Koi enthusiast from the UK with a special interest in natural looking ponds and water gardens. Lots of videos coming up all about Koi. Be sure to subscribe to stay updated!
@@deanmiles8421 to help keep the pond a few c warmer over winter. They’ve been fine every winter so far without a cover but if there’s a cheap way to help the fish avoid the really cold temperatures, I’m all for it 😊
@KoiBoyUK fish are fine, they are cold blooded. My pond freezes over without issue and I've had my fish for 30 years, never a sick fish in all that time. It's natural for fish to shut down and the only way they can do that is for the water temp to drop.
@@deanmiles8421 I agree that I’m sure they will be fine, and I will be letting the temp drop low like they would naturally as I feel it’s important. But this will just keep the very bitter colds away. Plus it means I can enjoy the pond a bit more 😊
Just come across this looks great for winter The aquarium heater is a good idea I used one on my sleeper pond with a pollycarb roof last year and didn’t go below 18 so definitely works
To fix the problem You have keeping the heat overnight, is to use a double plastic covering to keep the heat covering at least a 1cm to 2cm in apart. That will insulate, and keep the heat And the cold separate . tahts what i did and it works perfect
@@ipswichkoi it should hopefully be available online early December! If you want it sooner email me at koyboyuk@hotmail.com and I can give you details of the supplier
Congratulations to the winner 🥇 I think you done a great job and I hope 🤞 it does what you speciations 😁 I managed last year to keep the water 💦 4 degrees at the coldest days And I hope this year I do it better 😁🤞🤞
@@nippinkoi8924 I’ve had a chat with a few people who claim that 500w works if you’re just trying to keep the water anywhere from 6 to 9°, but we shall see. But you’re right, I will probably end up having to get something more powerful. 😅
Running something similar myself, it's running on my grow on vat and the only issue is that the heaters don't work when turned down to low. They have a preset lowest temp that they run from and can't work below. So I would say you will need to check the running temps of whatever heater you are looking at first. Perfect for my grow on,but not so much for the main pond. Have to use my inline heater till I can afford the air source heater. How this helps some. Also, built a pergola over my own main pond and found it easier to cover . Had gone the frame setup like yourself previously,the pergola takes most of the work involved out and just put the frames in place for winter with the Flexi window film already on them. Great to see I'm not the only one thinking outside the box on ways to keep them over winter in the best health possible. Really enjoyed your video 👍
@@TerryOConnell-u8j Great minds think alike! 😅 Thanks for the kind words! I tried the heater just now and it seems to work in 14c water. Plugging it into the external thermostat means I can have it set down really low. Hopefully it will be ok 🤞
@@PeterCousins-n3l thanks I plan to do a quick update in my next video! Indoor and out door thermometers showing minimum and maximum, plus a pond thermostat that’s on an app on my phone that shows temperature history :)
You can put the sheet of polytheen to the bottom side of the wood (than you will have stagnant air in between the sheets), which will also give extra insulation.
@@orrydebeer this is a good idea! I’ll have a look in to it as I’m sure I read somewhere about double sheeting can block out too much sunlight so it won’t heat up well but I may be wrong. Thanks!
The Polytunel does work. I have used it before. You have done a good job, well done, Sir. As for heating the Pond with a heater. Here is helpful information. A 1,500KW Pump running 24 7 will be roughly £44 a year, so a 500W heater will not even come anywhere near £44 a year. Remember, a thermostat will automatically switch on to heat the water to the desired temperature, and it will switch off when the water temperature has reached the desired temperature. Therfor it would not be on 24 7. 🤙🏼🙂🤙🏼❤️
@@ultimatefishkeeping thanks! My energy prices are around 20p per kWh so a 1kw appliance running all day will be £5 a day. But yes, the lower im setting the thermostat the less it will be on. It’s a bit of a minefield trying to work out the best option for me at the moment 😅
Great update and probably one of the neatest winter covers I’ve seen. A lot of aquarium heaters have a guard cage around them to prevent fish from getting burnt, so should be ok in the main pond. How about using a floating pond heater - the sort designed to clear ice and attaching to an external thermostat? Aquael do several models at different wattages (think mines a 300w).
You can put the heater in the main pond without any issues, the water continually circulates and cools the outer case of the heater so it only gets slightly warmer than the water surrounding it
Looks very good Dean, top job 👍 not sure about the aquarium heater tho. By the time the heated water has returned to the main pond it may have lost quite a bit of the heat. I guess you need to try it and see if it’s worth it or not.
Top Job there mate looking good I hope you get the results your after, can't see why not. Structure must be strong if it didn't give way when you were pinning the top, I did have visions of you dropping through. 👍🙏
Very nice! I would spend all my time hunkered in there on the deck hanging out with the fish 😂 I’m planning on doing something similar soon and this was helpful. Would you be willing to link the kind of thermometers you’re using ?
@@The_Koi_Pit that’s my plan if it’s warm in there 😅 my link would be a UK link but it’s just sold as a digital max min greenhouse thermometer. There’s lots that are pretty much the same. Looking forward to seeing the video if you do one!
Good information thanks. If you use the pond water to clean the filter, I guess you have to keep topping up the pond? How much water do you use in 1 cleaning cycle?
@@DR-gs5je yes that is correct but it isn’t really noticeable. I can’t find any exact numbers but I’m pretty sure it’s around 2 litres per cycle. I have set my drum up to clean every 40 or so minutes and the clarity is perfect
