petcarefun.info

April 28th, 2009 by KittyKitty

As a Koi pond owner, your priority should be to keep your pond in good condition. Remember that prevention is always better than cure: so once your pond starts to have some problems, it'll take more time and money to fix these.

No overfeeding:

Overfeeding your pets can cause damage to your water quality. Your fish wouldn't nearly eat the amount of food that they do in a controlled environment. Feeding them with too much food will promote larger amount of wastes in your pond. What you should do is to vacuum the bottom out as much as you can, and ensure that the drainage systems are clear and properly working.

Keeping the water quality:

Your pond needs filter. There are two kinds of filtration system. The mechanical filtration is the one that relieves the pond of wastes, insects and dead algae (which is important to sustain your pond's size and the number and size of your fish). The biological filtration is the one that provides the nitrogen cycle, which will remove all of those dissolved wastes from your pond (this, ammonia will build up which can be devastating to your pets).

You should always keep your pond clean all the time so that your pets will always live a beautiful and a stress free life. The water in your pond is where they will eat and sleep, that's why it's very necessary to keep it as clean as possible. The pond's water should be almost completely clear. There should be no debris, and your fish should appear like they're floating in the air. Also, you should be able to see clearly the bottom of your pond.

Keeping supplies on hand:

There are a lot of supplies that you need to properly maintain your pond, and many of these items are very necessary. It is important for you to know each item's function in order to understand as to why they are needed. There are also items that you need to have on hand always. As you have an outdoor pond, you should expect emergency situations to occur. It's known that nature is very unpredictable, so don't get caught in a situation where an item is needed and you have no access to get it!

Preventing those common diseases:

If you have a newly-bought fish, it is very important to quarantine them from your current fish population. Do this for no less than 15 days. Knowing that KHV (or Koi Herpes Virus) is activated within temperatures at 74 degrees Fahrenheit will let you expose your pet to the right conditions for the disease to reveal itself. Those that live in these conditions for a longer period of time and don't have any of the symptoms will show that they are unlikely to contract the illness.

In quarantining your fish, completely isolate it away from the current fish population that you have. Separate the tools, water and food that you use in taking care of the new Koi. Proper hand washing procedures should always be observed in handling both Koi and Koi items used within the same period of time. Remember that quarantining will greatly reduce the chances of exposing your fish to diseases and viruses.