In koi care , it is inevitable that your pet needs to be moved from time to time. Like all domesticated pets, your fish will have its own medical issues in its lifetime (especially since it can live up to 30 years old!) And when you do not have a veterenarian that does house calls, chances are they’re going to tell you to “bring your fish in”.

Aside from medical issues, there’s also the pond issues, which can arise as an emergency move because your pond is being placed into harms by natural events, or it is due to a planned move for a new construction. You see, no matter what amount of planning and precaution you take in construction your pond, there’s always the possibility that you still need to move your fish whenever the occasion calls for it.

Recent tragedies such as that of the Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina, and those common everyday illnesses, shows you that you need to have a plan of action when it comes to your fish. Whether an emergency or not, you should know how to bag and transport your fish properly so as to ensure their safety.

So in caring for koi, what are the equipments that you need for bagging and transporting your fish? Now, these equipments are relatively small and can easily be stored when they’re not in use.

1) Bags – Always have the proper and sizable bags to transport the fish. Never use those trash bags or regular plastic bags, which can cause damage to your fish. You may need to take a trip to your local pet store to buy them if you don’t have any bags at hand.

2) Net – You’ll need a net that’s big enough to compete with your fish. You can use it to lead and direct them to the place that you want them to go. Just be careful when using the larger nets, as they have the potential to damage your fish.

3) Rubber Bands – You’re going to need a number of rubber bands for each of the bags you purchase. Buy those that are of good quality, so as to make sure that they won’t pop up due to the pressure from the water when you transport your fish.

4) Paint Bucket – This is a better option for catching your fish, as it will not harm your pet like the net can. Just make sure they’re big enough to hold them.

Now, the process of catching and bagging your fish is really a simple task, provided that you have the proper equipments at hand. With a large pond, you can have your friends help you in bagging your fish. Use the net in guiding the fish into the paint bucket, and once they’re in there, remove the excess water, and then start bagging it. Check the bag for leaks, and once it is secured, place the bag over the fish from head to tail. Make it a point that there’s enough amount of water that will cover the gills completely.

Leave a lot of room for air so that the bag will not be very heavy to carry. After this, place the rubber bands around each ends of the bag to double it until the bag is fully secured. Place the bag in a horizontally in your container as you transport it. Be careful not to bend your fish as you lift it. Make sure that the bag won’t move with bumps and turns that you’ll encounter along the way, and cover the fish so that only a little amount of heat from the sun can penetrate in it.

Herons are majestic and beautiful birds, but have one big flaw: they are predators that love to eat the Koi. So that’s why for Koi owners, taking care of their koi means they must be on alert at all times… never leaving their pond unattended! Keep in mind that caring for koi involves protecting your pets from all its enemies/predators.

These are deceptive birds: when you first notice them lurking around your garden, they might seem harmless. Standing around 2 to 3 feet tall, they have very large wingspan, with a graceful appearance. But don’t get fooled by those looks, for what you’re looking at are predators on the prowl, ready to snatch up your pets!

When you look at your pond and you’ve noticed that you’re lacking some pets, big chance is that the heron is the culprit. When you notice some large gaping holes in the sides of your pets, this is an indicator that a heron have attempted to catch your pets, but just didn’t have the necessary grip to get it successfully. Other cases include pets lying on the lawn located a few feet away from the pond, and this is a result of the heron dropping the fish after it has scooped it out of the pond.

So, given these facts, there are some necessary precautions/measures that you can do to avoid these unwanted incidents. These “detours”, however, will only work for a small amount of time.

1) Plastic herons – You can place a fake, plastic heron in your garden. The purpose of this is to detour another heron from landing on the spot. This may work for parts of the season, but may prove ineffective when the mating season begins, as they may land near the plastic heron when they’re looking for their mate.

2) Making noise – If you catch a heron about to go for your pets, make as much noise as you can and physically frighten it the best you can. You can shout, throw things at it, or whatever it is that can scare it. Remember: the more frightened it is, the lesser chance there is for its return any time soon.

3) Changing your routine – You can constantly change your routine. These birds are smart enough to know you’re presence. Visit your pond as frequent as you can so as to increase your chance of catching the herons in the act of stealing your pets. If you’re unable to do it, you can ask or enlist someone to visit your pond instead. Giving permission to older and trustworthy children to visit your pond is another good idea, which can add presence to your pond.

4) Creating a hiding place in the pond for your koi – Another great idea is by creating a hiding place for your pets in the pond. You may notice that after a heron attacks a pond, it may seem that the bird has gotten all its prey, but you’ll see that your pets will start to appear from strange hiding places once the scare stops.

By providing a hiding place for your pets to protect them from attacks, you’ll reduce significantly the amount of pets that the heron will catch (and don’t worry if your pets are hiding from you, as they’ll know and trust you that you will not do them any kind of harm!).

5) Do not restock your pond immediately – In koi care, do not restock your pond right away after a heron attack. Take a little time before restocking your pond, and this will force the heron to search for new grounds for feeding.

In koi care, controlling the population is something that you need to do. Your pets will always spawn and lay eggs (others will also fertilize theirs). It is innate for them, and there’s only little you can do about that! Population control involves removing those unwanted offspring after they are already conceived.

Now, you might feel or think that this is a cruel thing to do, but always remember the fact that having many fish in your pond will impose harm and danger to both your pond and to your original fish population as well (particularly the original parent fish).

Why babies are harmful…

These babies has the potential to grow up to three feet in length. Now, if you have many babies that you’ll keep in the pond and will grow up to this length, you can now imagine what your pond will look like, right? An overcrowded and unhealthy pond, that is! What will happen is that the fish will not be comfortable with this kind of habitat, which will in turn impose danger to them.

In setting up your pond, make sure to set up a filtration system for a specific amount of fish. If you add extra pets without adding more to your system, this can cause unwanted gases and chemicals that will harm and destroy your pets.

How to get rid of the babies…

Getting rid of the babies can be done in several ways. You can stop feeding your fish once spawning has occurred for no less than three weeks. If you think that your fish will starve, don’t worry about it, they can take care of themselves, for they will focus more on natural foods if they are not fed daily. Their diet includes their young, wherein they will eat those that are still eggs and those that resembles like a small insect (as harsh as this may seem, this is just part of their nature!).

You can give away those unwanted fish away to others who can still take care of them. Many local pet stores have programs for caring for koi that accept unwanted animals and give them home (others may also pay some money because they’ll sell it). Some local zoos also have this kind of program. Another are the local Koi society that you know of. You can also go to online message board and group in the Internet wherein you can post your messages.

Being a Koi owner, you enjoy taking care of them, feeding them with treats and spending your leisure time with them. But the question is this: how much do you really know about your pets? As part of caring for koi, this article will give you a profile about your koi.

Koi (which means “carp” in Japanese) are domesticated varieties of the carp. They were bred for the first time in Japan around the 1820′s. These fish come in a wide array of colors and patterns which include orange, red, white, black, blue, silver and green. The environment where they live and their diet affect their color, and this makes it easy to comprehend the skill and patience it took for the first breeders in developing such an amazing and magnificent koi.

The fish thrive in cold water, which makes them perform best in temperatures between 61 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Thriving in cooler temperatures, they can be kept outside during the colder seasons.

The Koi is one of the most popular fish that thrive in freshwater ponds, and they can be found in millions of outdoor ponds throughout the globe. They are loved for both their color patterns and lifespan (the oldest of which reached around 226 years old!). These fish are typically large, which requires them to be placed in ponds with 500 gallons of water (or even more), and the pond should be no less than 3 feet in depth.

For this, build your pond in such a way that it can hold your fish very well. Remember that your fish’ health will depend very much on the amount of space that you provide them. Water quality is another thing that you need to consider, as it is another factor that will affect the health of your fish. These are more expensive than the goldfish, that’s why they can be harder to replace.

They are not typically one of those schooling fish, but this doesn’t keep them from mingling and socializing with other breeds of fish. Just be sure not to place them next to bigger fish that might see them as prey. They seem to school together in smaller ponds, but will split up in smaller groups when placed in larger areas.

As winter comes, they will begin their hibernation. During this time, their digestive system will slow down, almost reaching to a stop. The food stored in their stomachs may grow bad, which can cause them to get ill. In caring for koi, this is the main reason why your fish shouldn’t be fed in temperatures dropping less than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Koi are magnificent ornamental fish that will really complete the relaxing sounds of water flows coming from your pond. Owners are lucky to have pets such as these that would always touch their lives.

Taking care of your koi pond and keeping it in good condition should be your primary priority. Always remember that prevention is better than cure: once your pond for koi starts to develop problems, it’ll take more time and money to fix these.

No overfeeding:

As part of caring for koi, overfeeding your koi can cause damage to your water quality. Your fish would not nearly eat the amount of food that they do in a controlled environment. Feeding them too much will produce a greater amount of waste in the pond for koi. You should vacuum the bottom out as much as you can, and make sure that the drainage systems are clear and working properly.

Keep The Water Quality:

Your pond for koi needs a filtration system. There are two types. The mechanical and biological. The mechanical filter is the one that relieves the pond of dead algae, wastes and insects (this is important to sustain the size of your pond and the size and number of your pets). The biological filter is the one that gives the nitrogen cycle, and thus removes dissolved wastes from your pond for koi (without it, ammonia will build up which is very harmful to your koi).

Always keep your pond for koi clean so that your koi will live a good and stress-free life. The water in your pond for koi is where they will eat, sleep and feed, so always keep it as clean as possible. The pond’s water should be almost completely clear. It should contain no debris, and your koi should appear like they’re floating in the air. You should see the bottom of your pond very clearly.

Keep the supplies ready:

There are many supplies that you’ll need to maintain your pond for koi, and the majority of these items are of greatly important. You should know the function of each item to understand why they are needed. There are also items that you need to have on hand always. As your pond for koi is located outdoors, emergency situations are sure to occur. We all know that nature itself is unpredictable, so do not get caught in a situation where an item is needed and you have no way of getting it!

Prevent those common diseases:

If you have a new koi, it’s quite important to quarantine them from your current koi population. Do this for no less than fifteen days. Knowing that Koi Herpes Virus is activated within temperatures at 74 degrees Fahrenheit will let you expose your koi to the right conditions for the illness to reveal itself. Those that live in these conditions for a longer period of time and do not have any of the symptoms will show that they have little chances of contracting the disease.

As you quarantine your koi, keep it in complete isolation, away from your current population. Separate the tools, food and water that you use to take care for your new koi. Proper hand washing procedures should be followed as well in handling both the koi and Koi items within the same period of time. Keep in mind that quarantining will greatly reduce the chances of exposing your koi to viruses and diseases.

Adding aquarium supplies into your aquarium will aid the viability of your attractive fish. Therefore, wherever you place the fish (in aquarium or in bowls), you have to make sure that it has the aquarium supplies inside.

In fact, you are not suggested to look after the goldfish in a bowl, because it is much too small to maintain them alive for any length of time. Bowls also need daily maintenance because the water gets smelly fast. Therefore, try to place them in the aquarium with aquarium supplies inside it.

If you’ve ever heard the story about the goldfish that lived for thirty years in a gallon bowl, that is the omission than the rule. Goldfish are frequently need larger tank to live in and don’t forget to add the aquarium supplies in it.

The Tank

This might seem clear for a list of necessary aquarium supplies, but some people need practical advice. Get a new tank or a tank that only housed fish successfully in the past. For example, you could take on old gallon goldfish tank that still good to place your goldfish.

If possible, you have to make sure that the tank for your goldfish is wide sufficient for them to live in. Find the biggest tank that you can pay for. It is because smaller tank tends to dirt sooner than bigger tank. If you put them in a smaller tank, you may need to clean it everyday since the water can smell bad.

The Filter

Filtration systems are also necessary as the aquarium supplies for your fish. They are easier to maintain and less messy than the filtration systems on the past. It is very suggested to give the goldfish biological filtration systems. They frequently hang over the side of the tank. You can also add the addition filter cartridges into your list of necessary aquarium supplies.

The Air Pump

You may also need some sort of water agitation system for your necessary aquarium supplies. This includes an incredibly inexpensive air hose, various air stones or sometimes known as bubble stones, and the most important thing is air pump. If possible, you can get two air pumps in case of the one air pump doesn’t work for you.

Thermometer

Although goldfish are categorize as cold water fish, they like better a constant water temperature of about 68 degrees Fahrenheight. As a result, you have to identify exactly about the temperature of the water in order to maintain your fish at the optimum health. Tank thermometer is inexpensive, but it is necessary for the aquarium supplies. You can place it on the inside or outside the tank.

Electrical Outlet Strip

This might seem like a strange item to add to a list of necessary aquarium supplies, but it makes life for you and your fish much easier. Basically, a tank needs some electrical outlets and having a strip to plug them in saves you lots of time trying to figure out what wire goes to what home appliance.

We all identify that putting in aquarium supplies inside the tank is very important. It is because the aquarium supplies can control viability of the fish and supply all the their lives.

Are you still at sea of knowing more about aquarium supplies? Just look around and click the links your best answer herein!

Koi owners all around the world really find popular and fun to give their Koi treats. The truth is that it’s truly amazing to see your fish respond to the treats that you give them. As a great bonding experience as it is with your fish, you should always take some necessary precautions while feeding. Remember that your fish will anything that comes their way, never thinking that it would be good for them or not. This is why it’s important for you to control the treats that you give them.

So, what are the best Koi fish food? There are many kinds of treats that you can give your fish that has nutritional value for them, the ones that doesn’t harm them in any way.

Lettuce: This fish food for your Koi is rich in vitamins and minerals, and these are very healthy for your fish. They will be the ones to tear them down to bits.

Bread: The wheat bread is so far one of the cheapest treats there is. Take a piece of it, then break it up, roll them into small balls, then throw these to the pond. Make sure you avoid all types of white bread, as these contain small amounts of chemicals like bleach that will impose harm to your fish.

Prawns: These are crustaceans that can be eaten (very similar to the shrimp, but their only larger). These are good treats as these are rich in protein. You can buy prawns in local pet stores, department stores and feed stores. They are sold either as regular or frozen. These fish food for your Koi are great for hand feeding.

Fruit: Your fish eat a wide array of fruits. In feeding, break the fruit into smaller pieces and only feed them on special occasions, because feeding them with too much would be harmful to them!

Natural Fish food for your Koi: The best treats for your fish are those that can be naturally found in the pond: earthworms, bloodworms, tadpoles, etc. Locate them in your pond and you can dig them up, or to save some energy, you may opt to buy similar products at your local pet store.

Be careful though when you feed them treats that have outer casings, such as grapes, beans and corn. Completely remove the casings before feeding them to your fish, because if these are swallowed by them, it would be harmful. Also, never do overfeeding, because too much food can cause more harm to them than benefits.

Having a Koi garden is a great experience for a pond owner. But before adding fish into your outdoor garden or planning a pond for your fish, you need to consider some things first. Talking about gardens, plants will surely pop out of anybody’s mind. A Koi garden is a beautiful sight to behold, and it is a healthy and thriving system that mixes different kinds of elements. It is composed of three vital things: the pond, the fish (Koi), and the plants.

Consider the size and depth of your pond. In giving your fish enough room to live in, ensure that your pond’s depth is around 4 feet deep at the very least. Having these depth will protect them from outside predators. A great space is needed for your pond as your pets can grow to large sizes. This kind of space will help you to add more fish in your pond. Having determined the size of your pond, now you can decide where you will place the garden. A great spot would be that where its not directly laid down under the sunlight, but where it can have a shade from a tree (which will also provide protection from flying predators), and also those spots that are protected from harmful chemicals like pesticides.

It is a fact that the plants and fish really can’t co-exist that much in certain habitats, but this doesn’t make placing plants in your own Koi garden a bad thing to do. The Koi sometimes mess up with the pond itself, destroying the plants placed in the pots, digging into the soil and knocking the plants over. For this, you can wrap netting over your pots, unabling the fish to dig into them. You can place big river stones and pea gravel over your plants to keep the fish from invading the pots. Your fish will feed on the foliage of the plants located at the bottom of the pond. In planning as to what kind of plants your going to place in your Koi garden, you can choose to put lilies. Some of these plants live in shallow ponds, and others live in further depths of the water. Having lilies will provide you the necessary shade and shelter for your fish.

Observing your Koi garden as a whole rather than just the fish and plants will really guarantee you a beautiful sight to behold, and what you can do with it is to make it flourish for a long time!

The Koi come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. The black-colored Koi is distinguished by its own unique coloring, and nothing more. These Koi normally live about 25 to 35 years (with the longest record running around 200 years!). They live in outdoor ponds all over the world. The male black Koi are recognized and distinguished by their concave anal section and those breeding spots on their head. The black Koi can lay up to 1,000 eggs at a time. The fry (or the babies) start to emerge within 4 to 7 days, depending on the temperature of the water. Their color will emerge when they’re about three to twelve weeks old. Before they only had one to two types of colors, but now, there are a wide array of patterns and colors!

The black Koi can grow up to 36 inches long, which is the reason why they should be kept in large ponds. One species, the Magoi, is the first of the black mutations which can grow very long. Although when you look at them from the top, you’ll see them as black, but in reality, their true color is deep bronze. The Magoi blood is being re-introduced to the other species in order to maximize their growth potentials (this is due to their unique possibilities when it comes to size).

The Karasu (which means “crow” in Japanese) is one of the oldest species. These pets have black body and black fins. It also has an orange or white belly.

These Koi have the ability to change color due to their environment and diet. Color variations range from duller to brighter shades. The Matsukawabake has this characteristic, and they have black color with areas or white on its body. Its color can completely change depending on the temperature of its environment. Its color can change to full white to full black, and once the temperature conditions alter, it will return to its original pattern.

The Kumonryu (which means “dragon fish”) appeared in the 1980′s, and is so-called due to its resemblance with the bodies of dragons that are being depicted in paintings during the ancient times. Some would even say that these Koi look like dragons ascending through the clouds). This Koi can also alter its color.

Pond owners like the Koi due to its variety in colors, and the more exciting fact is that the black Koi can literally change their color right before your eyes!