusiasts! <There you are Tom... long time, no chat> A couple
of years ago, I built a large (to us anyway) liner pond (Thanks for the
help Bob!). It is approximately 3600 GAL or
so. It has been doing wonderful and the fish are happy and
healthy. But here's the question. A friend of mine is
moving and can't take his (6) koi with him. He wants to
give them to me for my pond . I feel there is enough room in
the pond for them (only 5 fish right now) but am worried about adding
fish in the winter. <Mmm, yes... a tough time to move> Will the
bacteria be able to reproduce rapidly enough to keep up with the added
load in cold water? <Actually... likely so... there is very little
excretion of such in cold temperatures... the big troubles come about
from the actual fish being moved... more psycho-social than
physiological> I live in Northern VA and, although
winter hasn't truly visited us yet, the water is around the upper
40's (we stopped feeding in Nov when it dropped below 50).
<Mmm... I take it all the fish... yours and theirs are outdoors...
moving the koi expediently, switching water back and forth to
acclimate, provide oxygen... not raising water temperature much in
transition... should do it here> If this is in any way risky, I have
no problem housing the new fish (around 6 - 8" each) in the
basement in a 100 GAL stock tub with filter until the Spring. What are
your thoughts? <Better to mix in with your existing fish IMO>
Thanks so much for all that you fine folks do! Tom (The Tool Man)
<Be chatting, Bob Fenner> NOT moving pond livestock during the winter I have a small pond with approx 3-7 yr old Koi 2-4yr old and 3-2 yr olds. My problem is, we ended up buying house a lot quicker than I imagined. Now it's full blown winter and I am scared to move my fish but I am not leaving them behind. What can I do?? <I'd "make a deal" with the new owners... to keep all going till the weather has warmed into Spring AND you've had time to design, build-out quarters for them at your new digs... there are designs for liner ponds on WetWebMedia, and ready-made pools, filters...> I don't want to shock them. I have a pond heater running and they love it but I don't know if it's keeping it warm enough to move them. <You are wise here... I also would NOT move this life> They are somewhat active and do come up to the surface occasionally. I plan to move them into a large container indoors until I am able to get their new home setup, stabilized in spring. What is the best way to move them from winter weather to indoor luxury living? Thank you for your help. D. Houghton <Do NOT do this... their metabolisms cannot take the rapid change... may appear fine for a few to several weeks... will likely die as a consequence. Bob Fenner>
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