Approved by KOIFLA. A club member and sponsor

KOI POND vs. WATER GARDEN

Koi are routinely added to water gardens in hope to change them into a koi pond. Many water garden owners learn about koi then fall in love with them and then add them to their ponds. The biggest difference between koi ponds and a water garden is the need for Water Quality.

In water gardens there are no concerns on water quality. It does not need to clear or clean.

Water quality in a koi pond is the most important concern. Long-term health of koi is directly related to how clean and oxygenated water is at all times. And excellent visibility is needed to see the fish.

The leading causes of water quality problems are the koi themselves. Koi like any animal produce large amounts of chemical (ammonia) and solid (fecal) wastes. These wastes collect in the pond and are toxic to the fish. They also provide nutrients for algae to grow that add to water quality problems by using oxygen. This can change pH levels through the day reduces visibility and clogs filters.

To maintain water quality in a koi pond we need to be constantly eliminating waste. It needs moving water and filters to remove the toxic ammonia, heavy wastes and aerate the water. Based on design the filtration system maintenance can be monthly to weekly to daily.
Water gardens that were not intended to support large or large numbers of fish do not have adequate filter systems.

When koi are put in a water garden problems occur. Filtration is an after thought. Bottom drains and pre filters that collect the heavy solids are not there allowing it to collect in the pond or filters that clog quickly and easily. Water quality becomes difficult to maintain without major modifications some that are impossible without rebuilding the pond. The eventual result is sick fish and a frustrated owner.

There are many differences between a koi pond and a water garden like depth and size but the need for proper filtration to keep water quality excellent without daily attention is the key difference.

KHV. Maybe not!

From my experience ordinary parasitic outbreaks can look like it is KHV or worse. Many of the symptoms can be confused. One exception is that simple parasite infections can be cured.

It is amazing how fast a pond can be over run with a parasite and how fast fish will return to normal when the correct treatment is found. I have seen fish with red sores beginning one day disappear overnight after the correct medication was finally used and then the pond was cured.

One of the difficulties is in not killing the fish with kindness. In many cases antibiotics are not necessary at all and risk damage if over used. If K.H.V had been the problem antibiotics may not have helped anyway. Dosage and treatments must be exact. Sometimes nothing is better.

Quarantine for one week may not be enough time to see if the fish are going to break. It is enough time to pre-treat fish before trying to add them to a pond. Treatments for flukes or fish lice can be done in as little as four days. Other single cell parasites could be checked by a couple of different choices from salt to potassium permanganate to formalin (not all at the same time).

Some of the easiest parasites to see can be missed. Microscope exams of scrapes gill clips or fin clips can miss the bugs. I have seen fish dying that never showed they had parasites but got better right after prozi or dimilin.

Treating until they are un-symptomatic is a good protocol. If after 10 of salt or a couple of PP treatments fish are getting worse then it may be time to switch to something else like prozi. Without knowing what was wrong I would treat for flukes first and then see how they do.

Water conditions can degrade quickly from medications and antibiotics depending on what was used. Starting with treatments that have the least effect on filtration are better first choices.

Charles