i had an enormous bull frog in my fish pond. my fish also had babies one year. i was looking in the water and saw the tiniest shimmer and movement... with black eyes scarring around. magical. you have a cool life.
I suggest planting watercress or other water plants right under the first waterfall and similar plants in the main pond. It ll make whole thing a lot cleaner.
I'm able to keep mine out all year in Ohio. I dug ours out 4.5 feet mostly to keep the darn raccoons out. Too bad the darn blue heron come here. Our floating heater is used only to let the gases out during the winter. Other wise they are good even without it. Found that out one year when the heater died. I love having a koi pond. We add a few gold fish too.
I've probably killed 300 herons over the last couple years. I have nets over my ponds, but they still stab the fish, then can't get them through the netting. I've tried decoys, motion detecting deterrents, everything. The only thing that reliably works is a shotgun.
I was reading that Koi need one square foot of space per inch of their body length. Because we humans are not fish, we can’t know the answers to these questions, whether they like tight quarters or room to roam. I think that if we humans were fish, we’d want some space. And perhaps the Koi go into hibernation in the winter, even inside the Minnesota garage, where needing to swim would slow to a creep or idle?
When it starts to get cold my Koi fish naturally hibernate in the quick care of which is relatively the same size as the cattle trough that I use in my garage. I scooped them out of the pond and put them into the 100 gallon Koi trough in my garage and they just sort of hibernate peacefully for the winter there. They have seemed very happy now for about 15 years in this process.
What size is the tank in the garage? Is the blue bucket the filter, or what are you using to filter the tank? Do you do any water changes in the winter? If so, how much and how often? (I'm in MN too, and am planning on overwintering 4 Koi (10-14" each, I'd guess) in my unheated garage -- first time having Koi and my pond isn't very deep). Really having trouble finding good info on filtration/recommended filters. I'm concerned a canister-type filter would freeze in our temps. Thank you!
My cattle trough is 100 gallons that I use for hibernation in the winter. If you watch my playlist you’ll see all the information that you want to know. I put them in there at the end of fall and then about a week or two later I do a 20% water change and that’s it for the year. No filtration Because it’s not necessary because they are not eating in the winter because they are in hibernation mode. I do add a bubbler for a good airflow other than that I plug in the heater when the temperatures reach freezing so it does not freeze over. You can watch my playlist to see all of the information that you are looking for.
Might be a silly question, but when do you stop feeding your fish? Or do you ever stop feeding your fish? Especially when the temperatures take a dive(being from MN myself and first year raising koi/goldfish). Don’t the fish just hibernate?
Because here in Minnesota, we have polar vortex where the power goes out sometimes and then our pond would freeze solid. For us it’s easier to monitor our fish in the garage. That way if the power goes out, we can tap on the ice and break it so the fish don’t die.
@@TwinCitiesAdventures For South Dakota winters, how deep and wide should a pond be if i let the fish remain in there and install a heater just to make sure that there is interaction with air
i had an enormous bull frog in my fish pond. my fish also had babies one year. i was looking in the water and saw the tiniest shimmer and movement... with black eyes scarring around. magical. you have a cool life.
I suggest planting watercress or other water plants right under the first waterfall and similar plants in the main pond. It ll make whole thing a lot cleaner.
I live in Washington state we dont have extreme winters but this is a great idea thank you 🙏
I'm able to keep mine out all year in Ohio. I dug ours out 4.5 feet mostly to keep the darn raccoons out. Too bad the darn blue heron come here.
Our floating heater is used only to let the gases out during the winter. Other wise they are good even without it. Found that out one year when the heater died.
I love having a koi pond. We add a few gold fish too.
Gerilynne1955, that’s awesome! What are the lowest temperatures during winter where you live?
I've probably killed 300 herons over the last couple years. I have nets over my ponds, but they still stab the fish, then can't get them through the netting. I've tried decoys, motion detecting deterrents, everything. The only thing that reliably works is a shotgun.
Very interesting! To learn and enjoy! Thank you for sharing your video!
That's a neat waterfall.
Lucky guys.. Most of mine are still outside.
Good job pal.
Really awesome. I hope you still do a video of spring and starting your pond back up.
Hey! Your set up and advise is exactly what I needed. Ty! #NYinstantpotcheesecake
My pond is nothing more than a refrigerator for the 🦝
I was reading that Koi need one square foot of space per inch of their body length. Because we humans are not fish, we can’t know the answers to these questions, whether they like tight quarters or room to roam. I think that if we humans were fish, we’d want some space. And perhaps the Koi go into hibernation in the winter, even inside the Minnesota garage, where needing to swim would slow to a creep or idle?
When it starts to get cold my Koi fish naturally hibernate in the quick care of which is relatively the same size as the cattle trough that I use in my garage. I scooped them out of the pond and put them into the 100 gallon Koi trough in my garage and they just sort of hibernate peacefully for the winter there. They have seemed very happy now for about 15 years in this process.
What size is the tank in the garage? Is the blue bucket the filter, or what are you using to filter the tank? Do you do any water changes in the winter? If so, how much and how often? (I'm in MN too, and am planning on overwintering 4 Koi (10-14" each, I'd guess) in my unheated garage -- first time having Koi and my pond isn't very deep). Really having trouble finding good info on filtration/recommended filters. I'm concerned a canister-type filter would freeze in our temps. Thank you!
My cattle trough is 100 gallons that I use for hibernation in the winter. If you watch my playlist you’ll see all the information that you want to know. I put them in there at the end of fall and then about a week or two later I do a 20% water change and that’s it for the year. No filtration Because it’s not necessary because they are not eating in the winter because they are in hibernation mode. I do add a bubbler for a good airflow other than that I plug in the heater when the temperatures reach freezing so it does not freeze over. You can watch my playlist to see all of the information that you are looking for.
Hello 👋
Might be a silly question, but when do you stop feeding your fish? Or do you ever stop feeding your fish? Especially when the temperatures take a dive(being from MN myself and first year raising koi/goldfish). Don’t the fish just hibernate?
I stop feeding the koi fish when it’s consistently below 50° for the year.
Why don’t you just use the heater in the pond and not have to mess with the fish. I live in ohio and my fish stay in year round thru the freeze
Because here in Minnesota, we have polar vortex where the power goes out sometimes and then our pond would freeze solid. For us it’s easier to monitor our fish in the garage. That way if the power goes out, we can tap on the ice and break it so the fish don’t die.
Your fish, chickens and bunny sure have it good! What do the fish feed on during the winter?
In the winter the fish lie dormant and they don’t eat they just hibernate for a few months.
@@TwinCitiesAdventures For South Dakota winters, how deep and wide should a pond be if i let the fish remain in there and install a heater just to make sure that there is interaction with air
@@TwinCitiesAdventures how big is the tub you have in the garage?
I would love to have Koi fish but I have raccoons.