Articles and Help from North Wales Koi Club

Summer is the time that we should be enjoying our Koi, there is nothing to beat sitting by the pond on a warm summer evening
enjoying a cold beer or glass of wine, watching the Koi looking for any morsel that might come their way.

Food
With increased water temperatures, the Koi should be feeding well, and putting on the reserves that will see them through the next Autumn and winter. It is essential to use a good quality koi food, it is false economy to use cheap food as most of these foods are
made up of bulking ingredients, which are not any benefit to the Koi and will also increase waste into the filters.

Filters
An eye should be kept on the water parameters as the increased feeding will be an extra load on the filters, weekly filter maintenance should be carried out religiously, with no more than 5% water changes. Only clean filter media with pond water, as using a hosepipe from the tap will kill any bacteria colonising the media.

Try to clean media in rotation. i,e not all at once. Addition of more filter bacteria will help to replace any bacteria displaced. Top up water through a mains water filter.

Air
One very important factor to healthy Koi keeping is the amount of air that is supplied to the pond, especially on warm nights Oxygen depletion is at it’s highest, Koi particularly the larger specimens will suffer, it has been known that losses will occur if there is not enough air going into the pond. 40L/Min per1000gals. Would be a good starting point.

An air diffuser bottom drain is the best option, this provides air without the needs of unsightly pipes,an air diffuser bottom drain needs to fitted during the pond build. Stand alone air diffusers or large air stones are the next option but a waterfall can also provide added air.

Dave Wilson