However, people like Brett have gone to Japan to
learn from
the masters and he has become an expert in koi breeding. Brett uses it
because the
Japanese use it and it works. Jo Ann uses salt because she has imported
thousands of
top quality Goldfish from the Chinese and they use it,
I copied this from a Japanese site
http://www.urban.ne.jp/home/koistaff/ikusei/eindex.html
Notice the comment on salt in the first part
REQUIREMENTS IN BREEDING
WATER
Fresh water only
KOIs can somehow live in salt water but it's not good in the long run.
Water with 1% or under of salt will not do harm to KOIs in the
sense of health.
Water quality
Must be within the range from pH6.2 to 8.5. pH6.6`7.5 is the most
suitable
(in case of concreted pool and fish tankj
Water temperature
Must be within the range from 5 to 35 C 12`28C is the most suitable
At 25C, KOIs sharpen their appetite.
Do not feed when the water temperature is under 12C. It is assumed
that it's better to change
water temperature according to the seasons ( somehow higher in
summer and somehow lower in winter)
This is because KOIs have been created and developed in Japan where
there are four seasons.
Water hardness
Use water of under 150ppm.
Water of under 50ppm is preferable.
Soft water is defined to be under 50ppm.
Nitrate
Must be under 5.5. 2.0ppm or under is the most suitable
Dissolved oxygen
At least 5ppm is required.@
As well water contains quite few or no oxygen, such water must be
aerated before being used.
Reference@electric conductivity(Ęr/)
Water of 450`150(Ęr/)is usually used.
Water shoud be poor in iron,namely under 0.1ppm.
Water under 0.05ppm in iron is ideal.
yGenerally speaking, KOIs are easier to breed than tropical fish
or goldfish. But be careful to keep them away from diseases. z
John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico
good judgement comes from bad experience, and that comes from bad
judgement
see my pond at:
http://www.fuerjefe.com