I can always tell when my koi are spawning because of a pronounced "fishy"
smell coming from the water. I have walked up to my pond and caught a wiff
of that "smell" and sure enough I have seen the fish spawning. Anyone ever
notice that??? Mike
"Lee B." wrote in message
...
RTB gave a pretty good synopsis of the situation.

I pretty much have the "standard" of koi keeping: too many fish in too
few
gallons. I'm working on that. When I started this hobby, no one told me
that
once you get past killing them with ignorance, they GROW. and BREED. One
good spawning session can *trash* your water quality for days. In a lake
or
river (their "natural" environment) there is a constant source of fresh
water, with new nutrients washing in and bad stuff washing out. In
captivity, they are kept in what is tantamount to a cess pool - and it's
up
to us, their "captors" to treat them humanely, which includes washing out
the bad and reintroducing the new. There are "ideals" that should be
strived
for; there are "compromises" that can work. A dog *can* live at the end of
a
chain, tied to a tree and thrown scraps, but that's not exactly "life".
My
fish are pets - with all that word conjures up; they are my
responsibility,
and I *will* see that they are properly tended to to the extent of my
ability. Does that make them "spoiled"? Maybe - but it keeps them healthy,
too.

Lee

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