stocking levels

[brake san]

What would you you say was a good stocking level going into winter.
cheers
blake

[dick benbow]

i DON'T THINK i'VE EVER SEEN THAT SEASONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

[dick benbow]

i DON'T THINK i'VE EVER SEEN THAT SEASONS MAKE A DIFFERENCE.


USUALLY 1000 GALS FOR FEMALES, 500-750 FOR MALES.

[MikeM]

Blake: I do not have winter koikeeping experience. So, I'd listen to Dick. You might be thinking that cooler temperatures mean that you could stock higher than in warmer water. However, the nitrifying bacteria also slow down. It is really a question of all the factors involved in feed rates, temperature, bio-activity, etc., etc. The complexity of stocking under any conditions has resulted in those awful (because so simplistic), but tried & true (because they work in knowledgeable hands) rules of thunb, like the 1000/500 guideline.

...Enjoy your change of seasons. I am...it was all the way down to 73F the other morning... air temp, not water temp. The pond remains a comfortable 80F+.

[Brady Brandwood]

It depends on your motives Blake! Breeders purposely wait for cooler weather before they bring in their Fall harvests because they could not possibly keep the fish load intact in warmer water. In cooler weather Koi can be "stored" or kept in a holding pattern for many months at high stocking rates,... rates that would certainly be tragic in warmer weather! In cooler water the Koi are less active, eat less, poop less, require less oxygen, excrete fewer hormones, foul the water less,... and on and on, so many Koi can be stored in smaller holding tanks from October to April here. When I harvest at the end of October some of my tanks will be stocked at a rate of one 6" Koi per gallon - larger Koi much less, and "nicer" Koi much much less,... but certainly at higher rates than I would allow during Summer months.

Best Wishes,
Brady Brandwood