Last year I ran my pond almost till the end of September without having my UV switched on, the water did not go really green until late on that month.

My thinking behind this is when the breeders in Japan put the Koi into the mud ponds for the Summer, the nutrients locked up in the mud enhance the skin of the koi. You only have to look at the vibrancy of the Koi when they are harvested.

These are photo’s of the Autumn Dainichi harvest.

If we treat our ponds in a similar way, that is conditioning the water using nutrients and clay. I certainly noticed a difference in depth of beni (red) in my Koi last year.

So if you have a well filtered and mature pond, why not give it go.
The worst that can happen, is that you cannot see your Koi.

I believe that a UV destroys more than what we think, the microscopic
critters that the Koi graze on also get sapped along with the algae.

Dave Wilson

The response to the proposed Grow & Show competition this year has been fantastic. So far 15 Koi have been ordered by NWKS members, and a few more are expected.

They will be from Richdon Koi’s Exclusive Breeder which will be shipped from Japan this April, and complete a full quarantine at Richdon Koi premises.

If you’re not on the list, and want to compete, let Colin Jones and myself know straight away. Entry fees will be collected at the March 4th NWKS meeting, Farmers Arms.

The final preparations are still under way but I can tell you that following the wishes of the majority of members, we’re going with Kohaku, these Koi will be from the Exclusive Breeder used by Richdon Koi

Here is the list so far:

• Mal and Helen Jones
• Colin Owen
• Colin Jones
• Dave S Wilson (wants 2)
• Ken Williams
• Danny West
• Martin Rocliffe
• Graham and Trish Giles (wants 2)
• Allan & Kath Lamb
• Dave Evans
• Dave Wilson
• Ian Mooney
• Nigel and Maureen Sambrook

The two possible dates for choosing your koi and then taking it away to its new home (and purpose built 6,000 gallon, 25° Growing on tank?) are:

Saturday 24th May
or
Sunday 22nd June

I will let you all know ASAP which day we pick, but pencil them in your diaries now! The selection will either be at Colin Jones’s or my house.

Before the pick-up day, everyone will have a number randomly selected from a hat. Ticket Number 1 will get first choice (say at 11:00am) Ticket 2 will get second choice at 11:10am, and so on. I’m trying to arrange that there are a couple of extra Kohaku so that the last NWKS member to select has 2-3 Koi to choose from. Each Koi will be photographed and carefully measured before being bagged up and taken home.

The completion will be Judged by Greg Sutton (experienced Koi keeper, Richdon Bulletin Board moderator, and hopes one day join the JSC training program as a BKKS Judge). Results will be announced in 2009.

Two prizes will be awarded:

• Best Growth achieved.
• Best Quality Koi.

Examples of Exclusive Koi that will be selected by Richdon Koi for the Grow and Show

If you have any questions, let me know. In the meantime, Happy Growing!!

Martin

The North Wales Koi Society marked its return to holding monthly meetings at the “Farmer’s Arms” pub, Rhaullt with a superb presentation given by Jasper Kuijper, Commercial Director for Evolution Aqua (EA).

The club has enjoyed the support of EA in the past with sponsorship of the Koi Photo Show and of course technical advice for members using NEXUS, EazyPod etc. Jasper’s talk was a much anticipated bonus.

Great Turn out

Turn out on the night was one of the club’s best for a long time, reinforcing the NWKS passion for Koi and friendliness.

Kaldnes K1, Eazy, Nexus and Cetus

Jasper covered a variety of topics including the new developments in Filtration and Koi Food. The level of research and design that has obviously gone into Kaldnes K1, Eazy, Nexus and Cetus is absolutely mind blowing!

Slides and video were used to show detailed explanations of Bio-film development on the surface of K1, the mechanical trapping of waste by the Eazy, and the fascinating possibility of linking a Cetus sieve in line with a Nexus 300 using a balance pipe.

There was also some discussion around whether our basic assumption of Bacterial colonisation of filters by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter is correct. We may need to rewrite the Books!

Some of the photos and data Jasper showed us on the topic of Koi food and Koi growth & development were brilliant.

With the NWKS ‘Grow and Show‘ competition scheduled for June, we’ll all be employing Jasper’s recommendations to achieve maximum growth from our Richdon supplied Kohaku.

Many thanks Jasper and Evolution Aqua!

Martin
www.northwaleskoi.co.uk

Underwater Koi Cam Test No.1

Underwater Koi Cam Test No.2

Initially he thought it was a wrong delivery from Richdon Koi, Confused but Richard & Donna soon put him straight. It was not from them!!

It was a prize from ‘Koi Magazine’ and Kusuri, as in the April edition they’d printed his letter and photos about his family Holiday in Hawaii last year.
Well Done Martin

This is a photo of the Koi Pond at the Pagoda Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii.
The pond holds about 20,000gals and nearly a 1000 Koi, which also had some superb Japanese Gardens.

This is a photo of the Japanese garden at Honolulu International Airport.

Colin Jones, and then Greg Sutton from Richdon Koi Bulletin Board both suggested a high bacterial level in the pond may be aggravating other underlying problems (e.g. Over stocking, Introducing new Koi that had not been QT’d properly). The finger of suspicion turned to my Filters, particularly the Vegetable filter.

My Filter maintenance is pretty good, with regular flushing of the Bottom Drain and Vortex/Answer chamber. I also regularly flush the K1 chamber until the drain off runs clear. On Saturday 9^th Feb I dismantled my K1 chamber, and to my horror found a layer of non moveable sludge in the bottom, under the perforated Stainless steel shelf. A possible hiding place for bacteria of the unwanted variety! I also stripped out the Vegetable filter, through which about 30% of the return water from my main filter passes.

After 2 years of running, the base of the 8 inches of gravel was “Rank”!!!! Anaerobic Heaven.

I’ve sketched below the original plan of the Vegetable filter, and the new lay out.

Original Layout of Vegetable Filter

Basically I’m reversing the flow, and also doing away with the Gravel in favour of a perforated plastic shelf. This will support my plant pots (Iris, Sedge grass, Marigold etc). The Jap Matting will also catch more solids that get through my main filter. This whole set up can be dismantled and cleaned with a Pond vac in minutes.

New Layout of Vegetable Filter

I’m also now lifting my underwater lights out of the pond and positioning them just above water level. My Venturi where warm water returns to the pond from the skimmer and Boiler /Heat Exchanger is now also out of the way of nosey Koi. With less protrusions and lower stocking levels, injuries should be minimised.

Hopefully, my remaining Koi will survive now. I’m trying Zinocef and topical treatment with Betadine where needed.

My pond problems seems to have crept up on me over several months. This made diagnosis even more tricky as you just can’t spot any trends. Assuming (and hoping) that I’ve started to crack the problem now, I’ll implement the following steps to prevent it happening again:

1. Lower stocking levels

2. Build a QT any quarantine all new additions

3. Avoid injuries to Koi with Underwater protrusions etc

4. Increase frequency of filter maintenance, especially the Vegetable filter

5. Install and extra air pump to increase the amount of air into my Pond and Filters and so reduce chances of dead spots and anaerobic activity.

6. Weekly addition of Magic Powder and Super C to improve water quality, clarity and Redox potential and reduce DOC.

7. Weekly use of Virusure to maintain lower levels of Bacteria and Viruses in the pond water

I hope this information is helpful to some of you,

Happy Koi keeping

Martin

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I would recommend turning off, any waterfalls or Venturi’s. Filter returns above the water level should extend so that the water returns below the surface. These add cold air, which chills the water. Keep your filter pumps running, but you can turn the UV off. Bacteria levels will reduce in the cold water, but the Koi still excrete ammonia through respiration. Continue to do your filter maintenance and water changes, but this can be done every two weeks.

Unheated ponds should be checked every day to ensure every thing is still operating normally.

Food

As the temperature falls below 15degC towards 10degC, start reducing the feeding to once every few days with a wheat germ food. This helps the slower digestion rates seen at these lower temperatures. When the temperature falls below 10degC, it is time to stop feeding altogether and let the fish go dormant. The Koi will come to no harm by not feeding, as their metabolic rate and activity drops and therefore the need for food.
This dormancy is sometimes a necessary cycle, especially for females greater than 3 years of age. The cold, dormant period forces the females to re-absorb the eggs that were not used in spawning. Otherwise the eggs will harden in place, and cause complications in future years.

Insulation

The best way of stopping the pond from chilling is to fit a cover. A cover stops
the wind chilling the water surface. The idea is to stop the water temperature
falling to dangerous levels for your Koi < 5deg C.
A pond cover can be one that is specially made to exactly fit the shape of your pond; several Koi outlets can get them made to size. All you have to do is supply a template from builder’s plastic sheeting.

The cheaper option is to make your own, with timber frame with Bubble wrap stapled to it. The secret is to make a top, front and two sides, which slope to the back; this stops water and snow from collecting on the bubble wrap and making it sag. 2” x 1” roofing battens are adequate. Double up on the bubble wrap, simple double-glazing. Do not forget to leave a gap for the gases to escape. Also bubble wrap can used for insulating pipes within the filter bay.

Water Quality

Continue to do water parameter checks frequently throughout the winter, having a cover on the pond causes condensation which can run down into the water, some believe that this condensation can lower the pH of the water. If your water is soft and the pH is at the low end of the scale, i.e. 7 - 7.2, it is quite easy to get a pH crash, with the pH dropping down to dangerous levels for your koi, so keep a check on it and your koi will over winter quite happily.