controlled temp and feeding

[dick benbow]

For those who heat their ponds and but the koi thru a period of lower temps and no food, tell me the length that the period of no food is and how you bring them back to food and increasing temps.

[Arthur]

Hi Dick,

I have dropped the temp down from 65°F to 50° over a 3 week period. They have been there for 3 weeks now and will stay another 4 weeks.

Mid-March I will crank the temp up about 1°/day (actually ~2° every other day). At 55° I'll give'em a light meal every other day of low-protein pellets; also some citrus. At 60°, the quantity is increased and I add fibrous veggies (romaine/broccoli...). At 65°, 1 normal meal/day, waiting for mother nature to catch up, and up from there (heater used to maintain average daily temp at night).

How do you manage the change?

[dick benbow]

I think a 6 week period of fast is long enough. I start them back up with cooked barley and then a few days later if no upset bowels show, some wheatgerm presoaked. then standard food after 3-4 days of no problems. I hold my temps in the mid to high 50's.

[aquitori]

Hey Dick, I have a Sanke that has developed alot of secondary hi...This fish was very clean when I left it at my friends house until he started fasting his fish I started noticing it...have you seen this before?

[Maurice]

Dick, I run a 2 month fast at 14c, then raise the temp 1/2 degree per day. No food till water up to 17c.

A good friend in Japan with an unheated pond stops feeding at 17c and does not feed again till the water rises to 17c.

This can be 6 months! He has no problem with this and attains wonderfull growth in the following 6 months of summer.
Maurice.

[dick benbow]

Thanks maurice for your input! I think if done correctly with good water and temps afterwards and great food that a koi can really benefit.

Aquitori- I suspect secondary Hi can be a product of genetics in a pond unfed.
Sensuke bloodline koi have a real propensity to produce that their 2nd and third year.

Conditions of higher PH and certain types of feed can also produce undesired beni.

But since you called it for what you belived it is.....secondary hi....especially since no food is being fed, it's heredity...my best quess.

[Dale Torok]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow I think a 6 week period of fast is long enough. I start them back up with cooked barley and then a few days later if no upset bowels show, some wheatgerm presoaked. then standard food after 3-4 days of no problems. I hold my temps in the mid to high 50's.

Dick,

Very interesting. Can you share with us some information about the cooked barley and the pre-soaked wheatgerm?

Please forgive me for my ignorance, but you'll need to start at the beginning. Like.....where do you buy the barley? Iin what form? And how do you cook it? Yeah, I'm a barley idiot......wouldn't know if I should shop for it at a health food store or a farm feed store. I'm not trying to be funny. That's the truth.

Same with wheatgerm, Dick. I wouldn't even know where to buy it in the raw form. Isn't that pitiful? If I am going to be as good to my fish when they break the winter fast as you are, I am in dire need of advice and assistance.

It's not said enough, Dick, so I would like to say thank you for all your contributions to the hobby and especially on the Koi Bito forum. I wish you weren't out on the left coast. I'd be tempted to come visit to see all your stuff!

Dale

[dick benbow]

dale,
let me start by apologising to you and others for not being clear.
When i say wheatgerm, I mean a wheat germ pellet that i put in a cup with a quarter inch of water and let it soak up till soft.

Barley I get from the bulk department in my grocery store. I buy pearl barley
but there are other varieties. I put about 6 tables spoons in a small pan and cover with an inch or so of water and sprinkle liberally with garlic salt. i then put a lid on the pan and bring to a slow boil. Once boiling I turn down just under a boil and cook for an hr. about every 15 mins or so i check and add water as it boils down. At the end of the hr I get a spoon out and get a few barley and taste them. if I can easily chew them as they are soft, I rinse in cold water
and drain. if they are a bit chewy i will continue to cook for another 5 mins or so.

how's my favorite blue fish of yours wintering! (lucky!)

[Dale Torok]

Hi Dick,

Thank you for answering my questions. I was really off base on the wheatgerm, wasn't I? When I read your post I remembered my mother buying wheatgerm at health food stores many years ago. As I recall, it looked like the breakfast cereal 'Grape Nuts', only much smaller pieces. Tiny little nuggets. Mom was a great believer in a natural diet and wheatgerm was one of the things she thought was good for you. She mixed it in with some foods and sprinkled it on others. I thought of it when you said you fed 'wheatgerm' and had visions of this messy powder-like stuff. Now THAT would be a mess to feed.

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow how's my favorite blue fish of yours wintering! (lucky!)

Thanks for asking. My asagi is just fine. You know the story of the long journey of this fish prior to making my pond its home. And yes, I am lucky to have it. The asagi is wintering just fine. Things will be warming up here soon. I covered my pond for the first time this year, so with a heated filter building and the cover holding a nice insulation of air over the pond, I have been able to hold the water trmperature to no lower than the mid 40's. And only about 2 weeks at that level this winter. The water has been mostly in the low 50's. I've been surprised. The water temp today is 54 degrees even though it is below freezing at night with daytime highs in the 30's. The water got down to the mid 40's back in December when we had 2 weeks of temperatures in the single digits at night and no higher than the teens during the day.

So the asagi should not have endured much winter stress. At least I am hoping so. I'll have to cook the blue fish a mess of barley per your recipe this spring and tell him it's a gift from his Uncle Dick.

Dale

[dick benbow]

That would please me no end dale, please do!