Water Quality

Water Quality in your pond has to be stable and optimal in order to keep Koi. Your objective should not be for the water in your pond to be so clean and clear that it is virtually sterile. Such a water quality is undesirable and will create many health problems for the Koi and they will not develop their best colors. Resistance to disease can only be built up by Koi who are exposed to it in very mild doses.

Print out our Water Quality Care Record for Help in Keeping Your Pond In Great Condition

Suspended fish wastes are a serious concern for water recirculating pond systems. Large amounts of suspended and settleable solids are produced during fish feeding. Fish waste particles can be a major source of poor water quality since they may contain up to 70 percent of the nitrogen load in the system. These wastes not only irritate the fish's gills, but can cause several problems to the biological filter. The particulate waste can clog the biological filter, causing the vitrifying bacteria to die from lack of oxygen. Particulate waste can also promote the growth of bacteria that produces--rather than consumes ammonia.

Symptom	What It Is
Green Water / Pea Soup	Algae Bloom
Smells Like Rotten Eggs	Accumulation of Sludge
Small Floating Debris	Filter Needs Cleaning / Insufficient Mechanical Filtration / Use Coagulator
White Hazy Water	Bacterial Bloom
White Foam	Protein Buildup / Spawning
Brown Cloudy Water	Often Rain RunOff / Dirt in Water / Use Coagulator
pH Tests High (over 8.0)	Pond Too Alkaline
pH Tests Low (under 7.0)	Pond Too Acidic
Ammonia Tests Positive	Inadequate Biological Filtration / Nitrosomas Bacteria Not Established
Nitrite Tests Positive	Inadequate Biological Filtration / Nitrobacter Bacteria Not Established
Algae Clumping on Top	Blanket Algae
Algae Strands Growing on Rocks	String Algae

Signs of Stress

• Loss of Appetite
• Clamped Fins
• Lying Listless on Bottom of Pond
• Scratching or Rubbing themselves on Rocks or other Items
• Gasping at the Surface is usually caused by a lack of oxygen in your water or your Koi is stressed.

To help reduce the stress levels of your Koi Fish you can use Stress Coat. Stress Coat is also a must for the first year of your pond life.

Proper Way To Test

Test kits are only as good as the water samples they receive and the interperative skills of the operator. If you give the worlds best test kit a contaminated sample, you can expect an incorrect answer. Knowing this, you need to be careful about how you obtain your water sample. Listed below is the Right Way:

Start with clean equipment. Any vials, test tubes, droppers or other apparatus needs to be clean and dry before you start. If you can not manage dry, at least settle for clean. Those hard-water spots lurking at the bottom of your glassware can lead to erroneous pH, KH and even nitrate readings.

Use a Sample Bottle. Ideally, you should extract about a quart of water to use for testing. I've found a laboratory "wash bottle" with a pinpoint dispenser tube and a wide threaded lid to be ideal. This arrangement allows me to simply squeeze the bottle to dispense a very controlled amount of water into a test tube. At 3 bucks, a wash bottle should be part of every serious ponders test kit.

Obtain a clean sample. Submerge your test bottle in the inverted position to a depth of about 8 inches. Rotate the bottle into an upright position so the air escapes and water rushes in. Cap the bottle, then remove it from the water.

Maintain a clean sample. Once you have obtained your sample, keep it out of direct sunlight and maintain the temperature at or near the ponds temperature. Adding heat and light can change pH, dissolved O2 levels, and ammonia readings.

Measure carefully. If the test calls for 5ml of sample water, do not "eyeball" it. Measure it. Some tests (like KH and GH) depend on the water sample changing color after adding X drops of titrant. If your sample size is off even a smidgeon, your test results will be completely bogus. Measure, measure, measure!

Work quickly. Once you have got a water sample, do not let it age more than a few minutes (10 minutes max). Old water can give misleading results. If it takes you more than a few minutes to do your tests, refill the sample bottle. Pond water is cheap and plentiful.

Follow Directions. If the test says "mix gently" then make sure you do not cause to much agitation. Likewise, "vigorous agitation" is not a lazy swishing motion. If the directions call for a certain mixing or waiting time, observe it to the letter.

Keep Your Fingers Out. Do not use your finger as a test tube stopper. There are a number of reasons, the least of which is contaminating the sample. Some of the chemicals used in water analysis are dangerous and you do not want this stuff absorbed into your skin. Use a neoprene cork or plastic snap-cap.

Read the results carefully. Most color-gradient tests (ie, pH) rely on comparing the resulting test color to a standard color scale printed on a paper card. Most color tests are designed to be viewed from the side in indirect sunlight while being held about a half-inch away from their color standard. If you attempt to read the results in incandescent or flourescent light, expect errors. A discussion of color temperature and color rendering physics is outside the scope of this document, but the effects are very real. One last item that isn't well-publicized is color-blindness. Men: Color tests can be very tricky. If you are male, there is a one in four chance that you can not read a red-colored pH test closer than 0.3 pH points!

Important pH Tips for Water Quality

If you notice your fish look like they have a white haze on their skin or that their skin is peeling...test for pH and do an immediate 50% water change before going any further.

Think of pH as the way the water feels against the fish’s skin. A low pH “burns” the skin because it is acidic. High pH “chaps” the skin because it is alkalinic. The ideal pH reading for Koi and goldfish is around 7.5 but these fish can tolerate a range between 6.8 - 8.2.

We prefer to use pH strips to test pond water because it not only does it give you the pH level it also indicates whether the water is buffered properly or not. Buffered water means the pH is stable.

pH tests vary a few points at different times of the day. It tends to run higher at night then lower by morning, taking it’s cue from the natural CO2 and Oxygen exchange of the plants in the water. The difference in the pH at different times of the day is called pH swing. When it is more than just a couple of points off it can be dangerous and unpredictable. The object is to stabilize the pH at an acceptable level.

Now think of the pH suddenly falling. It would feel sort of like being dropped into a vat of acid. When the pH suddenly falls to a 6.5 or below it is called a pH crash and is very deadly. Fish subjected to a mild pH crash suffer peeling of the skin, very similar to our sun-burned skin peeling off. Sever crashes can end with complete fish loss. In the case of an emergency a water change is in order to take the pH up quickly. A very clean system with little organics tends to be lower in pH. Bead filters, because of their efficiency, can actually contribute to low pH readings. For readings that tend to stay low, baking soda in small quantities can be used to bring the pH up but you do not want to raise the pH quickly unless it’s an emergency because it can shock the fish. Instead, it is best to use carefully prescribed products designed to raise the pH over a period of time and hold it at the desired level. We use pH stabilizers with great results. It’s important to know that the stabilizers must be added back whenever water changes are made.

Concrete leaching into the water will cause high pH readings. Newer ponds where stones have been concreted together in a stream or waterfall often see readings close to 10.0. Common household products can be used to bring down the pH. Again, care must be given to bring it down slowly. Once it is down you will then stabilize it with pH stabilizers.

Aquariums and ponds are not immune to pH swings and crashes. It’s a great idea to test in the morning and in the evening for a week to get an idea of the severity of any swings in the readings.

If you find that your pond is subject to pH swings there are some very simple (and not really pricey) things you can do to lower, raise and buffer your water. Testing is the key and stabilizers are the answers.

pH Crash: Acidosis

Water is constantly rushing (leaking) into the fish through their skin and gills. The kidney is responsible for pushing that water out. Water with a low pH is getting into the fish, and this requires that the body mobilize its own natural buffers to sustain the blood pH. Quickly, these buffers are exhausted and the blood stream suffers a low pH called acidosis. Acidosis can be a terminal event for fish.

Stress Coat

A unique water conditioner that replaces the natural mucous slime coating on the skin of pond fish when it has been damaged by handling, netting, or other forms of stress.

Pond Chemical Guidelines

• Chemicals should only be used in the Koi pond to cure known health problems, never as a matter of routine. Medications can never replace good management of water quality, and there are no miracle cures.

• Calculate your pond gallonage accurately in advance, overdosing can kill; underdosing fails to work.

• Always follow the instructions on the container of any pond remedy. The dose level of a medication is based on its concentration, which does not appear on the bottle, and will vary with the brand. For example, malachite green and formalin are both availble in variable formulations, so using some brands at the generic dose would not be appropriate.

• Test the water to ensure that all parameters are normal before introducing a medication. If ammonia or nitrite is already polluting the water, a chemical will make matters worse. A pond treatment used in a pond in which the pH has fluctuated could kill all the Koi. Re-test the water following treatment to ensure that the filter is still biologically effective.

• Switch off the UV whenever chemicals are used, as it can weaken their effectiveness.

• Ensure oxygen is adequate before using a pond medication. The dissolved oxygen level will become lower as the water temperature rises, and chemicals will lower this even more. It is advisable not to treat the pond on a hot day.

• The argument for switching off the pond filtration system while using a medication is a negative one. The presumption is that it will prevent loss of filtration biology due to the action of the chemicals. However, consequences of a die-back in the filter due to the reduction in oxygen supply could well equal any loss attributable to the chemical. Filter media will all vary in this respect, as some, more than others, will have the structure to best protect the organisms during the presence of a chemical. Bypassing the biological filter during a treatment is yet another possibility, but this too can only work in the short term. If sequential treatments are required, the filter will be bypassed for so long that some die-back will be inevitable. Some stages in the life-cycle of certain parasites may well be in the filtration system anyway, although this depends on the organism and the way the filter is designed.

• Aways measure a pond treatment into a watering-can (kept exclusively for pond use) that has been pre-filled with pond water. Then distribute evenly all around the pond.

• Many of the products used in fish health are toxic to humans. Disposable gloves and protective clothing are recommended; the eyes, too, are vulnerable. Those with asthma or who are concerned about resiratory problems should wear a mask, particularly when dealing with powder products, or when formalin is in use.

• Store all the chemicals used in Koi keeping with lids secured, away from children and pets, and in a location where it is cool, dry, and dark.

• Many chemicals become either toxic or ineffective with age, so check the shelf-life with the manufactures. Test kits, too, can give a false reading if out of date.

• Allow time for chemicals to break down before repeating a treatment, or using an alternative product- with most chemicals this takes from three to seven days. Never mix products without checking safe combinations.

Resources: Dallas Koi Pond Doc