Practical Koi Keeping

• Observe fish first• Should be active,

schooling,

”grazing”-specially in early morning and afternoon

• Look for solitary fish, lethargic at pond’s bottom

• Look for obvious wounds, frayed fins, red spots , or visible blood vessels

• All signs of stress• Something causes-

overcrowding, poor water quality , parasites

Water Quality

• pH- should be between 7 and 9 and stable

• Naturally wants to become lower (acidic)

• Unchecked, can have pH crash

• KH must be >80 for good filtration, > 150 for bead filter

• For both add baking soda• 12 lb bag at Sam’s or

Costco = $5• I check KH and add 5 lbs

for my 3500 gal pond if KH is less than 150

• Also check for ammonia , need Amquel if present

• Almost impossible to overdose

• pH stable at 8.3

Water Quality

• Ammonia & Nitrite should be 0 except in new pond/ filter or if

biofilter is damaged• I check once /month• Nitrates < 40 ppm• Water change to correct

• Minimum of 10%/ week or 25%/ month

• The more the better• Drain, then replace, not

just adding what has evaporated

• Always use Sodium Thiosulfate or Amquel if on city water

• Good to know chlorine level

Use of ORP for water quality detection

• > the ORP the less polluted the pond

• < 150 poor water quality

• 150 – 200 lots of algae

• 200-250 OK, but good potential for problems

• 250 – 400 Great !

How to increase• Increase flow rate;

minimum 1.5 X /hr• Add aeration• Better /clean

mechanical filtration• Decrease fish load/

increase biofiltration• Water change

If Koi are acting ill

• Check & change water

• If koi improve, maintain water quality

• If not, will have to catch and examine

• Ask for help if haven’t done before

• Don’t fix it if it aint broke !

Preventative measures

• Quarantine , Quarantine, Quarantine !

• If you do not have adequate quarantine facility, ask other club members for help

• Always treat plants with potassium permaganate or bleach method (see this month’s “KOI” pg. 57) prior to putting in pond