In raising your koi, you should always have the necessary koi pond filter for your pond. The Koi is sensitive to the water quality compared to other fishes, that’s why there’s a need for consideration when it comes to having a koi pool filter.

The koi pool filter helps in controlling the biological balance within the koi pool. It removes the waste produced by the fish. In the wilderness, the waste coming from the fish is being removed through the water volume of the area and water current. So, when the fish is being placed in a controlled environment like your koi pool, they need to have this natural function as well. There are two kinds of filters: the biological filter and the mechanical filter. The biological filter depends on the bacteria to break down the toxic waste (ammonia or pH), into less harmful substances such as nitrates (although it’s just normal to have continuous amounts of pH on a low level, always remember that it can also impose harm to your fish when present in high levels).

A good koi pool filter will still be able to work properly without using a pump to force the water through to it. Due to the big area of the koi pool, the filter’s strength is not enough to circulate the water on its own. The pump pushes the water and then circulates it through the koi pool. Water devices such as a waterfall or a small fountain can be added, and they promote aeration: a process wherein water is stirred up and oxygen from the air is allowed to be folded into the water. Keep in mind that it’s very important to have a constant supply of oxygen for your fish. It’s also important for you to test the water’s chemical make up weekly, and this can be done by bringing a sample of the water coming from the koi pool to a local pet store and get it tested for you, or buying a home testing kit with which you can test the water yourself. You should keep the chemical mixture in the water to a normal and healthy level for your fish all the time.

Maintenance is always needed for your koi pool. It only takes little time and effort to maintain your koi pool, and having the important systems like the koi pool filter is one of the things that pond owners need to have. Having a healthy koi pool can make it a rewarding hobby for any pond owner such as yourself!

The first thing that you need to always remember is that a koi pool is not a just hole in the ground where you can store and keep your fish . To make a koi pool properly work, you should take into consideration different kinds of things in planning for your koi pond construction . Follow the few simple rules that’ll help you not to end up with an expensive hole filled with nothing but dead fish!

The first thing that you need to consider is to have a professional build your koi pool (that’s unless you have the necessary knowledge in fish keeping, outdoor landscaping and also koi pond architecture). You might think that building the koi pool yourself will save you money, but this kind of notion could not take your further from the case!

You see, if your koi pool is not built properly right from the start, what will happen is that you’re going to end up spending a great deal of money on fixing the problems that may come up in the future. Also, with an improper koi pool set-up, you will not be able to save your koi from an inevitable demise!

Keep in mind that a professional will always give you what you want for your koi pond architecture. They may give their inputs when it comes to a necessary decision making, but in the end, they will always do what you want them to do. With this, they are blameless if ever your koi pool fails due to factors such as size, location, etc. Beware also of those extremely cheap quotes, because they may cut corners that can really cause you problems later (while these will come in differently, there are no significant differences between them).

The fact of the matter is that these koi pool are, by no means, water troughs for animals or swimming pools, and that’s why much care should be taken in building and planning your koi pool. Although it may cost you more cash than building those typical swimming pools, the rewards that you can reap are really much greater! Make sure to keep all of the children and other pets out of your koi pool, because they can cause problems.

Children can cause a chemical imbalance and major problems like leaks if they take the liberty of swimming in the koi pool. As for the other kinds of pets, although it may be okay to have them around your koi pool, they may mess with the filtration system and even chase your koi around! That’s why it’s best to keep them away from your koi pool.

Keep in mind that like any other pets that people have, other issues may come up that may need your special attention. You can do these things: take some extra time to clear up those algae infections; if you’re going out for a vacation, make sure that somebody with the appropriate knowledge will maintain your koi pool to make it properly available when you return; and also, you can always visit your veterenarian.

Once built, most of these koi pools are permanent, so you can’t decide in 2 or 3 weeks that you want to have the construction of your koi pool in the backyard instead of the front yard. Make sure that you plan carefully every aspect of the koi pool, consider things such as size requirements and placement. Remember you can do only a little to alter it once it’s built. And there’s also the much needed maintenance of your koi pool. This can demand a lot of work on your part, so just be sure that you will be able to have enough time to do it.

Today, generating koi have become quite popular. The first of their kind were produced by breeding Carp, such as the German and the Asian type. For years, they have been selectively bred, which resulted to many kinds of color mutations to show up. 1805 was the year when the first colors were recorded. To date, there are thousands and thousands of variations in color that are available.

The popular ones come in black, red, orange, silver, yellow, green, blue and white. The patterns can be combined, resulting in a countless possibility in the pattern of the fish. Each of the colors have been designated their own names, and it is as unique as the color being referred to.

In places like Japan, Singapore, Israel, and the United States (typically in warmer places like California and Nevada) raise the koi for purchase. The koi can be bought at most of the local pet stores. If ever there’s no stock on hand, you can always order them, wherein you are being presented with more options when ordering since you don’t have to pick right away from the available stock. The only disadvantage here is that you won’t be able to pick the specific koi that you’d like to have.

Keep in mind that your koi pool should be complete first before buying your koi. The size and number of koi that you’re going to purchase should be based with respect to the size of your koi pond. Never overcrowd your koi, as it may cause problems instantly in your koi pond, killing many of your koi and causing you to lose a lot of time and money. Consult your local dealer about the proper setup that you can have, and they will be the ones to advise you on the amount of koi that you should put in your own koi pond. Many fish owners know that most fish will only grow in line with the size of the enclosure that they’re in. Koi, on the other hand, will grow until they have reached their full-growth potential. Make sure that you are able to accommodate the number of koi that you’re going to buy in the future.

Traits And Personality Of The Koi:

The Koi are non-aggressive fish. They don’t have teeth, so you don’t have to worry about getting bitten when you feed them using your hand. This allows you to get smaller children involved in the process, as they are drawn to the fish’s magnificent and eye-catching colors (added with their gentle nature). Like any other wild animal, your koi will be afraid of you in the beginning (as this instinct is what keeps them alive in the wild). Building complete trust with your koi really takes a certain amount of time and patience.

It is omnivorous, eating both meat and plants (which gives them an adaptable diet). They’ll eat whatever you put in the koi pond, regardless if its good for them or not. This makes you responsible in controlling their everyday diet. These koi have personalities, similar to the other animals. They are social by nature, and they can be trained to eat directly from the hands of their owners. You’ll get to see and observe more of their individual traits and characteristics as you spend more time with them.

The Koi is known for its long life span; in general, the average lifespan of a healthy one would reach around 30 years (although it has been known to live up to 200 years at a time). This makes them good choices if you’re someone who’s looking for a long-time pet companion. These facts make koi breeding truly one great hobby to do!

What do you do with your koi pool after the storm? The first thing that you need to do is relax, take time to breathe, because your koi are probably just fine: they’re just traumatized by what they have experienced (which is normal for any pets who have undergone such an unusual situation). Unless a lot of damage has been done to the koi pool water and the whole koi pond, you needn’t worry about their health. Instead, what you should focus is their home, which may be in need of some repairs.

You may have either prepared very well for the storm or may have been taken into surprise by the event, but whatever your case is, you should take the action needed to make sure that no further damage will be given to it. So here are the things/steps you need to do.

First, you have to undo all of the storm precautions/measures you made to survey possible damages. If you netted your koi pond, remove as much debris off the net as you can and then remove the net itself. Once you have done this, make a survey of the damage and then check out the condition of your pets. If you expect high waters and then your sand has extended outward beyond the normal point in the area of the koi pond, remove all sand bags for you to have an easy access in your koi pond (given that the koi pool water level is normal as well). Now, don’t worry if things seem out of place, as it may not be as bad as the original setup was. Once these things has been removed, take your time to examine the area. If there are any debris, skim over and netting to remove them. If the surrounding plants or other decorations has been uprooted, bring them back to the spot where they have been put originally.

Now, if your koi pond has been damaged quite badly, remove your pets immediately from the koi pond. Even though proper bagging as well as transporting techniques are needed if the damage will really need to take some time to get it fixed, there are some options that you can have if the damage can be fixed immediately. Use a children’s pool as a temporary home for your pets. You can also contact your local zoo or pet store, asking them of any program to help you in housing your pets until the much needed maintenance can be made. But if you only need to do some small repairs, focus on the koi pool water quality. Your pond’s water will be dark or cloudy due to the storm and the extra water from the rainfall. Resolve those ammonia issues if the storm lasted for a longer time. Then test your koi pool water for the presence of Nitrates.

If there are nitrates, add the right amount of salt to the koi pool water, which is about three-fourths to a pound of salt per 100 gallons of water. It’s a good idea to add more salt if your pets got shocked by the storm or if they have injuries (if you have plants lying around in your koi pond, remove them before you add the salt). Your pets should be your priority here.

And if you have KH issues (especially if it falls below 100), you can add baking soda to your koi pond (around 1 cup of unpacked baking soda per 1000 gallons of water). Doing this will protect your koi pond from a pH crash that may happen in a later time.

As your dog comes to an older age, you will have to give him a more specialized care and attention just like what we do with old people. If you have an old dog in the family, then it is essential that you learn the proper and the basic elements of caring of senior dogs. Your dog should grow the age of 15 if he is properly cared for and critical health issues are immediately acted upon.

It would serve you and your dog well if you develop the eye at identifying the health issues which are critical especially for a senior dog. Typical problems that can occur within old dogs usually involve dog arthritis . It is important for you to realize the beginning of this health issue and appropriate intervention must be done to avoid further deterioration of your dog’s health and prevent complications.

The most popular dog medicine used to manage the pain caused by dog arthritis is the NSAIDs or the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. What is causing a lot concern for those who are aware of the side effects of this drug types is the unregulated use of NSAIDs to manage pain especially in older doggies. Dog health experts stress the importance of blood work up before prescribing NSAIDs to treat canine arthritis.

Safety Profile of NSAIDs

The efficacy of NSAIDs to treat dog arthritis is highly recognized, however, the documented side effects require us to take a careful look at the continued use of the drugs to manage the pain attributed to canine arthritis. Some quarters claim that the drug reactions far outweigh whatever benefits it provides.

Some owners of dogs prescribed with NSAIDs agree that the quality of life of their old dogs have definitely become better and even extended the lives of their senior dogs. On the other hand, some owners claim that NSAIDs actually made their dogs worse and led to early mortality caused by liver failure attributed to the side effects of NSAIDs. The failure of some veterinarians to recognize the drug’s side effects of NSAIDs also contributed to the problem. Owners of older pups must be able to determine the signs of reaction in the use of NSAIDs in order to prevent further aggravation of the problem. You should check for possible onset of vomiting, dog diarrhea and generalized lethargy in our senior dogs. Dogs can also have a change in their behavior and constipation which is an indication of toxic reaction to the use of NSAIDs.

Before any prescription of NSAIDs, request for a thorough blood work up and examination of liver enzymes. Dog owners should also remember that NSAIDs is not recommended for dogs with history of bleeding disorders and should not be administered to dogs with confirmed liver dysfunction. It is also essential not to use NSAIDs in tandem with other anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, prednisolone or prednisone.

In managing the pain experienced by senior dogs as a result of dog arthritis, you must explore other alternative treatment intervention beyond the use of NSAIDs. There are other medicine choices known to deliver good results without the attendant adverse reactions normally associated to the use of NSAIDs.

In koi pool, overpopulation of the pet is one of the hardest problems that pond owners have to deal with. This can cause big problems to your koi pool, which can even cause death to your koi. To avoid these dilemmas, here are a few ways to help prevent overpopulation in your koi pond water.

Don’t Overstock:

Overstocking is one of the common problems among new koi pool owners. When you first start purchasing your koi, decide between a number of koi that are equally playful and beautiful so as to save your own koi pool from overstocking. You can always talk with your pet store professional or dealer about your koi pool’s specs.

Tell them the total size of your koi pool, the type of filtration systems you use, and where you’re planning to place your koi pool. These helpful information can help them to successfully predict the right amount of koi that you can have in your koi pool. Don’t worry if the number may seem small, because keep in mind that this species grow rather fast and get large quickly!

One of the problems that people or owners run into is not able to turn down offers from others. When you are being offered with a koi by other pond owners, always look at the reasons as to why they’re giving you their koi (this might be due to overpopulation issues as well). Turning down offers such as this doesn’t mean you’re causing damage to the koi, but it’s just that the owner may have to find a different individual to take the offer.

Steps To Take Once Overpopulation Has Occurred:

If the time comes that your koi pool has reached overpopulation, here are some steps to remove the babies from it. A good way is to stop feeding your koi once you realize that spawning has actually occurred. Stop feeding your koi for no less than 3 weeks. Don’t worry about your koi starving, as they’ll focus more on the natural food that they can get if you’re not feeding them everyday. Their natural diet includes their young.

Although they aren’t one of those cannibalistic animals, it’s natural for them to eat their young when they’re still eggs or if they’re small, resembling insects. Once the babies looks like real fish, the adult ones will recognize this, and they’ll no longer see them as food.

It’s quite important to start this process as soon as you’ll observe spawning or babies in the koi pond water. Though cruel as this may seem, it’s only a natural process. Another way to do this is by giving those unwanted babies away. You can first check with your local pet store, as many of them have programs wherein they’ll accept those unwanted animals and provide shelter for them (some may also pay a certain amount of money for each koi since they sell them). You can also go to local zoos, local Koi societies and online forums.

A good filter for koi pond for your pond environment is one of the things you need to have for a healthy pets. A koi pond filter promotes the biological balance needed for your koi pool. A good and working one will be able to perform the task properly without using a pump to force water through it.

So what are the types of koi pond filter that you can use which are necessary for your pets? Well, there are two types of these koi pond filter. These are the mechanical and the biological ones. The biological koi pond filter is the one that depends on the bacteria in the breakdown of the toxic wastes (known as ammonia or pH), converting them into nitrates. These nitrates are substances that are less harmful (they only become harmful to your pets when left untreated at large amounts and high levels).

The mechanical koi pond filter is the one that cleans the particles (solid wastes from your pets) from the koi pool’s water, which are trapped in the filter and then cleaned up when the regular maintenance period of the koi pool comes.

Your koi pool is a big area wherein the strength of the filter isn’t enough to promote the water circulation (and remember that your pets need to have an ongoing supply of oxygen in the water). For this, to increase the strength, you can opt to add additional features to your koi pool such as waterfalls, fountains, and the like. These features can promote aeration, a process that agitates the water, giving more oxygen to the water.

It is necessary for you to keep the chemical mixture of the water at a healthy, normal range for your pets, that’s why you should test your water’s chemical make up on a weekly basis, and this is done by bringing a water sample to your local pet store and have them test it, or if you prefer not to have any hassles in going to the pet store, you can choose to buy a home testing kit to test the water all by yourself.

As a koi pool owner, always take the responsibility, time and effort needed to keep its health in great condition. Getting your koi pool the important equipments it needs (like the koi pond filter) will give you a healthier, long-lasting koi pool!

In taking care of your Koi, protecting them from a deadly koi disease known as the KHV (or Koi Herpes Virus) is very important. Your fish are really susceptible to this kind of disease, and the only way you can protect them from this koi epidemic is to make sure that they never get exposed to it. Getting the much needed information about this koi epidemic will get your koi the best protection that they’re going to need.

The Facts About KHV:

So what is KHV? Since its first outbreak, a little has only been learned about the koi epidemic . Knowing the facts is an essential thing for the protection and survival of your koi . The KHV is a deadly disease which has just recently popped up in the industry. In the late 1998 and early 1999, the first outbreak has been reported and confirmed in Israel, then in the following years has been confirmed in places like Europe, Asia and the United States.

This koi epidemic is known to infect the victim throughout their full lifespan. Even those who do not show any signs of the virus, they are considered as carriers if they have been exposed to it. The mortality rate for those koi epidemic that have been exposed is around 60 percent to 80 percent.

There is no known cure for this koi epidemic . Even if proper treatment has been given to your koi , never again will they be able to go to a new home, and this is because if you put them in a healthy population, they will be able to spread the koi epidemic to the others (this can cause a potentially higher rate in terms of mortality). Remember that this koi epidemic can spread in various ways, like the koi epidemic coming into contact with the infected ones, tools used to handle the infected fish, the water in which the infected fish swam, etc.

Stress can increase the mortality rate of the koi , although it does not directly cause the disease itself. Temperatures around 74 degrees Fahrenheit can be used to track the disease, and it will allow the necessary testing and quarantining of your koi to observe if they have been exposed or not.

Preventative Measures: Depopulation and Quarantine

Depopulation is one of the best preventative measures that you can do, which means the elimination of your whole pet population. Although it may seem as a harsh method if you look at it, with this you can really ensure that you don’t infect the other koi in your pond. Another method is by quarantining. If you buy a new fish, make it a point that you quarantine it before mixing it with your current population (for a period of no less than 15 days).

In quarantining your koi , they should be totally shunned and isolated from anything else. Separate the food, tools and water that you’ll use for the quarantined koi , and make sure that the tools that you use for them doesn’t leave the area in which they have been used. Procedures for proper hand washing in handling your koi and the essential items should be observed. Following these effective preventative measures can help you avoid your koi from catching this infectious koi epidemic.

The Koi Herpes Virus (abbreviated as KHV) is a deadly koi ailment which has recently emerged in the Koi industry. Its first outbreak was confirmed in the late period of the year 1998, early in the year 1999 in Israel. Since its emergence, outbreaks have been reported all throughout the globe, especially in Europe, Asia and the United States.

The KHV is believed to remain with the infected pets for the rest of its life. The koi that have been exposed to the virus immediately become carriers! The mortality rate for the koi that have been exposed to this kind of virus would fall around 60 to 80 percent. These koi are susceptible to the virus. The only way to prevent your koi from getting infected by the koi virus is by making sure that your koi will never get exposed to it. Being knowledgeable about the koi virus would really slim the chances of making your koi get infected by the virus.

The Facts About The Virus:

A little has been gathered about the koi virus since its outbreak in 1998, and knowing the facts about this virus can prevent it from spreading into your pond. Once the koi have been exposed to virus, it will always be a carrier for the rest of its life. Even with the proper treatment, these koi should never be transferred to another pond to prevent the spreading of the infection. Temperature levels around 74 degrees Fahrenheit will activate the koi virus (a valuable information for testing to see if the koi really have the virus or not). Stress is not a cause of the koi virus, but it can cause the disease to gain a higher mortality rate. Spreading of the virus will occur if the koi will come in contact with an infected fish; if it will come into contact with the tools used in handling the infected koi; if it will be exposed to the water in which the infected ones swam in; and others. There’s no known cure for the KHV.

Preventative measures of the spreading of the KHV:

If your koi has been diagnosed with the virus, the only way to make sure that you don’t infect other koi is by depopulation. In here you eliminate your entire fish population. This is the best way so as to make sure that no other fish will ever catch the koi virus. When purchasing a fish, quarantine the new koi separately from your current population in a period not less than 15 days. With the knowledge of the exact temperature level to activate the disease (around 74 degrees Fahrenheit), this will allow you to expose your koi to the right conditions for the koi virus to show itself. Those that live in this conditions for this given period and don’t develop any symptoms have less chance of getting infected.

Quarantining your koi means totally isolating them; don’t allow anything to come near the infected ones, especially those items that may come into contact with the present population. Use separate food, tools and water for this one. Ensure that those tools you have used for your quarantined koi should just stay always in the area in which they were used. Proper hand washing procedures should also be observed when handling both the koi and their items within the same period of time. These steps can really help in the prevention of the spreading of this koi virus.