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joined: Wed 30th Apr 2008
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I have a 4000 Gal setup, incorporating a convential Oase AquaMax twin inlet pump setup running through 3 Modified Yamitsu Maxi Box's and a 30w UV
I have learnt over the years that the key to keeping and growing sucessful Koi is maintaining the best water quality, feeding my koi good food especially little treats now and again like Silkworm and prawns, also feeding intervals and volume of food is critcial.
For Filtration I have found Alfagrog a good media as it has a high surface area and is good for mechanical extraction of sediments and solids, then I have the all new K1 Filter Media which many Koi keepers believe is the best, this has been added on top of Alfagrog so that a High Oxygen environment is provided near the spray bar, also I have multi-layer sponges with a colony of earthworms, a box full of Flocor coils and spindal brushs, aswell as a UV.
My main Filter and main feature of my pond is the variety of plants and Natural filters I have, surrounding 3/4 of my pond I have Granite Boulders which trap Nitrobacter behind and underneath them acting as Natural Filter media,
Then I have a large Planter on my shelf filled with Iris, I have overcome the rooting habit of koi problem by laying 3 layers of Volcanic rock (Aphagrog) on top of the Aquatic Compost which also acts as extra filter media.
Then I have 6 FLOATING planters filled with loads of WATERCRESS, each Planter of Watercress has grown into an aurial of about a Metre or so, they have all grown into each other to form one big Mass of Watercress, this now covers almost half the surface area of my big pond. Watercress is the best believe me, it is a natural Nitrate Absorber, also it purifies the water for Fish whilst providing shade for Koi if need be. Koi are happier been out of site as a result, they come out as feeding time. Watercress is also evergreen, it survives the Winter and produces hardly any waste and dead plant matter. It also adds colour and character to your pond too. Since intoducing Watercress I have lost no fish at all, and i have 24 Koi some of which are small and I have had the best year of fish Growth ever.
I have discovered that Natural methods are just as effective if not better that Technoligal solutions, supplies will encourage you to buy the latest and expensive technlogies but ive made do with the simplistic methods using Plants and Rocks in conjuction with monitoring solid input's and waste (Feeding & wasted eg. dead plant matter and leaves in the Autumn) also Stock levels of Fish, as my Fish get bigger I reduce fish numbers by selling dis-coloured or less disarable fish like Ghost Koi.
I have no been able to Upload photo's this year at all, I keep getting error message's. The photo's I have are mainly from 2008.
Anyways stockwise, I have the following:
25" Orenji Hawiwake
18" Maruten Kohaku
18" Yamabuki
18" Ghost Koi
16" Chagoi
16" Doitsu Kohaku
14" Hi Utsuri
18" Sterlet
10" Shusui
9" Sandan Kohaku
9" Sanke
8" Kin Matsuba
8" Aka Bekko
8" Shiro Utsuri
8" Yondan Kohaku
6 Ghost Koi ranging from 14" down to 6"
5 6" Japanese Koi including: Kohaku, Asagi, Sanke, Hi Showa & a Purachina
3 6" Mirror Carp
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November 25th 09 October 10th 08 Its a nice fish and it seems you take real care of em, warmer water in summer is almost certain to clear it, also ive found adding koi in a salt bath pool for a week with a heated thermostat very effective, carp pox normally occurs in cold water on young koi, they develop a resistance after recovering and rarely get it again after maturity just like us when we get chicken pox, lol. hope I am some help, you may know all this. Carp pox is very common, I have over 40 Koi and 3 off my young koi have got it, its no concern to me cos ive had it on many fish sometimes even severe and never lost one as a result, carp pox is a virus brought on by the onset of winter September 8th 08 What i meant was that the PDF will remove ANY toxicity that may be present. is a little high, i had this problem when i changed a filter set up last year, change some water and really cut back the feeding, if you are worried about your fish you could add some PDF (Pond Detox Formula) which will remove the toxicity from the water. hi,yes it is a bit high,but its not as harmfull as amonia/nitrite.i and many others i know dont even test for nitrate.you could do a 10% water change and dont feed heavy for the next week.  Koi-Lover83 @ 7:25 pm uploaded pics to a now deleted gallery September 6th 08 thats a massive filter setup, lol, ive seen those big kockney koi filters on koimonster.co.uk they look the business, youve got a good variety too, am gonna have to upgrade yet again next year I think, am gonna eithier add another yamitsu maxi box and convert it into a vortex using perspex partitions or I am gonna add a nexus 300 in place of one off my box's or in addition yeah the earthworms are still alive, they suddenly dissapear when you take the lid off, when i clean the sponge with the hose-pipe, all the wild birds feast on em, lol September 5th 08 I run a 8 bay (9 bay if you include the vortex) Kockney Koi filter. I have a vortex 1st in line followed by a large bay of brushes, a smaller bay of brushes, followed by bays of Jap matting, flocor, Jap Matting, Flocor, Alfragrog & a large final chamber of Alfragrog. I also place a large 'spawning type' filter brush in the rim of my vortex which traps a lot of solids before they can enter my filter from the vortex.
Mark Yep, I stand corrected, they certainly do look like earth worms to me too. Are they still alive? Good picture this & thw water clarity looks excellent The worms are probably dendrabenas which will live their quite happily.They do however indicate a build up of mulm within the system,be careful the filter does not go anaerobic. Hi, Nice fish there m8. I've found earth worms in previous filter set up using foam too. Think they're kept alive and thriving by constant supply of o2 and loads of food. Keep the pic coming Here's a good pic showing 5 out of my 7 large Koi, here is my orange Hariwake, red Hariwake, Chagoi, Yamabuki & Kohaku seen slightly under my chag. Koi-Lover83 @ 10:21 pm uploaded pics to a now deleted gallery If you don't mind me asking, what filter setup are you running? youve got some big fish in there, mine are gonna end up that size in a few years, il need a larger capacity filter then. Hi markymark, ive uploaded pics found inside 'my filter setup' gallery that show pictures of earthworms in my box, check em out. I don't think there larvae
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