Thread: To heat or not heat - where do you sit on this one??

Adaptation of a post I made a few years ago as we head towards the colder weather again….


To heat or not to heat that is the question... the very question which is likely to divide most koi enthusiasts of all experience.


To me..... heating constantly is not a necessity, however it certainly has both advantages and disadvantages..


Advantages:

• The Koi immune system is strongly believed to remain

'. ‘on'

• Less koi stress from temperature fluctuations
• Less 'parking' on the bottom, which can lead to sores and other issues
• Ability to feed at a higher rate all year round - leading to koi growth
• Beneficial bacteria remains in the filters assisting pond maturity
• Treatments / medications are more effective in warmer temperatures

Disadvantages:

• Cost - heating water can be very expensive
• Should the heater stop working mid-winter temperatures can plummet drastically leading to many Koi and filter problems
• Koi do not 'get a winter' - which some believe is necessary
• Heating may lack 'green' credentials
• Koi can become reliant upon heat and less 'hardy'

Whilst I did heat my personal pond, I do not believe it is an all year round essential, however what I do believe is essential... is having the capability to heat when needed and control the pond environment during times of severe koi stress and/or when treatments are required in order to maximise their efficacy.


Cheers

Gaz

i'll more than likely be in the same situation this year, as last year, and the year before.
with poly covers on i didn't heat from december to end of march and the pond held 12C all the way through...
occasionally after a very cold snap it would dip a bit down to 11C or 10C but would lift back up to 12C after a few days.

i'll probably do the same heat wise holding the temperature with the heater to the end of november, at 18C-ish
and feeding well to get the fish to build some volume.
then slowly letting it down to 12C over a couple of weeks or so. and reduce feeding down to a minimum.

if i had to heat to hold 12C that might be a different kettle of fish...literally
with electric costs so high and ASHP's not working at optimal COP's in sub zero temps...

i don't see anything wrong with not heating in winter, if fish have been well fed during summer to build up strength, and fat reserves.
but thats where heating in summer can have some real benefits as this summers dismal temperatures have shown...

it was intersting to read elswhere that some of the countrys top show koi keepers hold 20C right to to the end of december....

In my experience in much of the UK, the only option in winter is to warm up.
This is because the summer feeding period is neglected and very few people put them the stamina to allow their KOIs to spend five months or more without heating or feeding during the winter months, as we do.

Here is one clear guideline.
As I have mentioned before, we all share the skill and awareness of achievement to double the size of our JUMBO TOSAI or regular TOSAI during the five months of summer by daily rearing. (May to September)


Only recently we have found presentations of events in other European countries that test the results of a summer feeding period with a set period similar to ours.

As usual, most of them remain almost the same size or show only a few centimetres of growth, but there are a few who, like us, have doubled in size rapidly.

Dave mentions the benefits of summer heating, but if radical intensive feeding becomes more popular, I think it will add to the winter non-heated, no-feeding options in the UK.

Sounds like you need to stick a magnet on your meter Dave

Originally Posted by davethefish1

Far king hell that's from farcebook isn't it? That's got to be a fake photo. The spoon is an exposed live conductor which is automatically a C1 fault on a test certificate, same would apply to the 2 screws in the live conductors. Even if that was completely removed there would be evidence of tampering with the DNO's property plus potentially 2 exposed live parts where the screws were.

Good job they didn't use a knife or they would have been done for miss use of or in possession of a dangerous weapon!

Originally Posted by davethefish1

So that's where the term 'Spooning' comes from! Coz if the DNO saw that they would be properly ****ed!!!!

Originally Posted by davethefish1

yeah some FB group i get posts from...

the other ones include swapping out the main fuse for a 10,000 amp bolt

Where to start on that one! Even had to swap the phases round as blue and brown don't match top and bottom.

Been mentioned before.
Our pond is 100% in-ground.
Our pond is 0% insulated.
The ground acts as an excellent heat buffer throughout the year with the following limitations:

• The highest temp reached in high Summer is limited to about 23C
• The temperature can sit at 7-8C for extended periods in mid Winter.
• A prolonged cold spell will see temps drop into the danger zone without intervention.

Main intervention is 2.4kW of heating (from 2019-2023 this ran for an average of roughly 60 hrs per year to maintain 5C+). The heaters are 4X600W drop in heaters which sit in the outlet chamber in the filter room.
If there is a very long or extreme cold spell I also use a floating swimming pool cover which covers 75% of the pond surface during such times (air lift ensures good gaseous exchange continues).

Not sure what to do this year, pond averaged 22c / 23C during the hot months and 20c past month, now down to 18c / 19c ashp been coming on once in a 24 hour period past few days, i am going to do a deep clean and PP the pond tomorrow so there is enough time for the filters and shower to recover bacteria wise as this week looks mild, covers will go in around 2 weeks.
Regarding heating i will probably do the same as last year and gradually reduce the temp down a degree a week until its at 14c, i will then set ashp to 14c so the water will drop to 13c before the pump kicks back in and raises temp back to14c, this way fish are kept above 13c and will hold some immunity and avoid AA, this is what i have done past two years with no issues during the winter...... i am tempted to give the fish a natural winter as i think it probably does do them good but i worry that they have been spoilt for a few years now and probably not that hardy anymore and a very cold natural over winter would really run them down physically and if issues were to occur to heat pond from say 6c to 14c during winter would take some doing and be expensive to do so, ball park £2 a day to keep at 13c/14c due to low COP i think is worth the pain for 4 months.
To add, i will also turn the pumps down and gradually slow the ponds environment down with the reducing temps, at 14c i still fed twice a day with reduced quantities, however they still actively look for the food at this temp using a decent balanced pellet.