Keeping Koi
Whether you keep your koi in a 250 gallon patio pond or a 50,000 gallon swimming pool, much of what is done is the same. Here are some rules of thumb that will keep your koi alive longer :
1) Good water is the key to successful koi keeping. And the higher the quality of koi, the better quality of water you will need.
2) Invest in good filtration. When you build a pond make sure you have the right filtration for the gallonage and don't over stock your pond. Remember that filtration is only as good as the person who maintains it and there is no such thing as a maintenance free filter! The more you put into your hobby the more you will get out of it and the happier your fish will be.
3) Oxygen does lots of good things. The fish love it, the bacteria in your filter that eat the fish wastes love it, even the water loves it. So invest in a good aerator and a waterfall does more than look beautiful; it adds lots of oxygen.
4) Quarantine! Don't add newly purchased fish to your existing stocks. Building a quarantine facility may be expensive but in the long run it could save you not only money but the heartache of losing your favorite Koi.
5) Feed koi a little bit of a high quality food, little and often is the best policy. Cheap fish foods tend to dirty the water and often have more "fillers" than the more expensive foods. If you mix small koi with large koi, make sure you feed mixed pellet size so that all the fish are getting enough food. NB. All Purdin Koi are fed exclusively on Hikari Koi foods.
6) The difference between a so-so koi keeper and a very good koi keeper is both the quality of their fish and how long they keep the koi alive. Koi can easily live fifteen to twenty years and some bloodlines don't mature until after ten years of age. So set your goals high. If you can keep koi alive and healthy for more than five years, you are a good koi keeper. The changes they go through over ten years is what makes keeping koi such a rewarding endeavor. Raising small babies, ten inches or less, to adulthood, thirty inches or more, is the ultimate in koi keeping skills. These tiny animals are incredibly beautiful and unbelievably delicate.
7) Learn how to spot problems and treat them. If you think there is a problem start with water quality, a good test kit should be an integral part of every Koi keepers equipment. Check all parameters such as pH, Nitrite, Ammonia, KH/GH, Nitrate and Oxygen. If everything is OK with the water then start to look at other possible causes such as parasites. A microscope is is another item which can be expensive but can save you money over time. Taking mucus scrapes to see if your fish have parasites and if so which ones is the only way to administer accurate treatment. NEVER add treatments to your pond if you don't know what you are treating for or if you are unsure of the pond gallonage, the chances are you'll do more harm than good. If you don't have access to a microscope ask for help in diagnosing your problem from either your local Koi dealer or your local Koi club. Learn how to spot potential problems early and deal with them appropriately and never just sit back and hope the problem will go away, it won't and the longer you leave it the harder it will be to put things right.
8) When adding city water (or tap water), let it drip into the pond over a long period of time. The fish like it better and if you forget to turn off the hose, you avoid disaster. If you have to do a water change of more than 10% quickly, make sure you have a good quality de-chlorinator to add to your pond before adding tap water or invest in a fish safe water purifier. Try and avoid large water changes as these not only affect the balance of your ponds water chemistry and therefore the environment in which your Koi live but they can change the temperature too. Although you may be attempting to improve the environment for your koi, large, sudden fluctuations in water chemistry and temperature are bad for your fish and will cause stress which can lead to other problems long term.
9) Make sure you have the right equipment for handling your Koi. A good net and bowl are essentials and always make sure they are large enough to accomodate the biggest of your Koi. If you have more than one pond and/or quarantine system, use separate nets and bowls for each and do not mix them to avoid any cross contamination if there is a problem. Disinfect and dry equipment thoroughly after use. A sock net is useful for moving Koi from one place to another, although a large polythene fish bag will do the same job.
10) Koi are coldblooded. They need slow adjustments. Part of koi keeping is learning patience. The saying: "Haste makes waste," is the perfect watchword for all koi keepers.
