Colyn jy moet onthou dat jy jou dam kan besmet met bakterie en parasiete deur plante, veral as die plante uit water kom.

My stock of fish is now settled in and they are eating. As could be expected the after is turning quite green and now I have to wait for the biological process to get up to speed. Obviously one is anxious to get the water clear but truth is that the fish are more comfortable in the green water. The mechanical side of my filtration is now complete but I have lots of room over to add more if needed. All the plants appear to be settled in and I see signs of new growth.

This morning I can see signs of algae going brown in the vegetation pond. Apparently it is the first signs of things that are changing. I am also seeing brown and black streaks appearing in the algae growth on the pond walls and overflows.

Every Koi keeper most probably cherishes the moments of the first fish going into his pond and I am no different. Yesterday I placed to wedges of orange in each pond and the fish in pond #2 cleaned theirs' out and I can see signs of eating on the ones in pond #1. Pond #2 has a healthy algae population on the walls and pond #1 is only now beginning to show signs of growth on the walls. It is as if the fish in pond #1 is also getting more relaxed and I see them nibbling on the walls.

I will have to restrain myself from taking too many shots. The following is a collection of shots showing most of the fish. From now on I will try and get bigger shots of individuals. It will be a new field for me to explore with my camera.

To me the collection looks nice and I have seen a few individuals that looks great to my untrained eye.



The breeder that supplied me with fish visited my ponds yesterday and he is happy with what he saw. We are now doing the Bottom Drains and that should be done by next Friday.

Comments are welcome.

Those fish look very happy, but they would be even happier with good koi food.

Here are a few shots that I did with the 40D and 100-400 ... not there where I want it but in these shots you can see more detail of the fish.



The more I see the fish the more I see in the fish ... there are some really good looking fish amongst the collection and currently my pictures cannot do them justice.

Enjoy.

get shogun,aquanutro or koi exellence or mix them, not those 2 colour goldfish food .
Do You Like The Butterfly Koi's?

yeah they look nice but remind me to much of goldfish lol

Colyn from the looks of things you are a perfectionist.
Those koi are in good hands.
All the suggestions Eugen made are good.
Buy 20kg Shogun from Chris Neaves, he makes it, good stuff.

The algae are eating me alive ... I would like some tell tale signs to look for to know that the biological process is starting up.

The algae is currently the winners by far. Water clarity is getting worse by the day and visibility down is around 500mm. Many voices in my head are screaming for me to do something and do something quick. However the soft whisper of sanity is still in control. It is quite obvious that whatever I do now to clear the algae away will mostly be a case of handling and managing a symptom and not the cause.

The fish are looking very healthy and happy and I can see no signs of stress.

That brings me to a point that makes me smile ... as many of you may know, I am a serious photographer and I love long distance riding on my bike. Now the matter of what food for the Koi is like asking on the Photography forum which camera is the best or asking on the bike forum which bike is the best ... 10 guys, ten answers.

Something I noticed this afternoon is that I am seeing a clear reduction in the amount of foam that is generated. I also noticed that all the plants in the pots are showing new growth and new shoots. The hyacinths are all forming lots of new suckers and I guess that by the end of September the whole veggie pond will be covered with a dense mat. I am also seeing lots of brown algae films forming under the stones in the river and on all the spillways. Some places a mat of green algae is busy forming on the brown and it looks quite healthy.

Today I covered the sumps with shade cloth to keep dust, leaves and sunlight out.

All I am going to do now is concentrate on the bottom drains and let nature go it's way. If the water does not clear up by the end of August I will re-evaluate my position and make a decision then. At this moment I want to stay true to my vision and try and get the whole system to be as low-tech as possible with the veggie pond as the heart of the system.