Update: all 5 are in and doing good! 2 of my Koi's are in for the winter

[renadia]

  Yep finally got the water cycled and 2 of my Koi's are in.  The big BigKahuna is about 9" and the butterfly is about 5". It's so neat to be able to see them from the aquarium point of view instead of just looking form the top in the pond. I will wait a few days to see how my filter is handling the fish and then will slowly bring in the others.
I will post their pictures once they are all in.

Anyone else brining in their Koi's ?

[Nerine]

we started today!! it's tradition for us to bring them in on thanksgiving...and of course being sick and ice cold water isn't a good mix LOL we snagged 3 large ones right away and one baby....there are still at least a dozen fry out in the pond and 3 other large ones!!

I'm bringing 3 of the large ones back to ottawa and some of the babies if I can catch them before we leave!!!

BRRRR is all I can say!!!

Did you have much trouble bringing your guys in? they look so different in a tank!!!

[renadia]

No I used one of those long fish nets the kids use to catch butterflies The long handle sure does help  .
It so cool to be able to see them properly, I find it's the disadvantage in the pond, you don't really get to see them properly. Do you have Koi's or goldfish?

[Nerine]

ahhh you're so lucky haha ours don't even fit in nets anymore!! I put the 3 in my 75 gal tank last night and they make it look like a fishbowl LOL I had to use a pillowcase and brute strength to get them in!! whew!!

they are indeed koi 18 inches and heavens knows how many pounds, but wow, they are STRONG!!!!!!!

The infant was a snap tiny fish net and swoosh!! but getting fry out of the pond is another story!

How are yours adapting to indoor life? I'm crossing fingers mine are ok, they had a trip in a cooler from Montreal to Ottawa last night, and one had injured himself, wow they bleed a lot...so water quality was poor traveling down, thankfully they were only in there 5 hours.

do you have pictures of yours yet??

[The Pond Boy]

Hi,

Be carefull when you bring in the koi. I hope you all know what you are doing and have the right environment to keep the fish ok. Check also at least daily the water for ammonia and nitrite. I have seen to many koi dying from bringing them inside.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[renadia]

Hi,

Be carefull when you bring in the koi. I hope you all know what you are doing and have the right environment to keep the fish ok. Check also at least daily the water for ammonia and nitrite. I have seen to many koi dying from bringing them inside.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

I'm buying a second filter tonight (will take bioballs and filter pad from Pond filter) to keep up with the fish load, so if there is no ammonia and Nitrite and water is good why would they die? Any advice on what type of filter to get?

[The Pond Boy]

Hi,

There are a couple of reasons why they can die: first from ammonia and nitrite because there are no bacteria in a "new" tank and secondly for overcrowed the tank. Advise is from 100 - 1500 gallon of water for one koi of 12 inch length. For sure to have 3 koi of 18" in 75 gallon is overcrowded but if you take good care of them, they will be fine. I have 3 tanks of 275 gallon and have 2 filters on it, one for 2500 gallon and a home build one. Be carefull for sickness like ulcer. This is a very common sickness when they are overstocked.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[renadia]

Thanks for the info. The tank has been running for a while with a filter that has bacteria and I'm going to buy some sponge filters tonight to add filtration and to keep up with the fishload. My koi's are 1 8" and 4 3 to 4 ".

One more question, I had a Koi that was sort of white like a cream color and it's now looking more orange like my big one and another was red and white I paid more because he was red and now he's also turning kind of orangy. Why is that so? Can I do something to bring back their original color?

[The Pond Boy]

Hi,

It is a fact that koi can change from color, some become nicer other worse. Also a koi can loose all color in a couple of weeks when it has "high stress". There is some koi food what enhanced the colors of the koi.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[renadia]

Hi,

It is a fact that koi can change from color, some become nicer other worse. Also a koi can loose all color in a couple of weeks when it has "high stress". There is some koi food what enhanced the colors of the koi.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

Thanks  Greg, hope the red one would get to be red again 
Are you really into ponds? How big is you rpond? Or do you professionnaly built and maintain them?

[renadia]

ahhh you're so lucky haha ours don't even fit in nets anymore!! I put the 3 in my 75 gal tank last night and they make it look like a fishbowl LOL I had to use a pillowcase and brute strength to get them in!! whew!!

they are indeed koi 18 inches and heavens knows how many pounds, but wow, they are STRONG!!!!!!!

The infant was a snap tiny fish net and swoosh!! but getting fry out of the pond is another story!

How are yours adapting to indoor life? I'm crossing fingers mine are OK, they had a trip in a cooler from Montreal to Ottawa last night, and one had injured himself, wow they bleed a lot...so water quality was poor traveling down, thankfully they were only in there 5 hours.

do you have pictures of yours yet??

They seem to be enjoying the tank, the biggest one used to dive for the bottom as soon as I would get close tot he pond and of course the others followed but now he comes right in front of me when I get close to the tank. I'm now trying to get them to come up and eat when I feed them , I would like to be able to hand feed them but they eat only after the food ifs there for a bit.

So how are yours? All OK after the ride? How about the injured one?
I will post some pictures, maybe tonight if I have time. How about pictures of yours?

[CMW]

Have you heard of the use of bentonite (also goes by other names including montmorillionite) clay to (among other things) improve the colour of koi?  There is an entire discipline called pelotherapy which is applicable to people.  It caught my interest a few mnths ago when I was doing some research on koi.  Apparenlty you can toss the koi food in bentonite powder and then feed it to your fish and it is supposed to be good for them (when hydrated the clay attracts contaminants that can "dull"the koi) when they eat it or even when added to pond water.

I have not tried yet but plan to do so when I have everyone in for the winter.  I purchased INTERNAL grade bentonite clay powder from the naturopathic pharmacy on (I think) O'Connor @ Slater in downtown Ottawa ($5.99/100g - a large quantity when you are talking about feeding it to fish).  I can tell you that when hydrated it is an incredible silky texture and makes for a great face mask.  In pelotherapy, the clay is used for baths (like you get at a health spa), for masks, poultices and also ingested to help draw out heavy metals and other contaminants - basically the same concept it is allaged to do for the fish and/or pond water.

I have read a fair bit about it on the net but cannot vouch in any way for the veracity of the information as I do not know anything about the sites.  In general, the notion is not implausible.

If interested in reading about it you can try googling "bentonite koi colour".

Cheers,
c

[The Pond Boy]

Thanks  Greg, hope the red one would get to be red again 
Are you really into ponds? How big is you rpond? Or do you professionnaly built and maintain them?

Hi Renadia,

Yes I started this year my own pond business specialised in pond maintenance. This is something what will grow fast because there are lots of ponds with problems. Beside that I install also pond from small to big. My own pond is 30 x 16 feet in a eight shape with a bridge over the narrow part. Next year I will build a 25 feet round pond behind this one with 2 streams to the current pond with in the middle in the pond a gazebo with a plexiglas floor so that you can see the koi in the lights when it is dark. This fall I will build a above ground pond from 16 x 16 feet with in the middle an island with a beach and a tree.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[dan2x38]

I got 3/4 of a fair size container of goldfish floating pellets for natural colour enhancing. We got rid of our goldfish you can have the cnaister if you want.

[Nerine]

I'm glad to hear yours are doing well!!!

for the ones in montreal we filled the tank with pond water and the tank has a pond filter on it They are also doing well! there would be way too many fish in there if we put these 3 large ones in it as well, so that's why they are in the 75 as that's the 2nd largest tank we have...so with much care I think we can hold out till spring and then they can find new homes.

I will try and get some pictures soon they are quite nice looking and very interested in what goes on in their environment!

Looking forward to seeing your photos!!!

[renadia]

Have you heard of the use of bentonite (also goes by other names including montmorillionite) clay to (among other things) improve the colour of koi?  There is an entire discipline called pelotherapy which is applicable to people.  It caught my interest a few mnths ago when I was doing some research on koi.  Apparenlty you can toss the koi food in bentonite powder and then feed it to your fish and it is supposed to be good for them (when hydrated the clay attracts contaminants that can "dull"the koi) when they eat it or even when added to pond water.

I have not tried yet but plan to do so when I have everyone in for the winter.  I purchased INTERNAL grade bentonite clay powder from the naturopathic pharmacy on (I think) O'Connor @ Slater in downtown Ottawa ($5.99/100g - a large quantity when you are talking about feeding it to fish).  I can tell you that when hydrated it is an incredible silky texture and makes for a great face mask.  In pelotherapy, the clay is used for baths (like you get at a health spa), for masks, poultices and also ingested to help draw out heavy metals and other contaminants - basically the same concept it is allaged to do for the fish and/or pond water.

I have read a fair bit about it on the net but cannot vouch in any way for the veracity of the information as I do not know anything about the sites.  In general, the notion is not implausible.

If interested in reading about it you can try googling "bentonite koi colour".

Cheers,
c

WOW I will sure look into it, it could be good for me and the Koi's 

[renadia]

Hi Renadia,

Yes I started this year my own pond business specialised in pond maintenance. This is something what will grow fast because there are lots of ponds with problems. Beside that I install also pond from small to big. My own pond is 30 x 16 feet in a eight shape with a bridge over the narrow part. Next year I will build a 25 feet round pond behind this one with 2 streams to the current pond with in the middle in the pond a gazebo with a plexiglas floor so that you can see the koi in the lights when it is dark. This fall I will build a above ground pond from 16 x 16 feet with in the middle an island with a beach and a tree.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

Those are amazing projects! My pond is really small compared to that. It's even missing stone  ran out of them, I will have to find some more for next year. We built a waterfall that's bigger then the pond  but I have a really good pump so no problem getting the water going. I'm already planning changes for next year, what's neat is that the pond is located in front of my living room window so we can see the fish from the living room. My problem is that I don't have a backyard only a front yard and I can't go deeper than 2'. To keep fish in 24" means you need a water heater but you figure that heating for the whole winter it must get expensive on the hydro bill.
Have you posted pictures of your pond? I would like to see it.  I posted some of mine you can see the size of the waterfall 
Good luck with your company, it's nice to do something you really enjoy.

Thanks for all the advice

Diane

[renadia]

Hi,

There are a couple of reasons why they can die: first from ammonia and nitrite because there are no bacteria in a "new" tank and secondly for overcrowed the tank. Advise is from 100 - 1500 gallon of water for one koi of 12 inch length. For sure to have 3 koi of 18" in 75 gallon is overcrowded but if you take good care of them, they will be fine. I have 3 tanks of 275 gallon and have 2 filters on it, one for 2500 gallon and a home build one. Be carefull for sickness like ulcer. This is a very common sickness when they are overstocked.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

Oh boy, That's a lot of tanks!  Your basement must be full, how many fish do you have in the house?
Do you keep your Koi's outside in your pond?

Diane

[Sue]

Hi Renadia,

Yes I I will build a 25 feet round pond behind this one with 2 streams to the current pond with in the middle in the pond a gazebo with a plexiglas floor so that you can see the koi in the lights when it is dark. Greg

I'd love to see photo's of this gazebo with the viewing floor, when you are done. It sounds like a really cool idea!

[renadia]

I got 3/4 of a fair size container of goldfish floating pellets for natural colour enhancing. We got rid of our goldfish you can have the cnaister if you want.

Thanks Dan sure will take the offer  I never say no to free stuff   Will you be at the Oct meeting?

[The Pond Boy]

I'd love to see photo's of this gazebo with the viewing floor, when you are done. It sounds like a really cool idea!

Sue,

I hope to have it ready in July next year. Will be for sure on the Pond Tour next year. I will post pictures when it is ready and if you want to come over for a peek, you are very welcome.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[The Pond Boy]

Oh boy, That's a lot of tanks!  Your basement must be full, how many fish do you have in the house?
Do you keep your Koi's outside in your pond?

Diane

Diane,

I will have about 120 fish, from 2 inch until 18 inch in the three tanks. They are located in my detached and warmed garage. The temperature there will be about 10 degrees in the winter.  I will bring in this year the fish in from our pond for the first time. Like to "experiment" and learn from the results and so far I learned a lot the last couple of years. I will also bring in all the plants from the pond, the perennials and also the tropicals. They go also in the garage on 10 degrees until march 1. Then I will increase the temperature until 22 degrees. When I put them back in the pond, they will look really nice.

[The Pond Boy]

Those are amazing projects! My pond is really small compared to that. It's even missing stone  ran out of them, I will have to find some more for next year. We built a waterfall that's bigger then the pond  but I have a really good pump so no problem getting the water going. I'm already planning changes for next year, what's neat is that the pond is located in front of my living room window so we can see the fish from the living room. My problem is that I don't have a backyard only a front yard and I can't go deeper than 2'. To keep fish in 24" means you need a water heater but you figure that heating for the whole winter it must get expensive on the hydro bill.
Have you posted pictures of your pond? I would like to see it.  I posted some of mine you can see the size of the waterfall 
Good luck with your company, it's nice to do something you really enjoy.

Thanks for all the advice

Diane

Diane, 

To keep your fish outside, your pond need to be at least 20-24 inches deep. To keep the hydro bill low in the winter, I would suggest to buy a big air pump with a big airstone. This will keep easy a hole in the ice on a nice winter day. If the hole becomes about 2", then you plug in your heater for 6-8 hours. After the 6-8 hours the hole in the ice is big enough and you unplug the heater. This is the trick to save on your hydro bill. If you need any help with  your pump, don't hesitate to ask for help.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[renadia]

Sue,

I hope to have it ready in July next year. Will be for sure on the Pond Tour next year. I will post pictures when it is ready and if you want to come over for a peek, you are very welcome.
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

Can I go peek to?   

[The Pond Boy]

Can I go peek to?   

Sue,

Sure also you are very welcome.....
Thanks,

The Pond Boy,
Greg

[dan2x38]

Thanks Dan sure will take the offer  I never say no to free stuff   Will you be at the Oct meeting?

Yes I will - send me a PM the day before to remind me... I got a great memory but it is short... 

I read about your pond only being 2' deep... what about making it on top of a mound then have grass and bush on the sides to hold the earth togeather? Just brain storming... I guess that is a silly idea...