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Koivet's Koi Portal to Koi Water Quality Resources

I would WAY rather live on the land in air, than be a fish living in water and there are several reasons.

Diseases don't transmit themselves quite as easily as they do in the water

Fish participate in your ponds water, and it's limited. I participate in an entire planet's air. Sure, it's not all healthy but it's not like am living in 120 cubic feet of the same air.

As it were, if you do NOT understand water quality and you cannot test it, yuor fish will die sooner or later. SEVENTY percent of fish diseases are directly tied to water quality and are usually SIMPLE and easily preventable. Let me give you some examples; fish produce ammonia and it leaks out of fish. Great. But if it gets high in the water it leaks back in. Then the fish start dying. Well; if you knew this, and tested the ammonia level, all you'd do is a water change and poof, fish are better. See?

Koi Pond Water Nitrogen Cycle
When fish pee, and when food decays, toxins are released into the water. All these toxins are broken down by bacteria. The process is called the Cycle. This article simply describes the steps, and how each phase matters. Illustrated.

How to Bioseed a Fish Tank or Pond
Don't RUSH the Cycle - INSTALL it! Simple way to create a full nitrogen cycle in a new pond or tank. Just know how, before you try it.

What's Replacing the Obsolete Drain and Fill Waterchange?
Constant water replacement via a thin, one-eigth-inch irrigation line. If your pond can handle a little rain, your pond can handle a drip irrigation system.

Ammonia
Koi and goldfish hardly pee at all. Their ammonia (waste product not unlike pee) LEAKS out of their gills. If there's a lot of ammonia in the water, the fishes' ammonia can't leak out. They die. What IS ammonia and what can we do??
Gimme the "big picture on this

Nitrite
Ammonia is broken down into Nitrite. Who cares? And Why? Is there a treatment for Nitrites?

Nitrate
As a long term (ever-ongoing) condition of fish keeping, Nitrates may be the most important parameter facing the hobbyist. Non toxic? I think not.

pH
All biological processes from plant respiration to fish respiration to solids-decay will reduce pH and eventually, it sags and falls. PH of under 6.0 can easily kill some pond fish.
Gimme the "big picture on this

pH and Crashes and Carbonates
In this article we discuss the causes of pH crash, how to handle it, and what stands in the way to prevent it. It's SO easy and yet many fish die every year for ignorance of these simple bits of information.

Carbonates
Carbonates are a chemical no more complicated than Baking Soda. The Sodium Bicarb in baking soda STABILIZES pH discussed above. It's easy to provide and may be a more important number than pH itself, here's why.

Oxygen
Fish need oxygen and have gills to do the amazing job of eeking what little Oxygen there IS in water, OUT of the water. It's amazing. What's "enough" oxygen, how can you tell if there's enough and what happens if a system has enough to sustain life but not enough to make it fruitful?

Flooming for Better Water Turnover and Aeration
By turning a small pump and aiming it UP you can create a gentle floom of water on the surface of the pond. Does a better job than an airtsone, but not as good as spraybars. HOWEVER, spraybars look contrived and awkward. Learn about flooming.

Carbon Dioxide
When you exhale, and fish "exhale" carbon dioxide is produced. Worse, bacteria in the environment and even (at night) plants produce it. What does Carbon Dioxide do to the pH, to the fish and how could we control it's effects?

Hydrogen Sulfide
If you have a pond that has missed a couple years' cleanout, or there's leaves in your formal pond that have been there a good while, or GOD FORBID you have deep sand in your pond - it's conceivable that Hydrogen Sulfide is threatening your fish.

The Significance and Impact of "Big" Water changes
When you change a LOT of water, it can radically change the conditions the fish are used to. Consider this article before doing a massive waterchange.


HELP! Sick Fish!
Twenty Steps to fish health. You LITERALLY can solve almost any Koi or Pond health outbreak with these twenty diagnostic steps and nothing's hard. But it's not "here's your pill" either. Downloads are available.
DrJohnson.net
More than koi health, this site spans all things animal, by a real veterinarian who shoots you straight.

Fishdoc.co.uk
By Frank Prince-Iles. A UK authority who put this site together some time ago and which is still relied upon as a major source of good Koi and pond fish information

If you need pet information AND Koi pondfish and pond information you might like DrJohnson.com which has everything from pet info, to vet info, to koi and pond fish. It has it ALL! Pet Information.

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