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ladylotus_gw

Moved fish to their tropical winter home

ladylotus
10 years ago

I performed the pre-winter ritual of moving my Koi from their outdoor pond to their tropical paradise. I used to leave them in the outdoor pond with a stock tank heater but had too many things happen to my koi, muskrat, mink etc eat them, too much snow build up and suffocate them. Since I've been moving them to my indoor greenhouse pond the past 9 years, they have gotten huge.

Here is a photo of their outdoor home.

This post was edited by ladylotus on Wed, Nov 6, 13 at 10:02

Comments (12)

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here a few of them are in their winter home...already begging for food.

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here is a glimpse of a small portion of their indoor (greenhouse) pond.

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sorry, I do not know how to upload more than one photo. Lastly, here is Sir Elton John not too happy with the these new room mates.

  • lmjk1221
    10 years ago

    What an awesome set up! My latest dream is a greenhouse with a plan for fish. A little aquaponics anyone? Is it any wonder the dream resurfaces every year around this time?

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you. Start saving old sliding glass doors. I saved for years until I had enough of them to frame in. I used all used material for the greenhouse so it was not that expensive to build. Good luck...I hope you get a greenhouse, it is my favorite place to go all winter long.

  • Orange-catz
    10 years ago

    A tropical green house in North Dakota??? How warm does it stay in there? Do you have to heat it?

  • Craigger7
    10 years ago

    That is totally awesome, I've done research into pond heating. Fish are actually healthier in heated ponds. I'm interested, what is your water temp? Is the pond heated? Pick up the latest Koi USA, there is a nice article on the topic.

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you guys for the comments.

    Orange-Catz - I keep the greenhouse at 45 deg F during the winter months. I have electric heat two 1500 watt heaters do the trick. Most of my plants go into a dormant phase and do not need much watering at all. Once spring rolls around everything starts coming to life...including me ha ha.

    Craigger7 - The pond is not heated. However, it is 5 1/2 to 6' deep. I tired digging it really deep so that it is below the frost line in hopes of having it be a thermal mass of sorts throwing off heat at night. I'm not so sure that it does any heating in the greenhouse. I do not know how warm the water is BUT...my fish stay active all winter long and eat all winter long.

    When the sun is out it get's warm in there, 70 to 90 deg F. With the sun hitting the water I am assuming the temp is fairly warm. I will have to buy myself a thermometer for the water and test it one of these days.

    I love that the koi are now moved inside and stay active all winter long, when they were left outdoors in the cold, with a measly stock tank heater I worried about them all winter. It makes our long winters go by much faster going out to the greenhouse, feeding the fish, tending the plants and basking in a bit of sun.

    I've attached a photo of Bella, she is a big butterfly koi that is so elegant...(frankly I think it is a male but my daughter did not know that at the time it was small). Dallas is the fish with orange, white and black, Pelvis (don't ASK...my son named her) is the white koi. One white fish for good luck.

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Here is Dallas looking for a handout.

  • lmjk1221
    10 years ago

    What is the your foundation made of? 45 degrees would feel mighty good in mid-February!

  • ladylotus
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I had someone place 4' footings made from cement for my greenhouse to set on. So a portion of the greenhouse pond is cement the rest is soil and it is lined with a thick 45 mil pond liner.

  • Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
    10 years ago

    Lovely place for you and your critters! I would love to see more photos of everything if you have the time. Thanks! Min

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