Koi can adapt to almost any water parameters, but they do not adapt quickly.
Temperature changes over very short times can be stressful. pH changes over
short intervals are stressful. When stress enters the picture, disease
enters the picture, and fish start dying if they are not properly medicated,
quarantined in pristine water, and allowed to ease the stress. A large farm
pond or lake does not change rapidly and the fish fair well with little or
no human intervention. The smaller the yard pond the more rapidly the
temperature, pH, and overall water quality change. That is the best reason
for building the largest pond possible. Even the largest koi pond that I
have visited, about 17000 gallons needs some monitoring. Yard ponds also
suffer from over population. The first year, a bunch of little fish, and it
looks empty, so get a bunch more, and it is a big pond with a bunch of
little fish and all is well. The next year, the little fish, if koi, are a
foot to a foot and half long, and the pond still looks like it could stand a
few more fish, and I just saw the cutest fish that I just had to have. By
the fourth or fifth year, the fish can hardly turn around without bumping
into each other, because they are now over 2 feet long and 5 or 6 inches in
diameter. They are all my friends and I can't part with any of them.
Oxygen becomes a problem, filtration becomes a problem, pollution becomes a
problem.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
wrote in message ...
Yes...they do vary *wildly* but koi are very adaptable fish. They can
adapt
to almost any environment. Lets say you adapt you koi to a certain water
quality..that you feel they do best in. PH ,water hardness, a pristine
level...then they become accustomed to that water quality. So every time
it
rains, or you do a water change aren't they more sensitive to disease and
stress because they are "spoiled", used to one specific water quality???
I'm not arguing your point...just curious?? thanks Mike
"Lee B." wrote in message
...
One of the things that I've learned on my journey to proper koi keeping
is
that conditions vary *wildly* from place to place within the U.S., let
alone
the rest of the world. Your recommendation - which obviously works well
for
you in your part of the world - would be condemning my fish (in MY part
of
the world) to certain death in very short order. Kick back, relax and
thank
your deity of choice for living in such a fortunate location.

Lee

wrote in message
...
Eyeball it..LOL Nothing scientific about it. I have never checked
water
PH
etc in over 10 years. It is an outdoor pond . Its conditions are
dependent
on how much rain or lack of rain we get. If we get plenty of rain
..that
in
itself changes the water in the pond. If it is a dry spell in the
Summer
I
might do a 1/3 water change every other week. I am not going to drive
myself nuts trying to keep the water conditions at a perfect level.
My
10
year old Koi are proof that you don't have to go overboard and make
allot
of
work for yourself with keeping a healthy pond. It is much better to
have
fish that are adaptable to varying conditions, outdoor koi and
goldfish
are
those types of creatures. Very adaptable. IMHO and experience. MIKE