HELP unheated frozen pond and 1 dead koi already!

[Purplebeardielover]

Please can anybody help,we need suggestions of what to do, the top isnt entirely frozen but hubby has just been out to break the ice again and found one of our koi dead,i assume not long as he was still floppy.What can we do to try and stop any more dying? Never had this problem before being down south we dont normally get snow.
Any ideas??

[buddah]

yeah as on other thread you just want to leave it all alone weve had our koi for 25-30 year the only time theyve died is when the heron has took the odd 1 or 2. our pond freezes over hard every year for quite a few weeks somtimes you dont want to do anything that brings them out of there sort of hibernation.

[mask-of-sanity]

try and keep the water surface moving, raise the pond pump and run the filter, as long as the surface is moving it wont freeze over

[mikef]

koi dont hibernate, this is fact, not fiction. They dont like cold temps, and can very quickly start to die, we have not had prelonged cold temps like we have at the moment for quite a few years, and its affecting lots of koi ponds at the moment, the easy solution is to heat the pond, but the practicallities are not so simple, its quite expense, but quite a bit cheaper than replacing dead koi

[Paul B]

Raise the pump from the bottom of the pond to allow the warmer water to remain there.

DO NOT BTREAK THE ICE AS THE SHOCK CAN KILL THE FISH.

heating is an option.

Keep suface water moving as much as possible.
P

[defi]

Bit late now but the deeper the pond the better. As previously mentioned raise the pump off the bottom and if possible slow the flow down, the heat goes to the bottom so you dont want to go stirring it up.
My fish are currently lined up like soldiers right on the bottom

[buddah]

our pond regularly freezes over for long periods and have had no problems with dead koi if the ponds deep enough the ice on top serves to insulate the water below, we have a bridge over the pond were ice never forms underneath it allowing co2 to escape.

[Meko]

throw a football on it, should keep the water moving and stop it freezing completely.



i think

[Purplebeardielover]

Thanks everyone for all your help, hubby raised the pump in November nd it about 18"-24" off the bottom, the pond is around 4' deep and holds 3500 gallons,the pond isnt totally frozen,bout half,the other half is constantly moving due to the pump and waterfall. Hubby has put some hardboard? over some of the pond to try and protect it from the severe drop in temps, may definately consider heating the pond in the future,the koi arent worth loads but its more the fact that we have had for soo long it is gutting to lose them,they are hubbys pride and joy,thanks again Tess

[reptile_man_08]

Originally Posted by Meko

throw a football on it, should keep the water moving and stop it freezing completely.



i think

That's what we usually do, but since this winter is colder than usual the football got frozen in with it
Boiling water works well.