I live in South Carolina and have an ultraviolet light in my koi pond skimmer to keep the water clear in the summer months. Would it be wise to removed it in the winter so it will perhaps last longer? Also, should I turn off my water fall in the winter? Or at minimum not run it 24 hours a day? I have about 3 dozen goldfish and four koi. The water at the deepest part is about 30 inches.

I suggest that you keep everything running. The water fall is important for maintaining the oxygen level in water – you don’t want your fish to die.

In Tampa, FL the water supply is highly buffered and I can’t seem to break through the buffer to decrease the PH in my Koi pond water by the usally products that safely lower PH without killling the Koi and plants present in the pond.

Peatmoss is the simplest way to do it, since the affect is not instant, and it keeps working. The downside is that it discolours the water, needs to be replaced regularly, and will have less effect in highly buffered water – if you have very alkaline and hard water, you may notice no effect at all.

Never use bottled ‘instant’ cures, because they do not remove the elements that cause the alkaline water in the first place, and the result is always unstable water.

The truth is, your fish will do fine in the water the way it is, and the best thing is not to worry so much about it. They have a higher tolerence then given credit for.

ok, bought a home w/ a koi pond and i think the pump has gone out and i dont know how to fix it and the water has turned GREEN! i am afraid the fish will not make it out of this.

Hi Chris, Are you a complete novice in regard to fish keeping? If so I recommend you immediately join a pond forum & tell them your dilemma. You will then be dealing directly with experts & as well as probably being able to give you a ‘quick-fix’ to maintain the ponds stability temporarily they should be able to help advise with your mechanical problems as well. The link below has some you might try-good luck.

I used the "untreated" lumber that I bought from Lowes to build a walk way around my koi pond. Now I hear that may not be safe. The worry is that when the rain comes it will "leak" unsafe chemicals into the pond killing the koi. I bought this wood rather than the "treated" wood thinking it would be safe. Is this wood treated after all and when it rains will chemicals from this wood run into my pond and hurt my koi? Thanks.

The usual timber choice is cedar, redwood or other hardwoods for their natural weather toughness without treating.
If the timber you used was not treated then it should be fine. If however it was a softwood then chances are it will rot faster than you would like unless you use a non toxic water based sealant.

Have a read here for the kind of product you need.
http://www.koicarp.net/pond_construction/paints_stains/wood_stain.html

Sorry I can’t find the product at lowes, but it’s worth asking. Your best bet is a dedicated ponds supplies outlet.

I know that rock can cause disease for the fish. I have natural river rock all over my back yard. I was thinking maybe if I use pieces that are flat and about 5" that would help. Also I have a biofall waterfall and a UV light on the pond. Is it still to dangerous with koi?

the rocks on the bottom of a koi pond are great for color, but you will find that the water doesn’t cirrculate through them. I tried this with my pond and ended up getting rid of the rocks. You might try putting the rocks in certain areas on ledges and yes the bottom, but don’t cover the bottom of your pond. your fish won’t benefit from the rocks,the fish usually just rub against them and then they will start causing scratches to them selves. I don’t have any rocks what so ever in my pond, and my fish seem very happy with out them . besides the rocks do cause algae to grow faster in the water. good luck nd enjoy your pond!!!

I have a newly built koi pond for more than 2 months now but the biological filter has not fully activated. I am experiencing the ammonia spike at 2.0 at the moment due to overstock. I need to treat flukes and tapeworms but not sure if I apply PraziPro now with such a high level of ammonia, would there be any side effect to PraziPro’s treatment.

Thanks!

Read the ingredients. If PraziPro has praziquantel in it, using it while ammonia is high will not create any side effects. Additionally, there is no need to discontinue filtration while treating as "true" praziquantel does not harm beneficial bacteria. However, there is a "fake" prazi that is just called "Prazi" and does not actually contain any praziquantel in it – it is not NEARLY as effective at fluke control as real praziquantel (the powdered form), and while I know the powdered form to be very safe to use, I can’t make any guarantees about the liquid prazi, nor can I say for sure about PraziPro since I’ve never used it and do not know what is in it.

Also, be warned that flukes are very hard on koi and the longer the infestation goes on, the weaker the fish will become. It is possible that, if the stress of the flukes has been going on too long or is too great, the "cure" can be more than they can stand. Sometimes it seems that, immediately after you treat with praziquantel, the flukes actually get worse before they get better. In reality, the medicine just starts to work on them, and they get irritated, which in turn irritates the fish – so they have to get just a little more miserable before it starts to kick in and kill the flukes. Sometimes a koi is just too exhausted to withstand the treatment, and it may not survive. However, this has nothing to do with the safety or effectiveness of the praziquantel, and everything to do with the condition of the fish before treatment began/begins.

If I were you, I would do a 30% to 50% water change every day or every other day until your ammonia spike has passed. It may make it take longer for your filter to get up and running, but your fish will be healthier for it.

Once the water parameters are within tolerable ranges (ammonia and nitrites at zero, nitrates less than 20 ppm) and are likely to stay that way for the week-10 days it takes for a full round of treatment, I would treat the entire pond with Praziquantel (powdered form) AND Pro-Form C (formalin) at the same time, then salt the pond to .3%.

It wouldn’t hurt to feed your koi a medicated food (Medikoi is good) for a few solid weeks, too, to give their immune systems a little extra boost. After a fluke infestation, your koi can be extra susceptible to secondary bacterial infections like sepsis (septicemia) and the medicated food helps prevent this from developing. Of course, I say this assuming your water temps are still above 55 degrees F and your koi are not heading into their winter pseudo-hibernation any time soon….

One last tip: check out http://www.koivet.com/. It is run by veterinarian who specializes in koi and goldfish care and keeping, and has been a lifesaver for me more than once.

Hope this helps – feel free to e-mail me if you get stuck. Plus, I’d like to know how treatment goes – especially if you decide to use the PraziPro since that is a med I’m unfamiliar with. Thanks!

i need the list of stuff so i can build a koi pond in our backyard. it is a pond that measured "8×8x3". plzz can u answer my question?

Liner- I hope you mean 8×8x3 FEET, if thats the size then you should get a little bit more, or a lot more if you want a waterfall. So I would say 12×12x5 feet of liner (more is always better!

Filter/pump

Some way to dig out all the dirt

Lots of rocks

Lots of time and energy

Then there is the optional stuff, plants, decorations, etc…

Your pond would be around 1440 gallons, meaning you would only be able to fit 5 koi in there and nothing else, or you could keep 3 koi and 4 goldfish (comet or shubunkin are best to keep with koi)

I have koi, a catfish and some other pond gold fish, but what else?? Help me please!

How big is your pond? How many Goldfish are we talking and what kind of Catfish? You could consider Garra pingi pingi (basically a coldwater algae eater) as well as a very large group of Minnows (White Cloud, Rosy Red, etc.), or even some native fish, but again, this will totally depend on the size of your pond… A gallon estimate? dimensions? Anything would help…

I have a koi pond in my backyard and was wondering if there is any kind of turtle to add to it. I have heard mixed answers.

Thanks.

The only safe types of turtles to put in a koi pond are the plastic type that do not need feeding.
RES are carnivorous and will attack any fish in the pond.
All turtles will attack the fish so please do not put any in with yours.
They all can carry salmonela so could infect your fish also.

Now you can have hungry Piranha in your pocket wherever you go. The pond is peaceful, the piranha's are NOT.

TO FEED: SHAKE DEVICE TO FEED YOUR PIRANHA DELICIOUS KOI.

The koi fish food are decorated in three vibrant colors: blue and white; orange and white and black and yellow. The piranha find them all equally delicious.

3D VIEW: ROTATE DEVICE TO LANDSCAPE FOR UNDERWATER 3-D VIEW.

Hold phone in portrait mode for overhead 2D view of the action.

RIPPLING WATER: DRAG YOUR FINGER ACROSS THE WATER TO MAKE RIPPLES. HOLD YOUR FINGER IN ONE PLACE TOO LONG AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.

Drag the Lily Pads around the pond with your finger to move them.

Piranha certainly like to eat slow swimming koi fish but what else would they benefit from eating? Squid? Vulture? An old tire? We'd love to hear your feedback on how to better nourish the fish.

Duration : 56 sec

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