At present most hobbiest question whether Koi should have a hibernation period in the winter. Some will have you believe that this is a natural state and quite healthy for your fish, while others are convinced this causes undo stress to the koi.
Which ever side of the fence you sit, there are a few important facts that should be consider.
• Once a ponds ice's over, then harmful gasses from decaying plants, algae and fish waste cannot disperse. • Heating a pond will prove extremely helpful in reducing stress on your koi / fish. • Your Koi's immune system will benefit no end by having your pond heated. • The Filter's biological side will continue and avoid a start-up in the spring. • Your koi can be fed continously which of cause will help your Koi to maintain good nutrition. • Will help prevent koi casualties due to severe winter conditions.
As we know lately the Winters in the UK and Europe can now be very long and extreme for our Koi, which is why now an increasing number of Koi enthusiast are heating their ponds for the following reasons:
• The very low winter temperatures are avoided - causing helps cause less stress and other associated health problems - Temperature fluctuations are avoided once again causing less stress to your Koi. • Koi emerge from the long winter into spring considerably stronger and reducing the mortality rates at this time of year when they most often occur. • The Koi's immune system is not suppressed from the harsh cold spells. • The Pond 's biological filter system remains active all throughout the winter months avoiding the long start up process in the spring. • Plus last but not least , heating your pond will allow the Koi keeper to enjoy their hobby throughout the long winter months.
Reasons to heat your koi pond?
So here we have the benefits of heating your koi pond ,firstly we can feed koi all year round, gettimg contant nourishment to condition the koi. They also are now growing for the full 12 months and not just through the warmer months.
The loss of Koi has been drastically reduced because the pond keeper has been able to maintain a temperature acceptable to them, with the cost of our Koi ever increasing it would only take the loss of just one high quality Koi to far outweigh the running cost of heating a pond. The facts are that it will probably be considerably less to heat your pond, rather than to suffer losses of good quality Koi throughout the winter months due to the severe cold temperatures of the water.
Finally because we are able to continue feeding during the colder months, we still have mature biological filtration, we don't have to go through the process of 'Starting Up' our systems at the beginning of each season.
