CARING40 Copy

1 Book Five ‘CARING 40’ ‘New techniques today with earlier advice updated’ 2 INTRODUCTION In many aspects, our Koi are no different to any other living thing on the planet by the fact that they can and do also succumb to physical damages; illnesses, natural parasites; bacterial diseases and viruses. Having said this, whilst most other forms of life can be attended to whilst the ‘patients’ are breathing in fresh air, all forms of fish life are surrounded by the far more complex element that is water. The water surrounding our Koi must also be monitored closely if the correct remedies and treatment regimes offered are to be successful in producing perfect solutions to the problems faced. In our hobby this is termed by many, simply as ‘Koi Keeping’ and it can be the most daunting area of this pastime especially to newcomers to the hobby. The main reason for this that many enthusiasts in many countries of the world offer huge amounts of conflicting advice. No doubt it is a huge area to understand, as there are so many different matters to understand. Sadly the path to understanding here is littered with inaccurate and useless information that is often dangerous together with equally useless remedies that cannot possibly deliver the claims made of them. For many years now there are certain basic chemicals vital to the treatment of our Koi that have been ‘modified’ and re-packaged for ‘convenience’ that will thus allow them to be stacked neatly on shelves complete with labels and colourful boxes for the impulse buyer to be tempted by. However and in truth, the entire subject is not at all difficult to understand if viewed from a logical angle. I admit that ALL my teachings on these matters have been learned from those people who produce the finest Koi in the world – namely the Koi breeders of Japan who have freely imparted their expertise to me over many years. There are those who are under the real impression that we have many qualified Veterinarians around us who are specialist experts in the field of Koi. Please be assured that this is not the case at all, whilst there are specialists for fish farming where huge profits can be made at the end of it all, there are no such profits available for those forms of expertise in relation to Koi and carp and we must face facts that we Koi keepers have to face it all alone. Needless to say, this information applies to Koi and carp only and should not be applied to other species of fish either ornamental or otherwise. 3 THE MEDICINE CHEST AND THE KOI KEEPER KOI HANDLING EQUIPMENT a. A suitable plastic circular Koi inspection bowl. This is an important item to own, as your Koi will have to be placed in this bowl, after careful netting, for general routine inspection or medication. It is also required if you need to place your Koi in bags before transporting them to a show. Please bear in mind that your bowl should be easily large enough to accommodate your biggest Koi comfortably without causing discomfort. In view of this and the fact that Koi can grow quite quickly over the years I would suggest that, the larger the better, is your best choice for this piece of equipment. Koi bowls are manufactured in the UK from blue-pigmented plastic in many sizes and some can be sturdy enough to cope with your requirements quite satisfactorily. These UK made bowls are offered for sale at many Koi outlets but the more-expensive ‘hard to find ones’ are imported from Japan and are far superior in terms of build quality and longevity. Do not fall into the trap of buying the shallow, rectangular ‘Japanese basket with a lid’ sometimes offered for sale in the UK as these were only made for general live food fish auctions in Japan - generally magoi and eels. They can sometimes produce damage, often to the anal fin, if it gets caught in the slits on the base of the basket. b. A very good, purpose-made Koi Net. Angler’s landing nets are of no use whatsoever for this task and will cause serious damages to your Koi if employed to this end. There are some manufacturers in the UK who make and supply Koi nets, in various sizes of pole and net diameter, to Koi dealers for re- sale. These nets are usually supplied with hollow aluminium poles with moveable rubber handgrips but I have always found these nets to be difficult to manoeuvre, particularly when attempting to net Koi in smaller sizes. 4 By far, the best Koi nets available are the special wooden-handled, shallow ones imported from Japan and widely used by the Japanese Koi breeders and shown here. Unfortunately the sea-freight and importation costs make these nets far more expensive than the ones produced in the UK. Please also be very aware that Koi nets are only intended to gently 'guide and coax' the Koi into a bowl – at NO time should they ever be used to lift the Koi out of the water. Good netting techniques come by way of patience and experience. c. Koi Handling or Lifting Nets. These are also referred to as ‘Socks’ at some outlets and, in my own experiences, are not really necessary at all as long as one has a double-strength vinyl bag to handle the work of transferring a Koi from the 'bowl' of a shallow Koi net into the plastic bowl by slipping the bag underneath the head of the Koi. Many Japanese Koi breeders refuse to use these 'lifting nets' because of potential damage that can result by way of mucus loss. My advice is to use the good old vinyl bag instead. Very little water is required when transferring Koi by vinyl bag because mucus cannot possibly be damaged against this material and it’s also far cheaper! WATER TESTING EQUIPMENT I use the words ‘water testing’ as opposed to ‘water analysis’ here as these have two entirely different meanings. ‘Water Testing’ by the serious Koi keeper only really requires ‘indicators’ for several specific tests with regard to our pond water. ‘Water Analysis’, on the other hand, is a far more detailed, and ‘an often difficult to understand’ series of many specific tests that are usually carried out by the laboratory technicians employed by water authorities or private water analysis companies andusually at a substantial fee with their major clients coming from industry. In most reports that I have come across it is only the final figure that is given for each test. This gives no indication at all as to the harm or good a particular reading can be in relationship to your Koi, it is merely a figure given by technicians who have no expertise or interest as to the requirements of live fish. In short, most laboratories are there to produce these very accurate figures but few technicians producing the figures have any idea as to whether these are good or bad for fish stocks. 5 Bearing in mind that both our mains water and pond water conditions can vary significantly on a day-to-day basis, especially when a new system has to go through the initial ‘maturing process’; today’s Koi keeper really only needs to have on hand, the following ‘indicator test kits’ which again, are exactly that – ‘Indicators’. (Again whilst these ‘indicators’ give a good general result for pond water parameters as to the particular test in question, they are not nearly as accurate as those produced by water analysis laboratories – nor are they, thankfully, anywhere near as expensive.) The Tetra Company in Germany has produced water test kits made for both aquarium keepers and pond keepers for many years and I have always found these kits to be excellent 'indicators' for the most common water tests required by Koi keepers. ‘Tetra-Tests’ are very easy to use together with clear instructions and colour comparisons, they can be purchased from most aquatic outlets and specialist Koi dealerships quite cheaply. I would also advise the owner that these test kits are discarded to waste after one year and replaced with new ones. I suggest the following test kits are purchased for your necessary requirements in water testing equipment. In most cases, these tests are really only necessary to make with any regularity when a new system is starting up and water quality fluctuations begin with the maturing of the biological stage of the filter. There may be other times in a mature system when water readings may be worth checking if your Koi are not behaving as usual. More often than not it will be a parasitic problem but symptoms of both imperfect water and a parasitic problem produce the same visual conditions on the behaviour our Koi. It is advisable therefore to check basic water readings before taking a mucus sample. 6 a. pH test This test is an indication of the concentration of hydrogen ions in the presence of a changing alkalinity. For our Koi water readings, we generally require a reading from 7.00 and up to 8.00 and this is generally acceptable although many favour a reading of 7.5 to 7.8. On a new system especially, the pH reading can fluctuate from morning to night as well as on a day-to-day basis. In view of this I would advise that, in a new system, morning and evening readings are taken and recorded two days apart until they become stable.

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