On Fri, 15 Jul 2005 05:33:16 GMT, Charles
wrote:

snip
===
===I believe it's supposed to be the extra calcium that gets into the
===fish's diet, leads to better color, health, that sort of thing. The
===sodium bentonite doesn't effect the calcium level.

Thats possible...but I have a hard time believing that the koi can
take in and utilize the usual small amoaunt of calcium that would be
in a typical pond dose to do them any good.... However, folks use it
in various ways......mix it in with paste food, coat pelleted feeds
with it, broadcast it on the water etc....
===
===I got some of the expensive kind, can't see that it did much for the
===fish, but I have very little string algae this year and am growing
===great water hyacinths.

"Expensive kind" hmmmmmmmits all expensive from what I seen.....and I
can believe it does lock up a certain percentage of nutrients (mostly
phosphates) which would hinder most simple celled plants like algae
growth....
===
===We have so much calcium in our water already it seems odd that more
===would do anything, but the ads were tempting.

I also have to think this marketing ploy in regards to doing so many
marvelous things for a pond and fish is mostly hype, but it does have
some fringe benefits.......The so called needed minerals etc should
already be available if your feeding a quality balanced feed, and
water quality, well a proper filtraton systemn in a balance pond with
sufficient plants and not over loaded should also give the same
results of water quality without the addition of clay......

It seems that since most if not all champion koi come from Japans so
called Mud ponds, and the composition of these ponds are made up of
montmorillite (sp?) clay, (bentonite falls into this catagory) ponders
hope to establish the same chemical makeup of their pristine liner or
concrete ponds by usuing this clay......by making weekly
dosages.....Does it "really" work or is it all in ones own minds eye?
I know of folks that go to the pond pulls at harvest time in Japan and
also smuggle back the ponds mud in the hopes of seeding their home
ponds with the mud..........The only real benefit I can possibly see
is the collodial property of bentonite and its ability to act like a
floculent should theroetically bind up DOC and help with
turbidity....


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"The original frugal ponder"
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