Hello everyone-

I am trying to get some general information on keeping koi. My
brother recently moved to a new house that has a small koi pond in the
back yard complete with koi(one of those black plastic tubs that you
set into the ground with filter/pump).

Anyway, I know my brother is too busy to try and research what he
needs to do in order to keep the fish healthy.

I have two aquariums at my house with freshwater tropicals, but am not
sure whether or not the standards are the same...for example, do you
need to do weekly/monthly water changes in a small koi pond?

Will the koi survive the winter (near cleveland, OH) if the water
freezes over?

If anyone has any handy websites that will give me some general
starter tips i would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

I am no expert by any means, but I will try to answer some of your questions
for you.
First of all, how big of pond is it? As for doing weekly, monthly water
changes, no you don't need to do that. Since you have a aquarium, I am sure
you are familiar with alage. The big difference in a pond and a aquarium, is
you need the alage in a pond, where you don't need it as much in a aquarium.
So don't panic if in the summer the alage really grows. With a pond you
realize, green is a pretty color. lol In the winter the main thing is to keep
a hole in the ice for gases to excape out of. You can use a bubbler or even a
de-icer to do this. Do a search on taking care of ponds, and you will find a
wealth of information out there. Everyone's pond is different though, so once
you learn the basics you have to just take the plunge and do what you think is
right, even though sometimes it isn't.
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

I am no expert by any means, but I will try to answer some of your questions
for you.
First of all, how big of pond is it? As for doing weekly, monthly water
changes, no you don't need to do that. Since you have a aquarium, I am sure
you are familiar with alage. The big difference in a pond and a aquarium, is
you need the alage in a pond, where you don't need it as much in a aquarium.
So don't panic if in the summer the alage really grows. With a pond you
realize, green is a pretty color. lol In the winter the main thing is to keep
a hole in the ice for gases to excape out of. You can use a bubbler or even a
de-icer to do this. Do a search on taking care of ponds, and you will find a
wealth of information out there. Everyone's pond is different though, so once
you learn the basics you have to just take the plunge and do what you think is
right, even though sometimes it isn't.
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

"K. Elliot" wrote in message
om...
Hello everyone-

I am trying to get some general information on keeping koi. My
brother recently moved to a new house that has a small koi pond in the
back yard complete with koi(one of those black plastic tubs that you
set into the ground with filter/pump).
The small preformed ponds really are not big enough for koi. The largest is
less than 250 gallons and the rule of thumb here is 1000 gallons for the
first koi and 100 gallons for each one after that. Small ponds make for a
lot of work when over stocked.

Anyway, I know my brother is too busy to try and research what he
needs to do in order to keep the fish healthy.

I have two aquariums at my house with freshwater tropicals, but am not
sure whether or not the standards are the same...for example, do you
need to do weekly/monthly water changes in a small koi pond?
Ponds are just large aquariums. They need regular water changes of about
10% per week or there abouts to remove some of the pollutants. Be sure to
test for ammonia, nitrites and KH for pH control. Be very careful to not
overfeed, or the waste will over power the filter and the water will be
unfit for habitation.

Will the koi survive the winter (near cleveland, OH) if the water
freezes over?
The key to keeping fish in outdoor ponds is to keep a whole in the ice to
allow transfer of toxic gasses. This can be done with an aquarium air pump
and air stone, if it doesn't get too cold, having the water pump just
boiling the surface with its discharge, and if it gets cold enough then a
watering trough heater. In your area, it might be advantageous to build a
small plastic tent over the pond to keep the temperature up slightly.

If anyone has any handy websites that will give me some general
starter tips i would appreciate it. Thanks in advance.
The current website with the most general information is probably
http://www.iheartmypond.com/
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html

On or about 8 Nov 2004 09:21:21 -0800, (K.
Elliot) wrote something like:

I am trying to get some general information on keeping koi.
do you need to do weekly/monthly water changes in a small koi pond?
Will the koi survive the winter (near cleveland, OH) if the water freezes over?
If anyone has any handy websites that will give me some general
starter tips i would appreciate it.

Since you posted from google.groups you already have the best resource
available - that's what it's for. Google groups for the specifics and
you will have hours of fun reading the posts. You do not have to go
far back, since this all repeats about every six months. I am sure
someone will feed you the standard websites, too.

You should not have to do regular water changes but do keep an eye on
KH levels since evaporation is greater out of doors. Watch out for
elaf muck, however. Check out the veggie filter concept which is
different than aquarium filtering.

If you keep an air bubbler going over the Winter that is going to be
about the best you can do. Cleveland will probably freeze your pond
solid unless it is over 30" deep. The bubbler should be near the top,
not lying on the bottom.
--
Crashj

Hello everyone-

I am trying to get some general information on keeping koi.

Not so general, but a really good site for "convincing" people that regular
water changes, especially in a small pond (under 5,000 gallons) are
necessary, go he http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/H2oQual.html During
winter people do slack off, but on nice days, it is still a good idea to do
one. Treating for chlorine or chloramines just like one would do with their
aquariums. ~ jan

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website


----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups
---= East/West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---