So you thought you didn’t need to worry about winter koi pond algae? Well, think again!

Algae is able to grow both in and under ice. It flourishes until plants begin competing with it for nutrients again in the spring.

Plants use nutrients and compete with algae. They are higher up on the food chain than algae, so they beat them out in the competition.

In my opinion this is possibly THE best reason to have koi pond plants, although there are many other benefits as well.

In fact, it is suggested that plants should cover 70% of the pond’s surface during the growing season.

One way to discourage algae growth in the winter is to have as many plants as you can find that will also grow in the ice. Two of these are pennywort and watercress.

Both fish and tadpoles eat algae. UV lights, algaecides and bentonite are also methods of koi pond algae control. There is no magic bullet.

It may take a combination of all of the above to get your algae under control. UV is expensive and algaecide can upset the balance and even harm or kill your koi.

Both plants and bentonite work with the natural chemistry and ecosystem of your pond.

If you are experiencing bad algae problems one good solution is to go to the grocery store and buy several clumps of watercress (with the roots on), bring it home and throw it in your pond.

And of course pennywort. If you can find it, buy a large bunch and toss it in the pond.

Both watercress and pennywort are readily available, suck up nutrients quickly and help starve both summer and winter koi pond algae!

Get Rid Of Koi Pond Algae!

String Algae

Koi & Goldfish – The Same
Or Different?

Have you ever wondered if there is a such thing as a koi goldfish? Is it one kind of fish or two different kinds?

Well, even though they are both descended from carp, they ARE different.

Koi were bred and developed in Japan, and goldfish were bred and developed in China.  Aside from their origins they have other differences (and similarities) as well.

If you aren’t sure whether you should have koi, goldfish, or both, consider the needs of each.

A major consideration is the size of your pond. Koi need much more room than goldfish for a few reasons.

The first, and one of the primary differences, is that koi will grow to be larger than goldfish.  Along with this is the fact that even though they are generally longer-lived than goldfish are, they need better water quality to survive and thrive.

Goldfish can live in a smaller pond with very little care. Koi should have a minimum 1000 gallon pond, and you need to be careful that you don’t overpopulate it at the beginning when the koi are younger and smaller in size! Overpopulation is a primary cause of poor water quality.

Koi & goldfish can co-exist peacefully

As far as other physical differences, koi have a more tubular shape than goldfish do and they sport a wider variety of colors and patterns. They also can be distinguished from goldfish by the barbels, which look like whiskers, on each side of their mouth.

There are some fancy varieties of goldfish as well, but these varieties don’t usually do well in outdoor ponds. The plainer, slender bodied varieties are hardier and better suited to pond life.

Koi and goldfish can live together very well. So, if you think you’d like both there’s no reason not to have them. They can even interbreed, although their offspring will be sterile.

It is a good idea to gather as much information as you can about koi and pond care since koi are a bit higher maintenance than goldfish. And who knows…maybe you could call their occasional offspring koi goldfish!

Which Of The Koi Types Are
Your Favorite?

I had so much fun with the last video that I decided to put together a new one about some of the different koi types.

What is it that distinguishes one koi type from another? Most times it is the coloration of the individual fish. Avid koi collectors spend a lot of time searching for the perfect specimen.

A person’s personal favorite type of koi is very subjective. It depends on what appeals to them aesthetically. There are many more types than I have shown in the video here.

I took all of the pictures you see in the video on a recent trip to one of my favorite koi ponds at the South Park Botanical Gardens in Buffalo, New York. If you are ever in the Buffalo area it is a wonderful place to visit!

Without further ado here is a short look at just a few of the many koi types!

I would love to hear about your favorite koi type!

How Do Koi Get Their Beautiful Colors?

First of all, take a look at the short video I just made showing some of the beautiful koi colors!

It is hard to believe that all of the dazzling colors that we see in koi today started with the common carp!

The history of koi; from their humble beginnings through years of selective breeding by the Japanese is fascinating and has turned them into the btilliantly colored, ornamental fish that we see decorating many ponds today!

If you would like to know more about koi colors,  koi care and how to build and take care of your very own beautiful, tranquil koi pond, the ebook “Koi Care Basics” is full of useful and interesting information for the beginning koi hobbyist as well as those with established ponds.

Grab your copy today to get it at the discount price and lock in the valuable free bonuses too!

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

Choosing The Right Koi Pond Filters

There are a wide variety of commercially available koi pond filters to choose from. Some of them are very basic and only provide one means of filtration.

Others combine more than one or even all three. These are the ideal koi pond filter.

The three types of filtration are mechanical, biological and chemical.

Mechanical filters remove debris and organic waste particles from your pond. The water passes through a sponge or floss type medium which filters out the particles and then passes back into the pond.

Biological filters are the most important of the three and consist of a colony of beneficial bacteria grown on a medium, since it must live on a surface.

Materials that are porous, like sponge or lava rock contain lots of surface area, making them an ideal medium for maximizing the size of your beneficial bacteria colony.

These beneficial bacteria work by breaking down some of the toxic organic waste into less harmful substances.

A chemical filter won’t remove all the pollutants in your koi pond and should always be used in conjunction with another method of filtration.

Carbon is frequently used, and sometimes so are resins. They can remove some of the specific pollutants like phosphate or ammonia.

You want a filter that can keep up with the large amount of waste that koi produce. Additionally, the filter should be easy enough to maintain that you will be willing to do it on a regular basis.

Choosing the right system for your pond can be a difficult decision, especially if you’re on a limited budget.

Just remember that this is the single most important purchase you’re likely to make when building your pond. Any mistake could be quite costly in the long run.

Be sure to research possible koi pond filters thoroughly before deciding which system is best for you!

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

Why Fiberglass Koi Pond Liners Are Often Best

Fiberglass koi pond liners are both versatile and strong. You can join them together to make a variety of shapes and sizes.

The preformed parts are made of durable fiberglass that has a UV resistant gel coating on the interior finish. This is the same material used to construct boats and other marine items. It is waterproof, sturdy and has a life expectancy of 30 years plus!

Fiberglass pond shells are easy to install. Just excavate, level the shell on 2″-3″ of sand base, install any plumbing you are going to need and then backfill around the pond.

Complete assembly and installation instructions are provided for you if you purchase a koi pond kit.
Fiberglass pond liners have several advantages over ponds with flexible liners, and even cement koi ponds, which are often considered to be the most permanent.

First, fiberglass lined ponds are not prone to cracking due to minor ground movements and settling like cement ponds are. They can also be safer for your koi since they are chemically inert and don’t cause changes to water chemistry and pH.

Unlike flexible liners, fiberglass is not subject to rim erosion and punctures, making it much sounder structurally. Thus it is a more permanent and durable solution.

It also resists root damage and sabotage from burrowing animals. These sometimes cause extensive damage to other pond lining materials.

In addition to this, fiberglass is much easier to repair in the event that it is damaged.

Although cement is the choice of many, and flexible liners are the least expensive, I personally favor fiberglass koi pond liners!

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

Koi Pond Heater Or Koi Pond
De Icer…Which Should You Use?

What should you do when the weather gets colder? Use a koi pond heater or a koi pond de icer? The answer is “it depends”.

As long as your pond is deep enough you can keep your koi outdoors through the winter.

Their metabolism will slow down and you’ll need to switch them to a lower protein food in the fall and then stop feeding them altogether once the temperatures drop below 50 degrees fahrenheit.

At that time they will become very sluggish and hang around at the bottom of tthe pond where the water is warmer.

The reason some people like using a
koi pond heater is because they like to feed their koi through the winter. When the fish are not taking in nutrients and are sluggish their immune systems slow down as well.

Then in the spring when they “come back to life”, other things, like bacteria are coming back to life as well. With their suppressed immune systems your koi are more susceptible to bacterial infections.

Many people prefer being able to feed through the winter to having to treat their fish for a bacterial infection.

If your pond freezes over in winter you will need to make sure to keep an opening in the ice for gases to escape. If gases get trapped beneath the ice you will end up with a pond full of dead koi in the spring!

A de icer will keep a small area open on the surface of your pond, allowing it to “breathe”. You should NEVER open a hole in the ice by breaking it with a hammer or other implement as this will send shock waves through the water that can kill your fish.

If you live in a colder climate you need to decide if you prefer to use a koi pond de icer or a koi pond heater.

Alan Deacon

KoiCareBasics.com

Koi filtration is probably the most important mechanical function in your pond! Without a filter you won’t be able to keep your water clean and we all should know by now that the most critical factor in koi health is water quality!

I just put up a new Squidoo lens about the koi pond filter. It provides information on the basics of koi filters, how they work and what they do.

Different aspects of filtering are reviewed and you will find out where you can go to save money on all your koi pond filtration needs!

Don’t neglect to learn all you can about the koi filter that you may already have, or that you will purchase in the future. Your filter determines, to a degree (along with the size of your pond), how many koi your koi fish pond will be able to sustain, how quickly and large your koi will grow and how healthy they will be.

If you want to learn more about the basics of koi and koi pond care head over to my website and grab a copy of the ebook or audio version of Koi Care Basics

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

For any pond over 1000 gallons it is wise to use a pressurized biological sand or bead filter that can be back washed. There are pros and cons with either sand or beads.

During the backwash portion of the operation, sand, since it is heavier than water, falls to the bottom of the tank instead of flowing out through the valve with the waste. Plastic beads, since they are lighter than water, float to the top. As they are smaller than the valve-strainer’s holes, they get washed out through the valve into the waste stream. More and more beads are lost during each backwash operation.

Bead filters also have limited efficiency. Smaller beads have more surface area for good bacteria colonization, but tend to get flushed out during the backwash procedure. This doesn’t happen to the larger sized beads, but they have less surface area and thus are unable to filter as efficiently.

By under-loading the sand filters, and backwashing them more frequently with higher pressures and flow rates, you can take advantage of the greater food processing surface areas, while eliminating the chance of plugging, which can be their main fault. Many manufacturers recommendations for loading sand tend to be too high.

This causes the sand to plug the filter which is the main drawback of sand as a filtration medium.

Up-flow and gravity flow filters need to be cleaned regularly and it is a filthy job. The filter media is packed with rotting organic matter and foul odored fish waste .

As you clean and handle all the various parts of these filters you will find small, white feces-eating worms crawling on your hands and arms. Add to this the ambiance of the offensive odor described above and you don’t exactly have nirvana!

The up-flow and gravity flow filters, though inexpensive to make, cost a fortune to purchase. So, in addition to paying a premium price to buy one, you are also spending so much time and labor that you might as well have paid at least twice the price!

If you use a pressurized filter, all it takes is the turn of a handle for 2 to 3 minutes and the filter is clean. Almost like magic! This saves lots of time, inconvenience, labor, mess, and wear and tear on your Koi. It uses slightly more electricity to operate a pressurized pump, but the savings in labor more than make up for it in most pond owner’s eyes!

You can also use the waste water for your plants. It is packed with nitrogen and works even better than many of the fertilizers created especially for this purpose!

As you can see, to find the type that is right for you, you have several decisions to make about Koi pond filtration.

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com