This forum deals with ponds which have been built mainly for koi similar to those featured on the KOI Cymru website. Even if you have not built your pond yet then your views are welcome. This is a chance to discuss your ideas and views with other koi-keepers. Please mention the country,and state or county,as in different parts of the World we have different methods and climate. If you are responding to a message already posted then please use the response button on the bottom of the message, and it will then appear as a subsiduary of that message and so easier for others to find.
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carp pox
by jason
hi can anyone help i think i may have carp pox in my pond the symtoms i have is an opaque look to the fins they are not as transparent as they were a week ago ,with about 3 of my koi have split fins and have a ragged look to them can you tell me if this is what i got and how do i get rid of it. my water is fine apart from a slight reading of nitrite which i am on my 3rd day of water changes to bring it down it is currently .5 thanks in advance your site as been a great help in the past with the construction of my pond.
Posted on Jun 14, 2005, 10:10 PM from IP address 84.66.91.101
I'm no expert by any means, so I hope that someone will either confirm or expand on some of these points.
It doesn't sound like carp pox, which resembles melted wax poured over the scales or fins. What you describe sounds like fin rot, which is usually brought on by stress. This seems to fit with your high (I wouldn't say slight) nitrite reading of 0.5. You may have had high ammonia levels, which have now stabilised, leaving you with unacceptable nitrite levels which take longer to sort themselves out.
Any period of high ammonia and/or nitrite will cause stress and can lead to secondry bacterial infections, etc.
You should certainly stop feeding for now, as this will only exacerbate the nitrite problem and you could try adding some 'friendly' bacteria to your filters, such as Interpet's Bio-Start, to try to speed up the conversion of nitrite.
As for treating the fin rot, Malachite Green and/or Formalin would usually do the trick but these will lower oxygen levels and interfere with the biological filter, which you certainly do not want at the moment. If anything, you should try to increase oxygen levels. Water changes would only dilute these products anyway.
1) Continue water changes
2) Increase aeration
3) Stop feeding
4) Add 'good' bacteria to filter
5) I would say don't put any chemicals in the pond with nitrite at 0.5.
Hope this helps and I'm sure someone else will add their thoughts.
Sue
Posted on Jun 14, 2005, 10:48 PM from IP address 195.93.21.38
Follow the Advice Sue has given you until the Nitrite is back to zero which it where it should be. 0.5ppm Nitrite is far too high and as Sue correctly stated, not a slight reading. If you have to feed, go for a low protein diet and feed sparingly. Remove any food the fish don't consume within half an hour.
Look into the possibility Chris suggested too. Salt baths work wonders as long as you get the dosage right, keep the water aerated and put the Koi directly into the pond if it rolls. NEVER EVER leave a fish unattended in a salt bath. They roll quickly once they go and will die if not taken out of the dip as soon as this occurs.
Of course, treatment won't work if the cause of the problem, i.e poor water quality isn't remedied first.
Best of Luck.
Alan
Posted on Jun 15, 2005, 6:33 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
i have now added salt to the pond as recommened by the local warehouse have adjusted the gh that is now correct and hopefully i will start to see an improvment
Posted on Jun 15, 2005, 10:45 PM from IP address 81.79.232.117
what you have said all seems to fit my ammonia is now spot on and they are stressed as they all have a pinkish colour peticularly on the white ones i have been really tied up this last fornight and have neglected testing and filter maintenance i have a week and half to try and get things on track as i will be away for another 2 weeks what do you recommend for the finrot as i have had this confirmed by my mate thank s jason
Posted on Jun 15, 2005, 10:40 PM from IP address 81.79.232.117
I think I'm right in saying that Chris' and Alan's comments re salt were to treat your koi with salt baths (out of the pond) not to put the salt in the pond. Obviously, with water changes, your salt levels will quickly be diluted.
No amount of treatment will work until your pond levels are correct, particularly with regard to your nitrite problem. Once the nitrite level is at 0, then you can put chemicals in the pond to treat your fish. Chemicals, at this point in time, will only cause further problems.
If you refer to my original post and Alan's comments, these will tell you exactly what to do to improve the situation.
Good Luck!
Posted on Jun 16, 2005, 9:52 AM from IP address 195.93.21.38
I am sorry to tell you that you have been given terrible advice as far as salting the pond is concerned. For reasons Sue has already stated, the last thing your pond and particularly your filters needed was chemicals of any kind. The chances are that the filter may take another knock back now whilst they adapt the the change in salinity and this could result in another ammonia spike. Worse still, Ammonia actually supresses the growth of bacteria that turn Ammonia to Nitrite so you may have delayed the Nitrobacter colony recovery process as well at the worse possible time.
Make sure your salinity is no higher than 0.3% and I hope you added it over a 3 day period too becuase the salinity should not be raised by more than 0.1% per day.
Keep a VERY close eye on Ammonia and Nitrite levels now and please don't add anything else to the pond until the root cause of your problems is rectified. Even then, the decision to add treatments to the pond or treat outside will depend on how well the fish recover and we cannot quanitify this yet.
I am afraid we are no further forward with recovery yet.
All the Best.
Alan
Posted on Jun 16, 2005, 1:48 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
it seems everywhere i turn there is a lot of contradiction with regards to what is going on in my pond i dont fully understand water chemistry and i just dont know what to do all i know is if i start losing my fish i will give it up and i have only been set up for 3 months .I think i am now more stressed than the fish. i have a lot of tanalised timber built around the pond and when it rains water does run in the pond off the timber could this be the source of the problem thanks again jason
Posted on Jun 16, 2005, 10:11 PM from IP address 84.68.9.69
It can be very confusing when you first start out in this great hobbby, and you have to face the fact that there's a steep learning curve to move your way up (we have all gone through that). Have you thought of joining your local Koi club where you can tap into the wealth of knowledge and practical advice. Both Eric (who manages this website) and I are members of our local club.
I am guessing that you're in the South Wales area ? If so, do have a look here: http://www.koicymru.co.uk/sectdes.htm
Good luck
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 9:55 AM from IP address 86.128.187.131
Don't give up whatever you do. It's really tough going at the begining and when things are going badly, you end up thinking about your Koi whilst you sleep, If you Can Sleep that is. Every one of us has been where you are now so rest assured, we know exactly how you feel.
Collectively, those of us who frequent this board have many many decades of experience between us and keep expensive Koi year in and year out so you can be we have seen just about everything over the years. Your in good hands Jason and we will help you through these tricky early stages.
OK, Tanalised timber! Possibly a contaminent yes as it contains arsenic. look into sealing the wood with a pond safe preservative then you can be sure it won't harm the fish. The first thing I would do is ring Ronseal and ask them to recommend a suitable treatment for use around a Koi pond on tanalised timber. They are very helpful!
Don't do anything else with the pond for the moment though. Keep an eye on the ammonia and Nitrite levels, stop feeding for the moment until the Ammonia subsides to less than 0.25ppm then feed just 3 pellets per fish, once per day. That will sustain them without pushing an already struggling filter over the edge.
If ever the ammonia reading reaches 0.25ppm or above, stop feeding for a day or two. The same goes for Nitrite. If it rises above 0.25ppm, stop feeding.
Let us know how things go over the next few days but get on to Ronseal ASAP and sort out the wood problem as a matter of priority. It may not be the culprit but often diagnosing a problem depends upon elliminating possibilities one at a time.
All the Best.
Alan
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 9:36 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
i have made the decision to replace the timber with ceramic floor tiles also the thatched style roof i have over the whole pond is going to have a gutter around it to stop all the water dripping off the end . i forgot to mention this earlier but the thatch on the roof also has steel in it which holds it all together and it has now gone rusty so the gutter will eliminate this . i have taken 2 of my fish down the koi warehouse and they were confirmed as being streesed (the redness and spliting fins ) he also tested my water and nitrite and ammonia are fine will keep you posted on the problem once i have removed the timber thanks jason
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 10:20 PM from IP address 84.65.30.207
I'm really glad for you that things are looking up. I went through hell and back with my new pond last year and had to learn the hard way! I know what Alan means ... I was eating, drinking and sleeping KOI!
Let us know how they fare.
Sue
Posted on Jun 18, 2005, 8:57 PM from IP address 195.93.21.38
Hi Can anyone tell me if any good deals around on vortex chambers, and a freestanding portable pools to hold 750 galls or if I can hire one for 4 weeks
Thanks Susan
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 5:39 PM from IP address 81.77.40.81
Hi Susan,
I know my local koi deeler hires out show vats to its customers as temp pools and then steam cleans them when returned (so no nasties remain). I'm sure that most good dealers would probably do the same and also koi clubs may have a few that sit around for 6 months of the year.
E-mail address attached so I can name names without advertising on the forum.
Regards,
Andy
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 8:38 AM from IP address 213.120.71.165
Depends when you need it for ? I have a 1400 gallon portable holding tank that my babys have lived in for a year with no problem, I bought it second hand for £300, In the winter I heated though and run a Aquadyne bubble bead filter from it
Hope this helps
Steve
Posted on Jun 27, 2005, 3:16 PM from IP address 195.217.51.125
I currently have a fluke problem with my KOI and have dosed pond with Formalin and Malachite first dose 8 days ago second dose 1 yesterday AM - flukes still present after scrape last evening.
Does anyone know whether Acriflavin can be used along with these two treatments and if so over what period?
Or has anyone any better ideas....
Many thanks
Tony G
Posted on Jun 24, 2005, 4:47 PM from IP address 83.67.8.153
i had flukes and was told that f.m.g is no good for them so it would'nt have worked as you say i was told to give mine superverm which cleared it up right away i had it from the koi warehouse cardiff not sure if it is anywhere else i had never heard of it before not sure about other fish but he will know in the warehouse hope this helps
Posted on Jun 26, 2005, 11:15 PM from IP address 81.79.152.145
I just did a PH test on my pond water using Pond Care Ph test kit I got at wal-mart and its reading 6.5 on the color chart. Is that a good reading or do I need to do something to lower it.. I have 31 plus fish in a pond thats got around 1,500 gals or maybe less. I did about a 20 % water change 4 or 5 days ago.
Posted on Jun 24, 2005, 1:39 AM from IP address 64.12.116.130
I'd say this is too low. If you have a pH crash, your koi may start keeling over.
As far as I'm aware, the pH range which koi will stand is approx 7.0 to 9.0 with about 7-7.5 as a good range to aim for. Your water is now acidic so you will need to buffer it with something like oyster shells to bring the pH back up.
The most important thing is stability in the level you have as long as it's in the right range to start with.
Some people use baking soda to buffer the water but this may be a bit of a severe change if you use too much.
Lots of small water changes should bring the pH up a little presuming your tap water isn't acidic.
Hope this helps.
Posted on Jun 24, 2005, 9:21 AM from IP address 135.196.99.93
Sorry Sue but I really dislike them to be honest. They are nothing more than Fancy carp in my opinion and in much the same way that I detest Bubble eye goldfish and similar genetic freaks, I detest Butterfly Koi too.
The reason I dislike then so much is that ultimately, they could damage the hobby. There is already presure to allow these things into shows and becuase they are a lot cheaper than Nishikigoi, breeders, who are largely driven by market forces, could turn their attention to breeding them instead. If enough people decide they like them, demand for Butterfly Koi could well exceed demand for quality Nishikigoi and where would that leave the rest of us?
If folks like then then fine and they are perfectly suitable for Garden ponds but have no place in a Koi pond in my opinion.
Rant over. Back to the original question.
They do well in any well filtered Koi pond and are not really any more difficult to keep than "Proper" Koi.
Alan
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 11:10 AM from IP address 213.120.101.21
4 years ago we bought 2 small bright yellow kois and after a few days they were put in our pond which is a plain hole measuring about 9m x 5m x 1,8m deep and dug with a big engine in natural clay.
So the following spring, after snow and full iced surface, when the kois reappeared we realised something was wrong for the 2 yellow ones had huge fins and tails.
During summer 2003, in the center of France, when the temperature has been wandering somewhere between 32 to 38°C in june, july and august, our fishes desappeared until september in the bottom of the pond which has no equipment at all and no shade.
They all survived and with no deceases
I don't like the way they move.
They seem to be unconfortable with those long fins althought they're very quick and we didn't manage to catch them. We want to get rid of them.
But it's just a matter of taste.
Posted on Jun 24, 2005, 12:29 AM from IP address 81.66.50.64
I have a koi which is baby blue in colour with patches of black and white over this. I have been trying to take a picture of it but its camera shy. Does anyone know what this koi would be called as I can't find any mention of blue koi on any of the charts or sites I have looked at. I will keep trying to get a pic of it. I will probably have to bribe it with some prawns.
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 12:08 PM from IP address 81.152.207.34
I have been having a look at the id chart on the central new york koi site and from the descriptions on there it has the markings of a doitsu. Could this match in with your possible id.
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 2:01 PM from IP address 81.152.207.34
If you dont have a UV clarifier on the system that will help, 25-30Watt should be sufficient. Also Barley straw bundles, floating half in half out of the water release stuff into the water that really does help. You can buy small bails in some aquatic shops. Hope this helps.
Jon
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 1:35 PM from IP address 217.158.147.247
Blanket weed is a non existant problem in my pond which is made from two inter-connected ponds with shallow areas in places just 9 inches below the surface. The water is hard which BW loves and yet Not one strand of blanket weed exists. The system behind this apparent miracle is Trickle Tower technology, a simple, inexpensive, easy to build trickle tower filter.
The following images show you a typical DIY TT I have on my system. The Barrel contains 12,000 flocor pieces, the top level of which are about 6" below the black bucket base through which the water trickles. You can just see the position of the outlet at the bottom of image 1. Image 2 shows the inlet arrangement.
My TT is fed from the surface skimmer so the basket you can see in image 2 keeps leaves and debris out of the filter. The water falls through 6mm holes drilled into the base of the black bucket which is sized to fit snugly into the hole at the top of the water butt.
Nitrate levels in my pond are zero at all times of the year and the TT is the device that does this. I would not be without one.
Hopefully, you can build a similar unit and find a place to hide it.
Alan
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 8:55 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Incidently, as well as forgetting to post my name, I forgot to mention the purpose of the large 20mm holes around the side of the black bucket. They are over-flow holes and are there to prevent water loss in the unlikely event that the 6mm holes (spaced 1 inch apart) on the base of the bucket get blocked.
Alan.
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 8:58 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Alan,
What percentage of your ponds volume do you pump through your trickle tower per hour to achieve this zero nitrate reading?
And do you keep your TT running all year bearing in mind the cooling effect it must have during our more "British" months of the year?
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 9:04 AM from IP address 213.120.71.165
I pump 1000 gallons an hour through the Large barrel TT using a Blagdon Amphibius 8000 litre pump.
I do keep my TT running all year round and this is why.
The heat loss from a pond is largely through surface/air exchange. Since my pond is unheated and the actual water droplets in the TT fall less than 6 inches in the relatively well sheltered barrel, I don't worry about the so called cooling effects. In fact, I can measure the temperature inside the TT and it is lower than ambient at the moment, in fact it is identical to the pond water temperature. In other words, the temperature is determined by the water, not by the air gap within the TT.
You don't have a howling gale blowing through the TT like you would with a Bakki shower and since the internal temperature matches the pond water temperature, clearly cooling or warming doesn't occur. Of course, the TT does practically nothing during the winter since the bacteria go dormant but they still need O2 & moisture so I see little point in turning the TT off at any time of the year.
Alan
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 2:45 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
I recently had a real problem with algae and blanket weed in my pond and was advised by the local koi dealer to use a chemical that kills the stuff, which I bought for £30. It's still sat in my shed as the solution was far simpler. I added extra airstones and the pond cleared within a week, not a hint of algae or blanket weed since.
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 11:56 AM from IP address 81.152.207.34
I am pretty on the ball where health is concerned and pond systems in general but I am no expert on Koi varieties I am afraid and my suggestion was a best guess. You may well be right with your Shusui theory Steven.
Alan.
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 2:48 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
I am pretty on the ball where health is concerned and pond systems in general but I am no expert on Koi varieties I am afraid and my suggestion was a best guess. You may well be right with your Shusui theory Steven.
Alan.
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 2:48 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Come on then Alan, why is it very pale blue in colour? What gives it that colour? You got us all wondering why pale blue and not dusky pink or hazy green. They must have explained it on QED.
When I first filled my pond and peared into it, it seemed to be a lovely British Racing Green colour!!
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 8:57 AM from IP address 213.120.71.165
They didn't actually say why but I would think its the oxygoen that gives the water the blue colour in the same way it makes the Sky look blue. That's my theory anyway!
Alan
Posted on Jun 23, 2005, 2:33 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
I am in the process of creating an excel worksheet to log the results of my water quality checks. The idea is that this will show any variations, trends or reactions to specific events (i.e treatment).
I would like to set it up to highlight the results of tests.
The problem is this, I know what the optimum levels for each test should be, but I would like to set the log up with formulae for OK, Caution and immediate action required. Can anyone advise me what these should be set at for the main tests i.e PH, Nitrite and Ammonia.
All info much appreciated.
Steven
Posted on Jun 22, 2005, 11:39 AM from IP address 81.152.207.34
I currently only do a water change every 2 to 3 weeks. This is mainly due to the expense of making the tap water safe.
Do I need to add chemicals to tap water to dechlorinate it if I am only changing a small percentage of the water. If I do does anyone know of a cost effective way of doing this i.e permanent filter or bulk purchase of suitable chemicals. My pond is approximately 3000gallons and contains 10 comets, 10 shubunkins and about 20 koi, most of which are about 20cms.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 11:55 AM from IP address 217.44.54.165
I also have a 3000gal pond and do my water changes throug a three pod water purifier which I bought off ebay for around £70. It also came with a free set of cartridges. So far I have seen it as money well spent as we do changes every week.
But would appreciate it if some could give me some idea how often the cartridges will need changing!!!
why not investigate this possibility?
Shazz
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 3:47 PM from IP address 80.176.91.232
good day
where i bought my 2pod purifier it says every 8 to 10000 gallons ,which is not bad i dont think ,good old ebay shops ,what would we do with out it
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 5:44 PM from IP address 82.36.109.44
Yes, you should use a dechlorinator for any water changes if you don't have a suitable cartridge type filter.
However, de-chlor is not that expensive.
I use Kusuri dechlor which costs less than £10 for a 500ml bottle.
If I remember correctly, the dose rate is 1ml to 10gals so if you do a 10% water change once a week, you would need 30ml of de-chlor for 300gals of water. This should work out around 62p per week.
Don't forget, you are only using de-chlor for the new water, not the whole pond !
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 4:38 PM from IP address 135.196.99.93
Now I am a little confused. I have used numerous brands of dechlorinator and one thing they all have had in common is that the instructions for all of them have stated that when calculating dosage you should calculate for the whole volume and not just the new water.
I can see how you would only need sufficient for the new water if you can treat the water before adding it to the pond, but this is not an option for me. Surely once the untreated water is added to the pond all of the chemicals etc mix with the pond water and you therefore need to treat the whole volume as per instructions of the dechlorinators I have used.
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 4:44 PM from IP address 81.155.193.214
Most bottles of de-chlorinastor will tell you how to calculate the pond volume and recommend an amount per gallon but this applies to newly filled ponds only. You do not need to de-chlorinate the entire pond when performing water changes. Just add enough to treat the amount of fresh water you are adding to the pond.
Alan.
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 7:56 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Well, thanks to all that replied. If what you say is correct ( and you have been doing this longer then I have ) I will save a fortune on my water changes. I must admit I am a little dubious still so I will try what you say and only treat the new water but keep a closer eye on my fish than normal. Worse case scenario is that they start flicking and I up the dosage of dechlorinator but it will probably all been fine and I will have spent the last year throwing money in the pond.
Thanks again.
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 8:54 AM from IP address 217.44.48.148
If you are dubious to start then just experiment with say a 100gallon water change to see how your pond/fish react.
If everything proves OK then you can up the volume changed as you think appropriate.
All I do is take a clean bucket ( kept for fish use only ) pour the right amount of dechlor for the new water volume into the bucket then get your hose pipe and add say 2-3gallons of water to mix it all up. Pour the mixed water around your pond then run your hosepipe and re-fill the pond.
Hope this helps.
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 9:26 AM from IP address 135.196.99.93
They may still flick anyway following a partial water change so don't up the de-chlorinator dosage simply on the basis of that. Koi are sensitive to slight chemistry changes in the water and in hard water areas particularly. They'll flash even on my system where tap water is run through three seperate purification filters that remove all the chlorine rather than binding it up as.
If in doubt, why not do away with declor altogether and purify your water instead? You can buy whole house carbon based filteration systems for less than £50.00 so they pay for themselves within a year anyway.
Alan
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 11:20 AM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Sounds like a much better option. Can you recommend a good filter suitable for the purpose or some websites with info as I would quite like to move away from relying on water treatments.
Thanks.
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 12:15 PM from IP address 217.44.48.148
This combination gives me a yearly cartridge cost of about £85.00 but it's a small price to pay and almost totaly offset by the savings over quality de-chlorinator.
Alan
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 3:04 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
After re building my pond after 25 years I am now after 12 months having bacteria problems The water test are all spot on and the water is gin clear however I have done a culture and it shown I have detritus in the pond. I have moved the pump up off the bottom and I am hoovering the fish poo up every day giving the pond small daily water changes to dilute, also i have started to put in Bioxal once a week , We have now decided that we SHOULD have put in a bottom drain gravity feed system. So its back to digging "no holidays this year" while we are in the throws of converting this does anyone have any ideas of the type of pool i can use to house the fish and keep the filter media alive for approx 4 to 6 weeks the pond is 3000 galls 12 fish from 8" to 24"
Alan can you advise please.
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 6:08 PM from IP address 84.68.157.226
I think for housing the Koi, a large show Vat maybe a good idea. They are available in all sorts of sizes and it's a good way of keeping most of the mature pond water too. You may be able to borrow one or get one second hand from ebay.
I take it with no bottom drain installed, you will need to take the filters down to plumb in the new pipework. What to do with the media in the meantime then.
How about getting some cheap PVC stackable containers to build a makeshift bakki shower? You could store the media in the bins, pump water from the Vat into the top tray and let the water pour back into the vat from the bottom. This should keep the water circulating, keep the media wet & well oxygoenated and serve as an effective inorganic filter too. Clarity won't be fantastic and daily vacumming of the vat would may be required unless you can turn over the contents realatively quickly, say every 45 minutes or so which is the optimum Bakki shower turnover rate.
The only other possibility and the best one of all if it can be done is to drain the existing filters, move them somewhere temporary and plumb in temporary supplies and returns from the vat. This will avoid disturbing the biofilm too much and keep ammonia & nitrite at zero.
Whatever you do, it will probably involve a pumped system with a gravity return so a low presure pump such as the Oase Aquamax would be better than a sequence which pulps up solid waste quite badly.
The above is based upon my existing plans to house my Koi when I re-design & Build my Koi pond next year.
Alan
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 8:29 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
Koi Pond rendering in Gloucestershire/Worcestershire Area
by
Could anyone recomend a company to render my 2000G blockwork pond? 2.7m square with a margin on one side. Only walls and margin require rendering 1.7m deep inside, and two sides @ ~0.8m outside. Location is in Tewkesbury. Please email me on j.r.morgan@virgin.net if anyone has a recomendation.
Thanks allot,
Regards
Jon
Posted on Jun 21, 2005, 10:04 AM from IP address 217.158.147.247
Good morning
can any one give me the right quantities of salt to use when giving a koi a salt bath .Also does one use coarse salt or fine?,table salt?.how long and how many times is one suppose to treat the koi.Is a salt bath only used for fin rot or does it cure other ailments ?
Many thanks to Allan and Sue for their valueable advice over the net keep it up .
Shane
Eastern cape
South Africa.
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 8:27 AM from IP address 198.54.202.242
Many thanks paul for the web link to salt baths .I tried it this weekend ,20g of salt per litre of water but after three minutes my two fish fell over , i manged to rescue one but the other one passed away.I also had an air line into the 60l tank .Can any one give advise on this or did i do it wrong ?.My fish where covered with a white cotoon wool like slime and not eating .
Shane
Eastern cape
South Africa
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 7:47 AM from IP address 198.54.202.242
Never treat two fish at the same time. The instant a fish rolls, particularly when weak due to disease or illness, it must be put back into fresh water instantly. In your case, the other fish was left in the salt whilst you attended to the other fish and was to weak to come round. Salt puts Koi into unconsciousness quickly and the second they roll, they are unconscious.
It sounds like your fish was pretty far gone actually and there was probablly not much you could do by the sound of it.
Alan
Posted on Jun 20, 2005, 8:05 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
I'm looking for some feedback on Bacteria House media produced by Momontaro.
I have heard some good reviews so far but thought I would just open it out to the forum to see if there has been any comments good or bad.
The forum hasn't let me down so far!!
Many Thanks in advance.
Posted on Jun 7, 2005, 3:03 PM from IP address 213.120.71.165
I second that. Mike Snaden has loads of information on his website on Bakki house media. From what I have read, heard from Maurice himself and witnessed first hand, I am very impressed with the systems ability to handle solid waste and docs and I am planning to implement a Bakki system with media on my next outdoor pond albeit withnthe shower housed indoors.
Posted on Jun 7, 2005, 7:37 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
The Bio Bac balls and the BHM are very well suited to TT applications. Flocor can also work well.
If budget is not a problem I'd go for BHM everytime.
Re the K1; firstly, I don't know of anyone who uses K1 yet in a TT.
K1 was developed for use in fluidised aplications, so I'm assuming that it won't perform particularly well in a TT application (others may disagree ?)
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 10:03 AM from IP address 86.128.187.131
I don't think Kaldnes would work in a TT. It packs down too much which is great for static fines filteration but not so good in a TT where you want loosly packed media with plenty of run-off space between the media.
Alan
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 9:42 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
A bottom in, top out system with Airated Kaldnes would be fine for Biological filteration. It really depends on what you want to filter. You cannot go far wrong with a Fluidised bed but if you are looking for nitrate reduction, trickl;e tower or Bakki shower systems is the way to go.
All the best.
Alan
Posted on Jun 19, 2005, 4:13 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
How do I identify the type of koi I have. I know it is linked to the colouration of the Koi but beyond that I have not a clue. I have just been looking at a site selling koi and they have a number of fish identified as Nigoi. I have a fish of identical colouring, does that mean its a Nigoi??
Posted on Apr 1, 2004, 12:54 PM from IP address 217.44.48.142
There are so many different japanese names flying around that it is sometimes difficult to know if the koi names given are genuine, or the name of a breeder or region. To simplify things for you, here are some of the main recognised varieties in a simplified form:-
1. Kohaku: Red on white.
2. Showa: Red & White on black
3. Sanke: Black & Red on White
4. Tancho: Red spot on head, no red elsewhere.
5. Ogon: Single colour with reflective scales
6. Asagi: Blue pine-cone pattern on top, red on underside.
7. Shusui: Related to Asagi with Diotsu scales
8. Bekko: Black on White
9. Doitsu: Means german in japanese. Scaleless in some areas, large chunky scales elsewhere.
10. Ginrin: Mother of pearl scales. This can apply to any variety, i.e. Kohaku Ginrin, Showa ginrin etc.
Many of the other varieties are a hybrid blend of the two or more of above. I hope this helps.
Posted on Apr 2, 2004, 10:35 AM from IP address 195.92.67.77
do u have to change pond water reguarly.the only change i'm currently doing is when i flush my filter bays for about 5mins and the auto top up fills the bays up again. i have a 2000 gal pond and am new to the game. any info appreciated.
Posted on Jun 16, 2005, 9:34 PM from IP address 80.42.46.160
Koi do not solely use up oxygen from the water, they are contantly absorbing minerals too, which helps their general health, eventually depleting them. The benefits of regular water changes are to dilute toxic chemicals (ammonia, nitrate etc),top up the mineral content, remove much of the solid waste and temporarily adds more oxygen.
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 11:40 AM from IP address 193.60.159.61
Mineral and trace element replacement is single most important reason for water changes. The nitrification process depletes minerals and consequently KH which as you probably know, buffers PH.
When would you exceed 20% per week? Here are a few examples:-
In an overcrowded pond (125 gallons per fish instead of 250 or 500) you may need to replace 30-40% per week.
Following a treatment regime you may need to change 50% of the water, depending upon the chemicals used.
In the event of a toxin getting into the pond a 50% plus water change would be required.
You should change 10-25% per week EVERY week, even in winter. The fish still breath, nitrification still occurs so minerals are still consumed too.
Alan.
Posted on Jun 17, 2005, 9:55 PM from IP address 213.120.101.21
