The breeders we have bought our stocks from this year have all been tested Negative for KHV/SVC.
They are tested by the Japanese Government. I have received their certificates from the breeders which you can click below to see. We will also be testing them again during their time in Quarantine.
Some of the certificates are dated May/June 2009. The testing for this year has been completed and the breeders know the results and are waiting on the new certificate to arrive, as soon as they get them I will update here.
Japan is where the world’s very best Koi come from. There is little argument on this subject; it’s pretty much a fact. There are Koi breeders all over the world producing a good standard of Koi and sell many. Koi from Japan are a very small part of the worlds Koi market. I would estimate less than 10%. The rest of the Koi being either bred within certain countries or imported from places like Israel, China, Taiwan and Malaysia.
I have been to Japan around 30+ times up to now. I first visited when I was 16 years old. Since then I have rarely missed a year. Japan is one of the greatest places on the planet, and to be able to visit while doing the job I do is just an added bonus. The learning curve from visiting Japan is very steep and you do need to go on a few trips before you can really take everything in. It’s a place where no matter how good you are with Koi there are far greater people in Japan.
There are only certain times that a Koi enthusiast can visit Japan to see Nishikigoi.
January which is when the ‘All Japan’ is held you can also visit the mountains and Southern Japan, be warned that the snow in Niigata will be VERY bad. Snowfall is in the metres and not inches. Getting around is very difficult but possible. They clear roads in super quick time but with 10 feet walls of snow all around you it can get a little disorientating to say the least. It is a very nice and relaxed time to go though. The Breeders are very accommodating and welcome visitors like they always do.
March is a very busy period for dealers from around the world; this is a time when the breeders ‘Tateshita’ or General grade Koi are now ready. From when they were bred last May/June they have been in mud ponds and then harvested and kept in heated water all through winter. The breeders have selected the bulk of their ‘Tategoi’ (Koi with potential) the wholesalers are now buzzing all over the area to make sure they get the first pick of these Koi. They do not actually pick them but broker the deal for ponds of fish rather than individuals. The Wholesalers are VERY important to the Japanese breeders; imagine how many Koi sales places there are around the world that sells Japanese stock from say £5 upwards. There are a lot. In Europe alone there must be thousands. The typical medium size breeder in Japan has around 5-8 sets of parents. These will produce somewhere in the region of 4Million eggs, sometimes more! After the relentless culling process which all breeders do, in March they are left with about 5000 Koi. 500 of these Koi will be classed as their Tategoi. The other 4500 will be sold to wholesalers and dealers. The 4500 are not by any means low class. A Koi breeder only has so much room to grow their Koi in the summer, don’t forget they will breed again and need the vital fry ponds. A Medium breeder will have anywhere in the region of 50 Mud ponds including fry ponds which will usually be around 15 ponds. The rest are to grow last year’s Koi which are now ‘Tosai’ (1 year olds) the previous year’s ‘Nisai’ (2 year olds) the previous year’s larger fish which range from 60cms all the way to 90cms. They also must have separate mud ponds for their sets of males and females.
April time is the time when serious collectors can be seen in Japan, and high class dealers looking for very high class Tosai. The breeder who has his 500 tategoi still has too many, but they are all worth keeping if he had the room. Even if he acquired more mudponds the line must be drawn somewhere or it could go on and on. This would mean bigger Koi houses, more staff, more trucks and more bills. The majority of Niigata breeders are very small one man businesses who have help as and when they need it. The decision to go larger is sometimes not a choice so the lines must be drawn. I will give an example of Shintaro who will grow in the 400 out of the 500 Koi he has kept back as Tategoi. The remaining 100 pieces have been kept in a warmer climate all winter; they are 50% bigger than his Tateshita which he will hope to sell in Bulk so they are valued much higher. They are also in demand. The only problem being is the sex of the fish, at this size it is very difficult to determine between male and female. A lot has been written on the subject but sexing Koi by sight and feel is nowhere near 100% accurate. Guaranteed Tosai do get sold however. These are usually found in very high class auctions around Japan. The breeder will give a guarantee on certain fish which are sold. This is due to the size of the fish. Tosai can actually get to 50cms in a very short amount of time and sexing them then becomes easier. These Koi will cost though. A recent Auction in Japan sold a 1 year old Koi for over £25,000 and I’m sure there are more expensive examples being sold from individual farms. So clients would require some guarantees. Of course this is a rare occurrence and by no means standard practise but to find any Koi in Japan which is classed as ‘Tategoi’ will always be expensive, Someone once said “There are cheap Koi but there are no good cheap Koi” This is a very factual statement, In the Koi industry you really do get what you pay for.
May and June is breeding time in Japan. I have been lucky enough to experience this first hand and it is truly amazing. The work that goes into breeding the koi is huge and often forgotten. The breeding process is dont kind of naturally, the female is placed into a pond with 3 male fish to ‘chase’ her and get the party started! As soon as the female drops a single egg the breeder steps in and takes the males out. The female is then left for 45 minutes to complete ovulation. She is then placed into a bag with anaesthetic already mixed into it. When she is sedated the breeder simply picks her up and ‘pours’! With very little pressure the eggs just slide out with little effort. Its really great to see. The breeders preferred male is then taken and also sedated. The breeder then removes the milt manually with a pipette and mixed into ringers solution and mixed with the eggs. The reason the breeders use this exact method and dont let the Koi just spawn in the pond is because they can guarantee every egg will be fertilised, which will mean more fry to cull from. In Go-Sanke the Sanke and Kohaku are moved straight into a fry pond which are shallow mud ponds to hatch naturally and will be culled first after 40 days. Showa will be placed in hatching nets within a mud pond because they can be culled 5 days after hatching. These pictures were taken when I stayed with Shintaro during the breeding season.
October is for me and most peoples the very best time to visit Japan. This is ‘Harvest time’!! The Niigata Mountains are buzzing with guests from most countries in the world, UK, Ireland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Italy, America, Canada, Thailand, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and many more…It’s a time to meet up with people who have made the journey many times before and people who are making it for the very first time. Every breeder in the area now has a harvest schedule; a lot of these can be visited by guests to the area. A lot of the mud ponds contain Koi which clients have left in Japan to grow over the summer. This is a common sight in Japan, the costs of keeping Koi in Japan is not expensive but the risk is down to the individual client. It’s a very worthwhile thing to do. A typical 2 year old Koi can be left and grown in the breeder’s mud pond for around 30,000Yen, larger Koi around 50,000Yen. Some breeders do charge a further premium to grow Koi in their ‘Number 1’ pond. In general it can be a very good way of getting the potential out of an expensive Koi which you could not do in an average Koi pond at home.
Harvest time also brings a lot of knowledge to people who visit Japan each year or every other year. First time visitors will see Koi like they have never seen before, real top end quality fish, whether they are within budget or out of budget. My point being that some of these Koi will go back into the mud ponds the following year and the same person who visits at the same time the year after and goes to the very same harvest will not only see the same Koi come out, they will also see how the Koi has progressed. How the body has developed, how the pattern has changed, how the skin is now better, how big this size of fish gets. It will help that person understand different breeder’s bloodlines and much more. This will give people an insight and far better knowledge for all future purchasing if this is in Japan or back home. It can be a much more than a ‘holiday’.
During the October and November Harvest season there are thousands of mud ponds which will be harvested. Some of the big breeders will pull 5 ponds per day, every day for 3 months! One example is Marusei Koi farm in Niigata which has around 400 mud ponds and only 5 members of staff! Each pond must be harvested and brought back to their numerous facilities to be sold. At this particular Koi farm you must go back 2 or 3 times each day because new fish are arriving all the time. The staff will start work at 3am and finish at 10pm; it’s a crazy work load. This work load will not ease up until the last visitor has left the mountains and the last box of fish has been shipped to one of the many destinations throughout the world.
Much has been said about the Earthquake of October 2004 in the Niigata area. This destroyed many Koi Breeders business and also cost far too many lives. A lot has been written in many articles since the event so I would like to write about the changes it has had upon the Japanese breeders.
My personal opinion is that every cloud has a silver lining. The Koi that are being produced now are far better than they were pre earthquake. The entire dynamic of the mountains has really changed. Most Koi breeders lost many parent Koi which if they wanted to stay in business they had to replace. A few years prior to the Earthquake in 04 the Koi breeders in the south such as Momotaro and Hiroshima Sakai were breeding much larger fish in comparison to the Niigata breeders, many in Niigata were worried about the situation and some were trying to take steps to fix this. In many ways the Earthquake did this for them. I will use Yamamatsu Koi farm as a prime example. He did breed good Koi before the Earthquake but they were of typical Matsunsouke bloodline, small and thin until they were old enough to fill out. The average size of his Nisai was about 50cms, which was the average in the entire area. After the Earthquake the whole farm changed its direction. They got new parent Koi and started to breed larger bodied fish, not just general grade Koi either, they were among the best Nisai ever to be seen. The combination of new mud ponds, new parent Koi and a fresh passion to fight have now made Yamamatsu Koi Farm easily in the top 10 Koi breeders in the world. This isn’t a one off case either. Many other Koi breeders have become much better than they were before, some still haven’t quite got there but they are so close.
When the Earthquake happened the area was devastated so badly. It has taken years and years to get the area back into shape where it’s all accessible. I travelled back to the mountains the following spring and was one of the very few people who were granted a pass which enabled me to drive through as far as was possible. No breeders were living in their homes, it was not safe enough. They were however allowed back to their homes and to keep the generators going to power up the ponds with the fish they had left. It wasn’t until 2006 that work actually got started again. Work prior to then be repairs and making area’s safe again so the re-building could carry on. In 2006 new roads and tunnels started to pop up, for people who had been visiting the mountains before the earthquake would have to double take at a lot of turnings to make sure they were going the right way. At the end of 2007 all the major routes were now accessible from all directions, new roads and tunnels were opened throughout 2008. The area is almost complete but it’s very different. Walls of concrete are still visible around the mountains; new damns and water routing are spread between many famous views from the past. Many people who lived in the mountains however did not return. The government build new houses on the ‘flat land’ in Nagaoka and re-housed many people who had lived in Yamakoshi for generations; it really was a terrible disaster. The pictures underneath were taken by Alan Coogan who found himself and his Wife Janet stuck in the mountains. They had to walk back to Nagaoka.
The good news now is that all the breeders are in full flow, new homes have been built for everyone who ran business from the area, and new schools have been built so the kids now have somewhere local instead of the 50minute drive they had to endure while repairs were being done. The whole area and project to re-build is a credit to the Japanese government. They could have re-housed everyone in brand new houses far cheaper than what they did by re-building the mountains. It was very lucky for the people living there whose families had lived there for 400 years and also very lucky for us who buy the very best Koi from this tiny area.
The Koi breeders now are going from strength to strength. The Koi being produced are far better than what were produced before the earthquake and the numbers of koi are growing and growing. The sights are still there for everyone to see, the famous layers of mud ponds, the breeders running around in tiny pickup trucks, the roads where you get half way down and then start to wonder why you even started to drive down there with sheer drops on both sides, the characters who are at the auctions and events. It is still very much a magical place to visit and still the best place in the world for those who like to Koi hunt.
I must admit that I am by no means an expert on Southern Japan. I was brought up with the mountains of Yamakoshi and never felt the need to visit the South. Even in Japan there is a North South divide. I do know however that some of the best Koi ever produced come from Southern Japan, most recent Grand Champions in Japan have come from this area, they get better weather which in turn they get better growth. Breeders such as Sakai Hiroshima, Momotaro, Omosako and many more who have produced some of the best Koi ever to be produced. Im sure in the very near future my experience in the south will develop.
Building a Koi pond does NOT have to be a difficult project. They really are quite simple to build.
With the technology now on the market, pond filtration has been made much smaller than its predecessors and they have become far more efficient and easy to install than ever before.
It’s the old cliché which is used in every industry the world over. ‘Do it once, do it right’ I can imagine a lot of people reading this article who are now on their 3/4th pond project and wishing they had done it the first time.
Research is the key to building a good pond. We now have a wealth of knowledge coming from the Internet and magazine’s…but most importantly your local Koi dealer. See what they are using on their own systems. After all the health of the fish and quality of the water is their most important business tool.
I am not going to preach to you on what filter you should buy or which is the best filter on the market. There are many designs all which will do a job, it’s just some will do it better than others. Its no great secret when you look at what I use at UKNishikigoi are all Nexus filters.
The most important thing when building a new pond is a bottom drain. It’s so easy to add one when you build a pond, and it’s vital to your Koi pond. In fact your bottom drain is as important as the type of filter you will add to the system. Just step back and think about it. If you have a pond and you ‘bench’ the base of the pond so everything falls into one spot in the middle, it makes sense to have a drain there to take away all the debris. This way there are no pipes or pumps in the pond, Koi will find anything in there to rub against which will cause damage. Using the bottom drain will make your pond into a gravity system which means the water level in the filter will be the same as the water level in the pond, when you attach a pump to the outlet on the filter to pump water back then this will cause the pull through the bottom drain, which means the force on the external pump will pull all the debris from the pond floor into the filter where it belongs.
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A pump fed system could not achieve this. The pump would be at one side of the pond and debris can settle on the other side of the pond because there are no falls on the base of the pond. A lot of people also raise the pumps in the pond. A ‘gravity’ system would mean the bottom of the pond would always be clear of debris, which would mean nowhere for any bad bacteria to live and go onto cause greater problems in the future. There would never be a need for a pond vac either; the maintenance saved by having a gravity system is massive.
Common sense will prevail in the filtration situation. If it looks too good to be true then take my word for it, it is. A small black header tank filled with a few pieces of chopped up pipe or hair rollers in an onion bag really isn’t going to filter your 2000gallon pond. It’s just impossible.
I appreciate that modern filtration can be very expensive. Add on the water pumps, Air pumps, Ultra Violet UV’s, pipe work and fittings, Heaters etc. I also appreciate by being in the business for over 15 years that customers can be VERY impatient and want the ponds finished as soon as possible which will cause corners to be cut. My advice is to sit down, research and wait until your budget can afford the right system. Of course many things can be added on at a later date but get the basics right and the rest will follow. If you cannot get the heating then make sure you have altered your pipe work so that you can add heating in the future with ease and speed. Put in a skimmer which cost very little and valve it so you can add the pump later. Just think about the system really.
The correct filtration unit is only as good as the media which is used. Again there are many on the market which can be used. Some ‘complete’ systems will come with media included. These are the systems I would advise buying. The main priority on a filtration system is to have as little ‘muck’ as possible. A good mechanical filter is vital to remove all large solids; this will then give the biological side of the filter the best chance to get the system mature. The bacteria are the most important ingredient. This will make sure your water is perfect which in turn means the Koi are perfect.
Mechanical filtration comes in many shapes and forms. Huge settlement chambers, vortex chambers, brush chambers etc have been used for many years now and have done the job they were designed to do. Modern day mechanical filtration has moved on. Gone are the days where we get covered in ‘muck’ each weekend by banging filthy filter brushes against the wall. Cleaning out big old settlement chambers and discolouring the water for days after. We now have such things as ‘pond sieves’ which consist of a stainless steel plate with 300 micron holes which your water passes over. They take all the large solids from your bottom drain and let clean water go straight through to the biological chamber of your filter, nothing could be easier. They can be cleaned in 30 seconds too!
These units will not only help achieve a perfect environment for your Koi they will also save on room in your filter area. There are many sieve type systems on the market today and as of writing they are fantastic and vital to a new Koi pond.
Speaking to other Koi keepers before starting the build will really help, the amount of mistakes will be really cut down (And we all make them no matter what level of experience we are at)
The exact same thing can be said about the actual dig. Something worth remembering is that the filter and pumps for a pond can be the same for a 2000gallon pond as a 7500gallon pond. The cost and everything can be the same. The increase in cost is on the actual hole and the finish.
With new products coming out all the time in the Koi industry it’s very important to research how to build the actual pond.
Liner is still a firm favourite within the fish keeping world, most outlets sell it, it’s easy to throw in, it can go on top of sand, and a bottom drain is easily installed through the liner. If you decide to go with this method then a ‘box welded’ liner is by far the best. These can be made to the exact measurements of your hole which will cause fewer creases in the liner. Creases are not really a good thing in a liner. In time bacteria can build up in folds along with debris that just gets stuck there and stays there.
Fibreglass is commonly used in the Koi Keeping world, in Europe anyway. This at the time of writing is in my opinion the best finish to have on a Koi pond, it’s very strong and its very smooth when applied correctly. Fish will not harm themselves on the finish. Pipe work can easily be covered in fibreglass making the pond a lot more aesthetically pleasing. There are no flanges with screws like you will get in a liner pond, the fibreglass just bonds to everything. The downside to fibreglass is not the cost. The actual materials are not that much more than buying a pond liner. It isn’t the application of the fibreglass either. It’s the horrible fumes that applying fibreglass gives off. It’s harmful and my advice is to get a professional to do the job for you. I know many people who now buy the materials and ask a professional to do the application saving costs along the way.
New products that are creeping into the main stream market are things like ‘Polyurea’ which is a spray on rubber. It is quite an amazing product and I see it making a huge impact within the industry. The simplicity of it is its major advantage over other methods. Sprayed on in a very quick time, takes minutes to actually set and water can be added straight away. This is a very strong and efficient way of coating your pond. At the moment though it is not widely used which means it can be quite expensive. I think it’s only a matt
er of time before more people start to use thus bringing the cost of making ponds with it very low.
Designing the system should be pretty easy to do. Mark out the shape of the area you plan to use, draw a diagram after marking it out and work out how deep you need it. A simple rule is length x width x depth x 6.23. This will then tell you how big the filter will need to be.
The shape of the pond is also very important; you need a shape which will give a good flow. Flow rates are really important for the fish’s growth and health. Even if you want a square pond make sure the edges are rounded off causing a smooth circular flow.
ALWAYS use the 1 drain to 1 filter rule. Do not try and pull through 2 drains, it just won’t be efficient. There are single filters on the market than will filter up to 7500Gallons with a single unit. Anything bigger than these then 2 drains is vital anyway. Flow rate through the filter will also come into play. A general rule of thumb is to turn the pond water through the filter once every 2 to 3 hours. Take a Nexus 300 for example; this filter will filter a maximum of 7500 gallons. You can put 2500 gallons per hour through the Nexus 300 giving you a turnover of 3 hours, perfect. Use the same guidelines for the filter you decide to use. Of course it’s always better to over filter rather than under filter.
Going back to how vital bottom drains are to a Koi pond system. Converting a currently pump fed system into a gravity system may not be all that hard to do. If you have a liner pond then installing a bottom drain is a very simple project. Most off the shelf bottom drains come with a flange and screws so a simple over lapping of the liner onto the drain then screwed down, I would also use some kind of sealant for extra safety. The liner can be easily lifted up and a trench can be dug for the pipe under the liner. The only major aspect is how to replace the filter and if it can be adapted to a gravity system. Altering concrete/fibreglass systems is much harder and major construction will be needed.
This is always a problem discussing because there are hardly any treatments which are made for Koi.
It’s also a subject where everyone has different opinions on how to do things.
I want to cover the very basic methods of treating Koi, things you can do by yourself without having to call a professional out. I do not direct the term professional at Vets. They just don’t cover anything to do with Koi or fish for that matter. They can get the treatments but they really have no idea of how to use them. Most professional Koi dealers have a good knowledge of how to treat Koi because they are doing it all the time on their own fish. There are also treatment officers in Koi clubs all over the world so finding help shouldn’t be far away.
In my opinion 90% of problems with Koi are down to parasites. Caught early all parasites can be eradicated with ease and little discomfort to the fish. Microscopes can be the most important tool to a Koi Keeper; unfortunately they can also be the worst. I myself use them every day because I need to make sure Koi for Sale are sold parasite free. Many people are relaxed and experienced enough to take a mucus scrape if they notice anything different with their own fish. Koi care is different with each person, many Koi Keepers can tell straight away if they have a problem just with the reaction of their Koi, thats when they take a scrape. New Koi Keepers who have just bought a microscope can be very paranoid; they end up taking 5 scrapes and possibly doing damage to the Koi only to panic about seeing a few bubbles. My advice would be to buy a microscope and ask someone to come to who know exactly what they are doing and go through the basics.
There are ways to spot parasites or symptoms of parasites so you can look for the danger signs. These are not guarantees, more like guidelines or dangers to look out for. The most common thing to look for is ‘flicking’ or ‘flashing’ this is when a Koi will swim and turn on the bottom or sides of the pond, they really are scratching an itch. However water quality can also cause a Koi to do the same thing but I’d say that it’s probably parasites. Excess mucus appearing on and around the head can also be a sign there could be parasites in the pond. Koi produce excess mucus to combat problems. It’s like a natural defence they have, so when you see Koi producing excess mucus it’s a sure sign you must check them. Koi grouping at the bottom of the pond is another sign there could be parasites as is Koi acting lethargic at the surface of the pond. There are other reasons your Koi could show these symptoms but with a microscope you can easily find the problem.
With experience and knowledge of your own Koi will come the ability to spot when your fish are not happy. You feed them each and every day; you know how your own Koi act so any change from the ‘norm’ you will see and act upon.
Unfortunately there is not one magic medicine that will eradicate all parasites, I wish there was. We can group parasites into different treatment brackets though, which helps.
Let’s look at the most common parasites that effect Koi today
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Treatments to eradicate the above parasites come in all shapes and sizes but most do exactly what they say they will do.
Potassium Permanganate will kill Costia and Trichodina. A pond dose of 1.5 grams to 220gallons is normally sufficient to kill the parasites. Costia is a horrible parasite and in most cases will need a follow up dose 5 days apart. Trichodina isn’t as bad as Costia but there are no safe parasites. Ignore people who say “It won’t do any harm in small quantities” Just because it won’t physically hurt the Koi, the Koi will still itch! When a Koi does itch there is a good chance it can injure itself, which in turn can cause bacterial infections. Eradicating parasites fully can lower the chances of any further problems which parasites will cause.
Malachite Green and Formalin is an age old treatment. The problem we have with it now is that it dosent do the same job as it has always done. Its great for white spot, will kill it dead over night. Its also excellent for Chilodonella. It used to be great for flukes, however in recent years it does not seem to have an effect on them and other treatments are needed.
At the time of writing the best things to eradicate Skin/Gill flukes is a product called Flubanol. Re packaged by some places and sold as ‘Fluke M’. This is a very good way of getting rid of flukes, fast and efficient. There is also ‘Supaverm’ which is my personal choice of fluke treatment but some people don’t like using it and prefer Fluke M.
Argalus/Fish lice is a terrible parasite when it gets hold. Its quite rare these days in most Koi ponds but will get into many wildlife ponds. The main treatments in the UK are banned because they are Organophosphates which are now illegal. The best bet in the UK is to try and get hold of some snail treatment, Argalus have shells so the same treatment should work.
Anchor worm (Lernea) You shouldn’t really suffer much with Anchor worm. Its most commonly found on newly imported Koi. The best treatment is Dimilin. This will not kill the Anchor work but it will make them sterile. The worms will still need picking off the Koi.
That pretty much covers how to simply eradicate the parasites. The worst possible thing you can do is guess which parasite it is. Thats why you must either invest in a microscope or call out your local Koi Dealer who will have the microscope and the treatments needed to get rid of any nasty parasites.
Another important thing to remember is that none of the products I have listed for killing parasites are made for the Koi industry, none! Malachite green is a dye. Flubanol is a dog wormer…Supaverm is a sheep wormer…There are no remedies made specifically for our fish. These products have been tried and tested over the years just to get the correct dosage rates. It’s the same with antibiotics that people use, not one single one is made for Koi, the most common one being Baytril which is used for Cats and dogs.
The most important thing when we come to treating our ponds is this; YOU MUST KNOW THE EXACT GALLONAGE of your pond. There is no point guessing or trying to work out a pond which has a shelf in it and is deeper at one end than the other, this is crazy! Treatments used in the Koi industry have to be exact. Over dosing can cause major problems while under dosing will do nothing. No matter how much of a big job it would be to empty your system and refill it, its 100% worth doing. A simple flow metre can be bought/borrowed which will give you your exact volume to the gallon! No more guessing.
As I have said, Parasites can lead to the most common problems with our Koi, from ulcers to full bacterial infections. Killing the parasite is a must.
Mucus scrapes are pretty easy to do. Once you have done a few it will become like second nature. Its the same when spotting parasites, once your eye is ‘trained’ to the parasite then you will see them each time. Different people scrape in different places; I always take scrapes behind the gill plate and down the body. Some parasites will live around the gill areas such as Gill Flukes and Costia. A parasite like Costia can also only be in one place on the fish. I have seen this many times when scrapes have been taken on the body and found nothing at all but then when I have taken a scrape from somewhere else on the Koi, Costia has been all over the place.
Microscope attched to Laptop
Remember though, unless you think there is a problem on the Koi and are seeing symptoms which lead you to believe there are parasites, don’t take loads of scrapes from the same fish. If you are taking a scrape as a scheduled general scrape then just do a couple of scrapes on a couple of fish. I would recommend once every 2 weeks.
There are many arguments about how many parasites need to be seen before you add a treatment, while I agree that the treatments we use on our fish are very harsh and they do not like it one little bit, I also think that one parasite will make a fish ‘flash’ which in turn can be very harmful.
Random treating is never a good idea; only treat when you need to treat. If you think there is a problem in your pond then get someone to come and check them out.
Parasites are not the only problem when it comes to looking after our Koi.
One of the biggest problems to Koi Keepers in the dreaded bacterial infections! This can lead to terrible and lasting problems with our Koi.
All it takes is a single scale to be knocked off, a single ‘spook’ where the Koi suddenly dart away and knock a pipe or a pump or anything which could be in the pond. In then takes the smallest amount of bacteria to infect the small scratch and turn it into a big wound.
There are products on the market which help to combat bacteria and can be used as a general monthly treatment, they are inexpensive and effective! They can save you many problems.
If you treat as a preventative when it comes to bacterial infections then even if the Koi does suffer a tiny ‘knock’ in the pond, because you already treat the pond with an anti bacterial treatment then the pond will heal the Koi and in some cases you will never have even noticed. Keeping clean water is very important. It is important to remember when it comes to Anti Bacterial treatments that at large doses (not general treatment doses) they will knock your filter back. Unfortunately there isn’t a way to selectively kill good or bad bacteria. Treatments will affect both kinds. A strong mature filter will regenerate in a small amount of time. This will only happen when you are dealing with a major bacterial infection anyway. Preventative treatments will not have any affect.
Tim Waddington - 2009