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No we’re not growing weed in our garage…

Posted by lorivertin on

The Weather Channel is currently at 0 degrees (feels like -18) in Little Siberia and the temperatures are going down to -11 degrees at 8:00 am tomorrow morning. The indoor koi pond water is holding around 45 – 50 degrees and we have added some growing lights. These lights won’t really warm up the water but the koi will appreciate the fake sunshine. Same kind of lights that weed growers use…

Viperspectra 300 growing lights arrived today. Recommended to us by Devin Swanson. We're installing two lights and they are on timers. We're hoping the extra light will keep their colors nice.
Viperspectra 300 growing lights arrived today. Recommended to us by Devin Swanson. We’re installing two lights and they are on timers. We’re hoping the extra light will keep their colors nice.

The koi are hanging out in the far corner of the pool, closest to the garage door. I would guess the water is a lot cooler over there. We have a warm water drip on the near side of the pool but the koi don’t seem to want to float in the slightly warmer water. We thought it was a function of pretending to hide – so we put some insulation panels on the netting to mimic an overhang. No takers.
The koi often gather at the far end of the indoor pool. I'm hoping to encourage them to gather at the near end where the water is warmer. Not very successful.
The koi often gather at the far end of the indoor pool. I’m hoping to encourage them to gather at the near end where the water is warmer. Not very successful.

Another gadget we recently purchased was an indoor surveillance system. We’ll have some time to put it up over the weekend when the weather is dropping to -23!
Getting around to setting up a little surveillance system. I would enjoy taking a peek at indoor koi land on my phone :-)
Getting around to setting up a little surveillance system. I would enjoy taking a peek at indoor koi land on my phone 🙂

Outside, the pond digger ordered two pallets of sand and spent an evening in somewhat cold temps (20s) filling up some of the side walls of our lower pond in progress. While it wasn’t necessary, the pipes are protected now and if someone walks too close to the edge, they probably will not break a leg (but of course, anything can happen).
With cold temps in the forecast, the pond digger had two pallets of sand delivered. He spent one evening after work moving 5500 pounds of sand into the lower pond site to protect our recent pour.
With cold temps in the forecast, the pond digger had two pallets of sand delivered. He spent one evening after work moving 5500 pounds of sand into the lower pond site to protect our recent pour.

One more week of the days getting shorter. Winter solstice is a happy time because we’re on our way towards the long days of summer sunlight.
The outdoor ponds, 6:45 am 12.11.2016, Little Siberia
The outdoor ponds, 6:45 am 12.11.2016, Little Siberia

So what do snow bound koi keepers do in the winter? We dream about spring and summer. I keep a little journal about my koi, scratching in some random notes of size, shape, illness, cost, whether they’re a keeper or not… Keeping notes help me to remember why I picked certain koi, what happened to their coloring, etc. I’m sure people write more extensive notes than I do but maybe I’ll pick up the slack over the winter. Two of my koi have a little note on their page that they need to go. Sadly, some koi look nice as 6-8 inchers and just lose it by 10-12 inches. I’ll write more about these koi next time.
I have a little book of koi notes where I track koi progress, make random notes, etc. som Keli club members have everything digital and maybe I'll get there someday. It's interesting to see how many koi we have gone through....
I have a little book of koi notes where I track koi progress, make random notes, etc. som Keli club members have everything digital and maybe I’ll get there someday. It’s interesting to see how many koi we have gone through….