Do You want to let my Koi hibernate over the winter period and stop feeding or do I want to keep the pond water warm, encouraging them to continue eating, growing and developing?
If you decide that you want to continue feeding then you will need to use a pond water heater to maintain the required conditions. If you have a smaller pond, containing small Koi and mainly goldfish then you will at least need to maintain a small hole in the pond surface to allow dangerous gases to escape; a pond deicer is the best choice here.
In large Koi ponds, pond water heaters are in fact highly sophisticated automatically controlled gas fired tank less pond water heaters. In smaller backyard fish ponds immersion or tank water heating is often used.
Professional Koi pond keepers will often use gas fired tank less pond water heaters to maintain a constant ambient temperature for their Koi. These units keep the temperature constantly at around 15 Celsius (60 Fahrenheit). This is ideal for the Koi as it prevents there body from hibernating and allows them to continue feeding to maintain their size and to develop and grow.
As Koi hibernate they stop feeding, resulting in loss in body mass and overall size. There is also a weakening of the Koi’s immune system, making them more susceptible to fish disease problems and fish health problems.
For smaller fish ponds or koi holding tanks a submersible pond water heater that rests on the pond floor is probably your best bet. These electric immersion pond heaters have been designed in such a way that they must be constantly immersed and the controller must be protected from the elements.
As a general guide line you can work on the principle that 1 kilowatt (1000 watts) of electricity is sufficient to heat approximately 250 US gallons by 10 degrees Fahrenheit (approx 8 degrees Fahrenheit for Imperial gallons) and maintain that pond water temperature.
The full article can be read at http://www.garden-pond-filters.com/garden-pond-tanklesswaterheater.htm ...
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