Keeping Your Koi Pond in Good Condition
Water Quality
Having a suitable filtration system in your pond is essential. There are two type of filtration, mechanical and biological. Mechanoical filtration removes solids such as dead algae, insects and fish waste from the pond whilst biological filtration causes a nitrogen cycle which removes dissolved waste from your pond. Without some form of biological filtration, the build up of waste will turn into ammonia and kill your fish very quickly. It is vey important to ensure that you have enough filtration to to sustain the size of your pond as well as the size and quantity of Koi contained in it.
Ensuring that your Koi pond is clean can make the difference between a happy fish which will live a long and healthy life and a fish which will suffer due to it's environment and evetually die from it. Remember that your pond is not only a place for your fish to live, sleep and eat, but also excrete their waste. After all how would you like to live surrounded by your own waste?
The water in your pond should almost be completely clear. There should be no floating or suspended dbris in it and you Koi should appear as if they are floating on air. If you cannot see the bottom of your pond then that is a sure sign that it is not clean enough.
Keep Essential Supplies On Hand
When you get your first Koi pond, It can be very easy to become overwhelmed with the number of things you will need to maintain your Koi pond properly. Most of these items are totally necessary to the proper maintenance of your pond and you should not worry too much about the feeling of being overwhelmed, all you need to know is how each if these items function and will understand why they are needed.
Due to the fact that your pond is situated outside you will find that emergencies do happen so you will need to keep certain items to hand at all times. You do not want to be caught in a situation where an item is urgently needed but you have no way of getting it.
Do Not Overfeed Your Koi
If you overfeed your Koi then you can cause water quality problems. Where our Koi living in a natural environment, they would not eat nearly as they will living in your pond. remember, the larger gthe quantity of food you give to your Koi, the larger the amount of waste that they will produce. Overfeeding your Koi can cause water quality problems for two main reasons, firstly due to the extra waste that you fish will be producing and secondly due to uneaten food sinking to the bottom of your pond and spoiling. You must remember to Vacuum the bottom of your pond out as much as you can and ensure that all drainage systems are functioning correctly.
Prevent Common Illnesses
It is a good idea when you purchase new Koi, to quarantine them from your existing population for at least 15 days. The Koi Herpes Virus (KHV) is activated at exactly 74 degrees Farenheit, knowing this allows you to expose your new Koi to the right conditions for a long enough length of time to see if the disease shows itself. If your new Koi can live in this environment for this long and not show any signs of KHV then there is a substantially smaller chance that it will have he virus.
When you quarantine your new Koi, it should remain under total isolation. In other words, you should not allow anything that comes into contact with the quarantined fish to come into contact with your existing Koi population. You should use seperate tools, food and water for your quarantined Koi, and they should always be kept in the same are as they where used. You must also remember to use a proper hand washing procedure when handling both Koi and Koi items within the same time period.
By quarantining new Koi you will greatly reduce the risk that your existing population are exposed to any viruses but you will not guarantee it.
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