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Winter is just around the corner and this is your first time to experience winter with a koi pond and you don’t have any idea on what to do. First of all, the winter season is like a down time for your koi pond since there isn’t much activity to happen during these period but be cautious since there are a few guidelines that you must remember before the winter season enters in order for both your fish and pond to survive the weather.

1. Cleaning – this is the initial step in making sure that your koi pond will not be damaged in any way during the winter season. Remove leaves and various materials inside the pond and remove the unnecessary materials surrounding the koi pond. Remove all the flower pots or plants around the pond especially the faunas that wouldn’t survive the season. It is also advisable that you remove and clean the leaves and other debris that can fly in your pond since you wouldn’t notice it until the end of the season. By doing thus, you lessen the chances of housing parasites and bacteria in the pond.

2. Feeding – this is an important reminder that you must remember. Do not over feed your koi and stop feeding completely especially if the temperature drops below 50 degrees. You can still feed your koi if the temperature is around 55 to 60 degrees but anything lower than that is potentially harmful for your fish. The reason behind this is that koi’s digest food in a span of 3-4 days, so if you mistakenly feed your koi during this time it will kill your fish. Do not be worried about your koi being hungry all winter since fishes doesn’t only eat the food you give them. Since your pond will consists of natural plant life, your koi can survive on that so do not be worried at all since your koi can sustain itself during the winter season.

3. Check Up – Before the season hits, remember to check on the filters and various materials on your pond. It is also wise to buy and store preventive medicines for your fish before the winter season since there will be a limitation to stores that sell these products. It is better to be prepared than be sorry.  In addition to that, it is also advisable that one must have an updated emergency kit for your koi pond which will include medicines, water testing kits, nets, and bags.

4. Preparation – since you will be preparing for the winter, purchase a heater system for your pond but be sure to research carefully the appropriate size that will provide substantial heat to your pond because unless you do so, ice will still likely to form and that can kill your fishes. It is said that kois can survive temperatures as low as 39 degrees and there are instances that kois withstand the temperature even if it goes lower than 39 degrees but you don’t have to be complaisant about this fact. Purchase an emergency tank in case you need to move your koi inside the house.

5. Turn off water sources – some koi ponds have water decorations such as fountains and waterfalls, if your pond has this remember to turn it off during the winter. Why? Since you will be installing a heater in the pond, the constant motion of the water through the decorations will bring new water that will conflict with the heating system. Switch them off entirely during winter to make your heating system more effective.

Winterizing Your Koi Fish Pond is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

This is a complete Small Pond Kit for you to build your Koi fish pond. It enables you to create a relaxing pond ecosystem. The Microskim removes leaves and other debris besides helping to protect the pump. The complete plumbing assembly is provided by the MicroFalls.

The lining is a rubber one that will keep your koi safe. This kit comes with a AquaSurge 2000 waterfall pump and plumbing assembly.

This pond will measure 8L x 11W feet. For more information take a look at the full details.

Small Pond Kit: Build Your Relaxing Pond Ecosystem is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

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A pond is not complete without pond plants. Through these plants, there will be a balanced ecosystem within the pond. For this reason, upon starting your Koi fish pond it is also important to pay attention on the pond plants that you will add. There should be an adequate amount of Koi pond plants within the pond so there will be enough sources of food for your Koi fishes. These plants will also help control algae build-up within the pond, but what types of Koi pond plants should you consider?

Reeds and Rushes
These plants are also known as marginal plants. Reeds and rushes generally grow in the sediments of the pond especially in shallow areas. These plants will help control nitrate and algae build-up within the pond and it is very decorative as well.

Water Lilies
Water lilies are one of the most common pond plants around. It is decorative and easy to grow as it is a floating pond plant. Water lilies can provide shade for Koi fishes because of its wide leaf base and it can also help in controlling algae build-up.

Oxygenators
As the name implies, oxygenator plants provide additional sources of oxygen underwater. These plants also help in balancing the levels of carbon dioxide within the pond so algae build-up can be controlled as well. Popular examples of oxygenator plants include water milfoil and curly pond weed.

Floating Plants
These plants don’t need to be anchored in a soil. Like water lilies, most floating plants provide adequate shading for Koi fishes. Floating plants are very helpful during sunny days as these plants will lessen the effect of direct sunlight to the water temperature of the pond. The most common type of floating plants includes duck weed and water hyacinth.

Other Marginal Plants
If you want a beautifully decorated Koi fish pond, then you must add other types of marginal plants. These plants can be placed in a container and must be kept within two to three inches below the water surface. Most marginal plants have colorful flowers and popular ones include iris, marsh marigold and pickerel weed.

Koi pond plants can make your fish pond look very beautiful, so always take time in choosing appropriate pond plants that will fit your Koi fish pond well. You can ask for the advice of experts especially about the plants suitable to grow in your local place so you can choose the best for your Koi garden.

Related articles

• Pond Safety: Keeping Koi Fish Safe (koifishpondnow.com)
• Controling Your Koi Fish Population (koifishpondnow.com)
• Clearing Up Your Fish Pond from Green Algae (brighthub.com)

Five Advisable Koi Pond Plants for Your Koi Garden is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

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In every Koi fish pond, the pond’s filtration system is very critical to consider. Through the Koi pond filtration system, a healthy environment for Koi fishes is ensured. This is important as Koi fishes are very sensitive and if the water quality is not good, this can be a big health risk for your Koi fishes. To help you get started if you are a beginner or if you don’t have any idea about a Koi pond filtration system, here are the three most common types of filtration systems for Koi fish ponds:

Gravity Fed System

The Gravity Fed Filtration System is the oldest way of pond filtration system. It works with the help of gravity; once the debris and dirt sediments have collected on the bottom of the pond, a central pipeline will collect all of these sediments. The central pipe is connected to the pond’s filtration system so the collected dirt sediments will run through the filtration system for cleansing and filtration process. This filtration system is considered cost-effective, although its effectiveness will greatly vary depending on how the pond is constructed. Setting-up the system is also complicated so oftentimes, pond experts are usually trusted for the installation of this kind of Koi pond filtration system.

Pump Fed System

With the Pump Fed Filtration System, a Koi pond pump is used in filtering the pond water for dirt and debris. The pump circulates the water throughout the filtration system and there is no need for gravity to work in settling down the dirt and debris in the bottom of the pond. This filtration system is easy to install as you can put the pump anywhere within the pond, but it is still advisable to place the pump in the bottom part so it could collect and filter more dirt from your Koi fish pond.

Biological Filtration System

Unlike the two mechanical filtration systems mentioned above, the Biological Filtration System uses enzymes in breaking down dirt and debris within the Koi fish pond. The solution is made from active bacteria that can act against ammonia and other dirt present in the pond water so it can also help in producing nitrates helpful for the pond’s environment. However, be careful as high levels of nitrate can be harmful for Koi fishes and this system is also not as effective as the mechanical filtration systems mentioned above, so usually additional filtration system is needed if you will use this filtration system for your Koi garden.

Beginners Guide – An Introduction to Koi Pond Filtration Systems is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

Pipe Set up
As soon as you install the pipes make sure there is no excessive tension on the pipes. Extended pipes that function with no help system are put in positions that can cause tension. This can cause breakage later and maintenance costs associated with repair.

Pipe Diameters
The water pipe diameters for your plumbing system need to expand as the pipe runs slowly become longer with a minimum of 1.5 inches for pipes pressurized and 3 inches for gravity installment systems.

Create Components Easily-removed
When you are installing the pumps and heaters make sure they are hooked up with connectors to allow them to easily be taken out for routine maintenance.

Use Glued Pipe
When attaching the plumbing system together it is essential to make use of solid glued pipe in the place of force and accommodate sections. This can guarantee that the plumbing is leaking free and will also decrease the maintenance expenses related to replacing of the push fit fittings.

Implement Separate Pumps
Mount individual pumps for different features of your Koi pond such as the waterfall and also the skimmer and provide a dedicated pump for the filter to allow the various elements to work with different water flows.

Pump Location
Always locate the pump a minimum of one foot above the floor of the koi pond. If something occurs unexpectedly this should ensure that the pond will never be empty and this will keep the fish safe.

6 Things To Consider When Installing the Koi Fish Pond Plumbing is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

Koi Pond: Water Chemistry

The most basic conditions of your koi pond water chemistry are the pH factor (which stands for potential Hydrogen) and water hardness. These factors alone can determine the life or death of your koi pond’s inhabitants (I call them the “Fam Fam”).

The pH of the koi pond water is measured on a scale of 1-14, with a reading of 7 considered “neutral.” Any reading above 7 is alkaline; anything below 7 is acidic. Most fish prefer a pH value of 7.2 to 7.6, or just slightly on the alkaline side of the scale. However, koi and goldfish can adjust to gradual changes in pH from as low as 7 to as high as 8.5 and still remain healthy and flourish.

Hardness or buffers in the koi pond water can raise the pH levels. Even though hardness is a separate measure from pH, the two respond to each other chemically. Pure or “distilled” water has a pH of 7 and an absence of buffers or hardness. Neutral pH is unstable, however, and if it has no buffers or hardness, it can quickly drop to the lower (acidic) end of the pH scale – as low as 4.2 to 4.8. At this level of acidity the fish’s gills become burned and eventually become unable to extract oxygen from the water, ultimately suffocating.

Should the pH in your koi pond ever drop to these levels, never try to raise the pH too quickly. By placing coral gravel, dolomite, or oyster shell gravel in a nylon filter bag inside your filter or directly in the waterfall, moving water can pass through it and the pH will rise to 7.0 or 7.3 in less than two days.

To prevent the drastic fluctuation in hardness buffers affecting pH, you should include one or more of these gravels in your filter system at all times – especially if you are replenishing your pond with soft water. The gravel should be replaced every 9 to 12 months since all the buffers will be leached out by that time. If the buffers are used up and the pH level drops to 6.0 or lower, the nitrifying bacteria that break down the toxic fish waste, ammonia, and nitrite will stop functioning. At a low pH, highly toxic ammonia chemically changes to relatively non-toxic ammonium. If you raise the pH rapidly, the ammonium will also quickly return to ammonia, which could be fatal to your fish.

Please invest in the health of your fish. Purchase a koi pond test kit from any pet or pond store. Invest the time to read the directions and start regularly testing your koi pond. Remember, clear water does not mean clean! As in the water we drink, just because the water looks clear, smells good, and tastes good does not mean it is clean.

Most of the most toxic, cancer-causing priority pollutants listed by the E.P.A are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. Do not ever forget the simple facts: You have a toilet in a separate room of your house. Your scaly friend’s living room is their toilet, and they have to swim in it. Keep it flushed and clean.

If you do not presently have a bio-filter, please purchase one, or at no cost to you, download instructions and a parts list of simple items you can purchase from any home improvement store for less then and build one yourself using an electric drill and a hand saw. download with no oblication or log in required at – http://www.askdoughoover.com

Happy koi, peace and joy.

Watch this video to learn how to maintain and beautify your water garden or koi pond. Learn more at www.aquascapeinc.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Koi Pond: Water Chemistry is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

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In order for a Koi breeding enthusiast to accomplish a remarkable and wonderful pond with a school of beautiful colored Koi, a good and careful Koi pond construction planning is needed. Everyone will desire that their crystal clear water Koi pond decorated with ornamental flowers and a well- landscape design to fascinate your friends and visitors alike? There are several key factors to be considered in order for your own pond design to perfectly fit in when constructing a Koi pond.

Basically, Koi are hardy kind of fish that required special treatments to be satisfied. Koi ponds are very complex structures to build and need special attention to details in their construction. Every Koi enthusiast has their own specific design of their Koi pond they desired.
Regardless of what ideas you have, Koi ponds must be properly planned, designed and constructed base on your requirements and specifications. Koi enthusiasts are recommended with following simple guidelines in Koi pond construction.

The first pointer to take note is pond size and shape. Initially, most new Koi enthusiasts want to have a large pond. Large ponds are good to look at but these are difficult and expensive to maintain especially for newbie in Koi breeding. In general, build only the pond that you can afford.

You can try to expand your pond to a larger one once you have already materialized your initial plans and learnt new things about Koi breeding. The shape of your pond will depend on your aesthetic design and preference. You can give any shape to the pond you can define – circular, rectangular, hexagonal, etc…
The pond size and shape will also affect the number of fish to be bread in the pond. An ideal pond must be able to carry 1500 gallons of water which will allow for fish growth. The preferable pond dimension is 9 feet long, 8 feet wide and a minimum depth of 4 feet 6 inches. Koi usually grow big and healthy in larger ponds.
After determining the size and shape of the pond, the location of your Koi pond must be chosen properly. Important considerations should be made in choosing the spot for your pond. Koi needs proper lighting and shading to protect it from direct sunlight and harsh weather conditions.

The accessibility and availability of utilities near your pond is important to supply the needed water and electrical requirements. The Koi pond construction must be away from trees with large roots and falling leaves. The pond should also be protected from stray animals which can prey on your Koi.
Filtration is another factor to be considered in building your pond. During the planning stage of constructing your pond, your filtration system should have been determined based on the size of the pond and the number of Koi to be raised.

A miscalculated system will result in poor filtration which will then require frequent and labor-intensive cleaning of the filters. This will also result in to more expenses for additional filter equipment. At worst it might result into massive fish kill due to non-elimination of waste products and harmful compounds in the pond.

Koi pond construction is not an easy task to do. But the rewards of a well-constructed Koi pond based on careful planning and implementation are immense.

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An Easy Guide to Koi Pond Construction is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

A pond for koi is not easy to build and maintain. It requires a pond hobbyist who is skillful in breeding standards. If you plan to build one, you’re going to need to allot a large area in your garden since Koi need a bigger pond to swim in. Alongside this, you are also going to need to spend some money from the start up to the maintenance itself.

A common pond hobbyist will of course be very enthusiastic that he will give much of his time and effort in maintaining his water feature. Conversely, as time passes by he will realize that he has a lot of more important things to do than just devoting his time to the Koi. A Koi breeder on the other hand has a different approach since he is more focused on the Koi than the aesthetic value of the water system.

A vast Koi pond is healthy and ideal. It also requires superfluous attention when it comes to maintenance and fish health. So if you are still clinging to the idea that small and large fish ponds are the same, here are some pointers to know the difference between a small fish pond and a large Koi pond.

First and foremost, you need a large pond for Koi. They easily get stressed when put in a crowded water system. Keep in mind that Koi always go in groups therefore a large pond will allow them to move around and avoid being stressed which can lead to sickness.

It will be awkward if your Koi pond is large yet shallow. For the Koi to survive in a much longer time, they need a deeper water to swim in. The acceptable pond water depth is 5-6ft deep.

Not like the typical pond filters that are used in basic fish ponds, specialize biological filtration systems are needed. And by systems, it means more than one filtration unit. Fluidized bed filters or vortex filter systems are the ones used in order to effectively break down the rapid upsurge of ammonia and solid waste in the Koi pond.

Pond pumps are also necessary in Koi ponds. But unlike the submersible pumps used in basic pond types, a Koi pond requires a more powerful pump because of its size and depth. That is why external pond pumps are normally used in Koi ponds since they are more powerful and can work even in a 6ft pond with approximately 10 gallons of water in it. Adding a fountain pump will also help make the oxygen circulation in the water to be much easier.

To avoid massive algae blooms in your Koi pond, high powered UV clarifiers are needed. They are responsible for sanitizing the pond water and destroying algae that form blooms.

The other elements like fish food and electricity should always be proportion to the amount of water and fish in the pond.

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Visit http://www.hydra-aqua.us to read articles on pond and lake care and view inventory of koi pond supplies and fish pond treatment.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Juris_Gutierrez – By Juris Gutierrez
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The Difference of Koi Ponds From the Basic Fish Ponds is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

Many clients who want a waterfall and koi pond do not want koi fish to take care of. Actually, a pond will require less attention with fish than without. If a koi pond has a waterfall to aerate the water, koi fish will produce waste that is broken down by nitrifying bacteria into nitrate nitrogen, and water plants will use the nitrogen and thrive. In turn, the koi fish eat the algae and small water insects that live on the rocks and plant roots. And those bugs eat other smaller bugs that eat microscopic bugs that eat bad bacteria bugs. This is called the nitrogen cycle. A properly balanced koi pond like this will pretty much take care of itself.

Koi fish food can get lodged in the plants, rocks and vegetation around the perimeter of the koi pond. If the koi fish cannot find the food, it simply decays, adding unnecessary nitrates to the water and resulting in more food for algae to grow. To eliminate this problem I fashioned what I term as a Koi Fish Food Corral made from a 4 to 5 foot piece of 1-1/2 inch flexible PVC pipe and fastened together with a single 1-1/2 inch coupling, creating a circular corral.

This corral keeps the koi food in one place, and prevents it from floating off into rock crevices, plants or the skimmer. Plus it allows for the proper portioning of koi food. It is easy to tell if you’ve given the koi fish too much. If food is still there after a couple of minutes and the koi fish seem to have had enough, they have, and you should remove the leftovers. Lay it in the sun to dry and feed it to them later. It is easy to collect the extra food that the koi fish don’t eat by using a small net. It is better to feed them too little than too much. In a case like this, more is not better.

Sometimes my clients originally expressed a concern that koi fish would be a burden or a hassle. They would worry about having to feed them daily, or what they would do when going on vacation. I would explain that the koi fish are extremely important with regard to their contribution to the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is what makes a koi pond low in maintenance and nearly self-sufficient.

As long as you only stock the koi fish pond with small fish such as guppies and mosquito fish, they will never need to be fed. They can exist solely on food that the pond provides naturally.

A chlorinated pond, on the other hand, requires continuous maintenance. The chlorine dissipates from the water as it flows over the falls and turns into chlorine gas. This means that fresh chlorine needs to be added regularly and your backyard will smell like a swimming pool all the time. The chlorine also causes many minerals and suspended particles to precipitate and build up on the rocks, causing unsightly white stains in the water’s path.

When chlorine is not added regularly, leaves and other decaying debris in the pond will cause algae to grow, turning the pond green. So after convincing the client to give my suggestion a try, I returned a few weeks later to find that they have not only purchased some large koi fish, but have given them all cute names, like Charlie and Doug.

If the client wishes to have larger fish such as koi, the nitrogen cycle will need a little extra help from a biological filter and an ultraviolet light. The larger the number and size of the koi fish, the greater the waste material produced. This means that some of it must be removed from the water. Increased quantities of nitrates and nitrites increase the amount of ammonia and other by-products such as pea soup algae, the type that turns the water green. A biological filter will aid in the breakdown of toxic nitrites into less harmful nitrates, and an ultraviolet light will kill algae spores and disease-causing pathogens as they pass through the UV light on the way to the filter.

So, what else can I say to convince you to get fish? They are fun to watch? They are cute? They come in handy during times of famine? Got fish? Got turtles? Got tadpoles? No? Then, get some! Your pond will be much more appealing and exciting. It is like having the Learning Channel or Discovery Channel in your back yard.

Every day brings a new discovery: baby fish hatching; a dragonfly struggling from its cocoon; a tadpole slowly, very slowly, turning into a frog; two crayfish, doing what they do to make baby crayfish… now that is a discovery! A turtle, shedding its shell… now that is a miracle. If you have kids or grandkids, or neighbor kids, grab some or all of them and make it an adventure. Pile them into the car or bus and go to the local pond store and gather up a passel of predacious and peculiar pond creatures. Better yet — build a koi pond first and then do it.

Happy koi, peace and joy.

Koi Pond: Fish or No Fish? is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

A Koi fish pond produces a lot of organic debris and muck. Sum up with the stuff that falls in the water (leaves, insects, dust, etc.) we can say that a Koi pond can be very dirty. So, what can we do to keep good quality water?

Koi pond skimmers are the right solution to trap the rubbish on the surface before it sinks. If the filtration system is working properly and the water is returning from the filtration system to the pond then, at some stage, the surface debris will for certain pass through the mouth of the skimmer. In a rectangular Koi fish pond it is best to return water to one end and to skim the surface at the other.

Water overflows make ideal surface skimmers, if you want to add this as a feature to your pond. Bear in mind though that the pond water level then becomes important and needs to be maintained at a relatively consistent level or else your filtration system and flow rates will tend to vary somewhat.

A great idea for Koi pond skimmers is to have them built into the Koi pond right next to the settlement chamber. That way the skimmer will clean to surface of the pond water right into the settlement chamber, from where all the collected debris can be accumulated and filtered out of the pond system.

If you live in an area where the amount of leaves falling is very big you should use a conventional pool skimmer to remove the leaves. This way you don’t load the filter system and we keep our Koi fish pond with quality water.

Koi Pond Skimmers is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.

There are certain koi pond supplies that you need to have ready to be used. Because your pond is outdoors, emergency situations do occur. Weather is unpredictable sometimes and you do not want to be caught in a situation where an item is obligatory but they is no way to get it. Here are four Koi pond supplies you need:

Filters - Having a working filter is essential for removing unwanted pollutants, and maintaining proper humidify levels. If you do not own a proper filter, water quality problems might occur, which in turn will affect your Japanese Koi fish health.

Pump - This item is essential to the health of your Koi fish pond. If the water is not moving, there is no way the system can process the water. Moving water can be also obtained from waterfalls, fountains, and other water features, but in no way should entirely replace your koi pond pump.

Dechlorinator - Your Koi fish can be harmed by the chemicals taped water contains. When you add new water, you should add Dechlorinator to eliminate these chemicals.

Test Kits – Ammonia and nitrite test kits should be always ready to use. Test kits should be used weekly to test the Koi pond water to make sure you have quality water. If you notice that there are changes in the water or in the Koi behavior you must have emergency tests ready to be used.

Koi Fish Pond Supplies is a post from: Koi Fish Pond blog where you can get information about Koi Fish Pond and Koi Pond Care.