Koi Blog

There is always discussion about the practice of quarantining fish the hobbyist has purchased prior to adding the fish to the pond. Some folks say that is definately necessary while others say it is a waste of time. I am a true believer in the practice, IF it is done correctly. The following is an article written by Dr. Erik Johnson and is used with his permission. I hope this will help answer some of your questions.

Quarantine-by Doc Johnson

Quarantine is the best method to reduce disease introduction. Let me outline a quarantine facility and protocol as if the fish we are discussing were quite valuable.
First, a large facility is required, 100-150 gallons is good.
It should have a fully cycled filter sponge or other type of effective nitrification system, fully operational.
A quarantine with bad water is infinitely worse than no quarantine at all.
Temperature should be 72 to 78 degress in the quarantine. People heat their fish to 86 degrees to kill Ich and it ends up accelerating bacterial overgrowth and decreasing oxygen capacity of the system. pH should be supported with a neutral buffer dosed according to label instructions.
You should dose the quarantine with 0.3% plain uniodized salt (3 tsp per gallon) The quarantine should be completely covered or you can float some foam on the surface. Koi like to jump out, and that can be costly. You should check the ammonia and pH in the quarantine daily. Ammonia should be ZERO. pH will normally crash in quarantine unless buffered.
You should feed antibiotic food during the stay in quarantine.
Finally, the quarantine should be of a 14-21 day duration, so long as the water quality can be supported with changes, ect. as needed.

Here it is, the middle of winter when most hobbyists tend to allow their ponds to go dormant. Generally there is not a whole lot to do, except check to see if the water is still circulating. But before we know it, spring will arrive. It will be time to begin enjoying our ponding once again.

Just as sure as spring follows winter, I will begin to get frantic phone calls from customers or potential customers about a problem with their koi. And usually, the problem stems from some sort of parasitic infestation that was undetected or wasn't an issue in the fall. Many times people take a wait and see attitude and find themselves with a koi which is badly stressed from the parasitic condition, causing a compromised immune system. This makes it even harder to nurse the koi back to good health.

I highly recommend that koi keepers have a supply of medications on hand when spring arrives. The main items to have, just in case are:

Potassium Permanganate - for parasites, fungal or bacterial issues, oxidizes organic matter

Dechlorinator

Praziquantel - best for fluke eradication

Tricide Neo - for bacterial ulcer disease

Proform C - formalin and malachite green for disease caused by paasites and fungal issues

Koizyme - eliminates aeromonas and pseudomonas-enhances beneficial bacteria

Test kits (Ammonia, pH, Nitrate and Nitrite)

Plain, uniodized salt (enough to add 3# per 100 gallons of water)

Medicated Koi Food (such as Medikoi)

Koi Health & Diseases book by Dr Erik Johnson

Having these items on hand and ready to use can allow you to head problems of at the pass, thus allowing for a less stressful spring for both you and your koi!

posted by PondRX News @ 2:09 PM  0 Comments

Almost every week, I am contacted by one of our Canadian neighbors who is looking to purchase my products. The Canadian market would be a wonderful market to tap into. Many of the products that I offer are not readily available there and the hobbyists are at wits end trying to save their sick fish. However, although I am eager to help where I can, there are some major obstacles that prevent me doing so in a timely fashion. Although in most cases I can ship the product the same day as I receive the order, I have no control of what happens once the package leaves my business.

All packages, whether sent UPS or via U S Postal Service wind up going through customs. The average time a package spends in the hands of customs is about 7 days. If the customs service decides to let it continue on to the customer, valuable time has passed. In many cases, the fish has taken a turn for the worse or has died by the time the customer receives the medication. The customer is also charged a customs fee that they are required to pay upon arrival. All of this causes the customer to have a bad experience.

I have the names and phone numbers of two Canadian suppliers that I gladly share with folks who are in a terrible hurry to save their fish but the suppliers can't get certain medications legally in Canada.

So my point here is that although I am able to ship to Canada, the long time between ordering and delivery makes it an unpleasant experience if your fish are sick. Ordering to have on hand just in case is the way to go, in my opinion.

I am entering into 2008 with much anticipation of a productive year for Pondrx.com. First of all, I have added a blog/newsletter. This will be an extremely effective tool for communicating new trends, special promotions and helpful hints to make our koi keeping experience more fun and rewarding. I encourage your comments and feedback.

Also for 2008, I am testing and adding some new products to my offering. I am still going to be very picky as to what I carry and will TRY to only carry products I believe in. Your input here will also be welcomed.

Another thing I am working on is to add some links to websites that I feel will be helpful to my visitors. Here again your suggestions will be welcomed.

I truly feel that this year is going to be the best ever for all of us. Let me know what you think!