Having spent another December at home, I wonder how koi keepers manage to go on long holidays...or don't they?
I'm sure the problem could be partially (or largely) addressed by having a responsible house-sitter who understands koi keeping. With the prevalence of Highveld storms it often happens that the electricity supply trips, and if one is at home this can be easily addressed. However, if on holiday the supply would remain off for an extended period...or even for the length of one's holiday. I become anxious if I'm away for a day and a storm is predicted!
My questions:
1. For what length of time can koi survive in a pond without circulation / filtration? I would imagine that stocking densities in relation to pond size is a determining factor.
2. How long can the bacteria in the biofilter survive without the water being circulated?
3. How did Koi keepers manage during the 'load-shedding' period if they did not have a generator? ( I started koi keeping after this ).
4. Is there a product available that would alert one - for example by sms - that the power at one's home is off?
Perhaps I have become neurotic about this concern, but it does worry me that long holidays for me may be a thing of the past.

Regards
Jack

yes Jack this is a serious concern for me as well. My Manager used to stay with me but since he moved to be on his own I am in the same boat as you. I am trying to train another person to be a backup although I am seldom out of town for more than 3-4 days. Koi dealers provide this back-up but I have no one in my Town and also no local keepers to help with this problem. SMS warning due to an electrical failure is possible and if one can manage to keep the air going it will help a lot. I have a generator that service all my ponds and coffee machine, lol, but I need to flick a switch and start the generator.
I suppose this is like with all pets, not many places one can take your dogs with on holiday these days, they are also banned on most beaches!

There are a few things that you can do if you are going away ...but there is always the risk that something goes wrong.

1. I got myself a cheap pet feeder to feed my kois while im gone....feed very little.
2. I placed my koi pond on its own electrical curcuit. I did not want my house to trip my power on my koi pond. (Strange enough - just after i installed the sepeate circuit i went away and the power in my house went down.)
3. Clean your filters the day before you leave.
4. Dont over stock your pond.
5. Get a fellow keeper to watch over your pond atleast 1's a week...and return the favour at some point.

My koi dealer watches over my pond while im gone. He pops in every 3rd day or so. I have tried using a friend or neighbours in the past - DONT DO THAT! They over feed the kois and dont know how to clean the filters. Usually what happens is that your neighbour wants to show one of his friends your koi pond while he watches over the place and the children come along...thats when the over feeding happens.

My pond has an independent DB, which feeds the pool and electricity supply to my lapa, and my pond. But this is connected from the main DB in the house. Does this limit the threat of a power outage to my pond through a lightning strike, for example? Has anyone installed a dedicated solar panel for their pond? If so, what size panel would one need to supply electricity for a ,75 pump and a 35 W UV light. I would be concerned about the generator option if there is nobody to start it up when the electricity supply is down.
As a rule of thumb, how long could koi survive without a running mechanical filtration system?
The feeding and water changing seems more manageable.

Jack

If you want to run a 24/7 system on the 800W pump/UV combination it means that you will need a battery system that will be able to provide 24 x 800W = 19.2kW per day. This will be 16 batteries of 100Ah each. The solar panels needs to be 19.2kW as well (plenty of 75W panels)

You can bend the rules a bit and connect one or two 110Ah batteries via a DC to AC converter to an air pump to aerate the filter and pond in case of a power failure. Instead of using the expensive solar panel option, you can connect a battery charger to the batteries which will keep them fully charged from the power line at all times. In case of a power failure you will have about 26hours of backup with 2 batteries. (if you run a 100W pump)

The separate DB can do wonders to your system, but if you have a direct hit from lighting your system might look like this: ( new Vodacom site on 1400m high mountain near my home)





When I worked on my filter chamber sometime ago I had my main pump switched off for 4days with only my 7 x jet return pump running. Koi had no problems and never came up to gasp for air.

Hi Marius and Wayne.
Thanks for the replies. I realise that a 'complete' solution is almost unlikely, but short term, back-up systems more easily accessible. The air-pump with battery backup seems like the most practical option in keeping circulation of sorts going.
Yes. Marius, lightning can cause much havoc, and I have had 2 strikes in the past 30 years, but looked nothing as bad as the photos you placed!
I suppose one has to expect that there are certain natural phenomena over which we have no control.
Wayne, your post reminds me very much of the recent insurance advertisement where the house-sitter asks the owner where he had bought his koi! I must agree with you that looking after a koi pond is not as simple for someone who does not have relevant experience.