Hi Betty,
How many koi are we talking about? How
big are they? How big is the pond they are in now and what
kind of filtration do you have?
In general, koi will do okay indoors
if there is adequate water to house them and super-good
biofiltration and aeration. Indoors at 70 degree Fahrenheit,the
fish are fully awake and will be hungry. You'll need to
feed sparingly, water test and water change at least three
times a week, and have an established filter, preferably
using the exact same filter media you had out in the pond
all summer.
If you were planning to use a regular
aquarium filter system for your koi over the winter, don't
even try. Koi will overwhelm an aquarium environment almost
instantly. The minimum gallonage you should be shooting
for is 150 gallons, preferably 250, and more is better.
Rubbermaid makes a dandy 250 gallon horse trough, and a
lot of our local hobbyists use them as indoor housing in
winter and as isolation and medic facilities in the season.
You will absolutely need a pond-grade filter loaded with
mature media that has been working in your pond for at least
six weeks.
Your fish can be transferred from pond
to vat in plastic transport bags with enough water to cover
them and the rest of the bag filled with air. Seal the bag
with rubber bands and float the fish in the warmer indoor
water for at least 20 minutes. Once the temperatures have
equalized, the fish can be released into their temporary
quarters.
If you have large fish, or lots of fish,
consider covering your pond with a greenhouse or hoop-house
arrangement and keeping the water temp above freezing with
an electric space heater at pondside under the plastic.
Best of luck,
Bob Passovoy
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your help. We have successfully
moved all our KOI inside. We used water from the pond for
the smaller ones, and we kept the bigger ones in a container
for about 24 hours to acclimatize them to the house temperature.
They seem to be doing fine. Thanks again for getting back
to us.
