kwaai, ons wag vir die kiki.

Hi all
Well we all have been responsible and showed all the Koi newbies the importance of Koi QT. I did not see any report on health issues, so one can safely assume that all went well. The important lesson for me is to see the growth rate achieved in the different QT systems which means that we are not really missing out on having a Koi in QT, for me it is just the safe and the right thing to do, to protect our Koi collection.

I know of keepers that question the value of QT, but I believe in the rather save than sorry policy. I understand this is not a 100% guarantee but at least it is something one has control over for at least a month.

Should anyone want to share a particular QT story please do so.

I estimate the average growth rate in QT for less than a month to be 5-6 cm

How was the QT process, I'm interested to know if and how you guys treat the water during the fish's stay in QT, how do you manager the water, how long shud the fish be in QT for? do you do anything regarding temperatures in QT. What do you do differently in QT that you do on your main ponds.

Thanks

Hi Cliff
The short answer is that you protect your koi collection. Whilst under QT up close and personal you can watch your Koi behavior and do a scrape to check for parasites. You will only treat when necessary. You have the option to stress the Koi with heat fluctuations and send a scrape for a KHV testing. Depending on the Koi history known to you I would go for a minimum of a month. Remember catching a Koi transporting it home is already stressful to a koi and can trigger all kinds of problems.

I know of a local hobbyist that bought two 40-50 cm Koi recently and placed it in his pond. 10 days later he found both dead in his pond, can you now imagine the uncertainty in this hobbyist mind as to the health effect this might have on his current collection

Hi Bobby, thanks for that, not saying that QT is not necessary, just want to hear the different methods people take when QT and this seemed like a good enough post to get that information

Cliff there are many ways to Qt. Ill give you mine as it has been since the beginning of this year and im happy with this current method. I have adjusted my Qt procedure to include anti bacterial solutions in the qt water - something i have not done before....but i can tell you i have added fish to my pond before without qting them. That is dangerous and stupid of me...usually do it with big kois that come from people i trust.

Here is the procedure that i usually follow.

1. Before the koi arrives roughly a week before i prepare the qt tank with new fresh water. I add Virkon S to the Qt pond at an amount of 5g / 1000liters. I mix in up in a bowl and add it to the pond.

2. When the koi arrives at my place. I have my blue bowl right next to the qt pond I add some pond water into the blue bowl and I empty the new koi with its water and all from the plastic bag into to blue bowl. I then quickly inspect it for anything out of the ordinary and i take a photo and measure it. (Did not do this with the current kohaku as i saw them all a week before)

3. I then lift it out of the blue bowl and place it in the qt pond.

4. Add a tank buddy from your existing collection that is roughly the same size. Make sure to PP dip him before adding him into the qt pond.

5. For the first day the kois gets no food.

6. I then monitor the kois for the duration of the qt. Which is usually 4 weeks. I feed the koi in qt myself and watch them as they come up to eat. I feed once in the morning and once in the evening. Keep an eye on the tank buddy causee if your new koi has a bug he will be the first to show the sign.

7. If i see the koi is not active and the water temp is high then i investigate.

8. I only treat for parasites on the koi if i see them flashing or juming and only after a scrape has been done.

9. If the qt pond water is below 23'C one needs to heat cycle the kois to check for KHV. I have a fish tank i my garage that i use for that purpouse. Obviously that means that i cant check bigger koi. I can only heat cycle tosai. One need to heat cycle koi tleast 4 times to be sure. Bascily you take the water temp up 23-24'C for 3 days and then you drop it downto 18'C for a 7 days. I do that 4 times.

10. I do weekly water changes 7-10 days apart. I change about 20% of the water out and replace it. I then do another full Virkon S treatment of 5g / 1000 liters.

11. When its time for the koi to go to the main pond i take them one by one and i PP dip them.

12. Then i place them in the main pond with a socknet and they swim off.

13. Monitor them for the next 3 days.

Im sure there are many other ways but this is what i am sticking to for now and as you can see the kohaku turned out pretty ok.

thanks wayne, exactly what I was hoping to read, not your specific process but a process in general so that I can base my QT in future on.

thanks again

Mesured Kohaku no. 1 today and it is current length is 30cm. That is 1.5cm growth since i last measured. I Still need to find a decent place to take pictures where there is no glare on the water.

Hi Guys

I know it is about time to show my Koi but only returned home yesterday. Must go in for an eye operation tomorrow morning to fix up some hole in my eye and then in the weeks to follow to get a cornea transplant to be able to see again,

If everything goes well I will post the photo within the next few days

Hi Maruis
Only the best with the operation tomorrow. Thinking of you.

Hi Marius

Sterkte vir di op, hul is deesdae darem baie goed ek glo als sal reg wees.

Sorry, I only had a grey bowl to put fish in for pictures and it is rainy today so not the best looking photos of all.

I had about a cm growth the past 3weeks in the colder weather. Think I hurt the Koi during catching since it had some blood on the tail. By the time I places him back into pond it was gone ( sprayed some Terramycin in tail just for incase)

Hi Marius
Mens meet nie n lewendige vis so nie jong.

Jy moet vir jou n bak kry wat se kante so regop as moontlik is dan merk jy hom. op die bodem en teen die kant. dan hou jy net die vis teen die kant en lees die mate af. werk baie maklik.

Dankie Neville

Ja nee ek weet dit nie die standaard metode nie, maar moes Terramycin op stertvin spuit, toe meet ek dit ook sommer so sodat vis kon terugkom in sy tuiste. Bietjie rond gehardloop om alles te kon doen in so kort as moonlike tyd

If I am correct it is time to place our bi-monthly show photo's. No 7 did not grow all that well but he looks very good and I am quite happy. He is now 30cM

wow, lovely kohaku's!!! love your kohaku Neville, awesome pattern!!!

tried catching No6 last weekend stopped because of rain, will try this weekend again....to take some pics....

Im a bit bsy this week and its raining. Will try and catch the koi next week sometime. Ive sent It to the spa where its going through a full body clay treatment this week.

hahaha hope all those efforts pay off, No6 is just happy in the large pond....and have to admit the big pond is very dirty, water is clear but lots of leaves on the bottom, and the fish love it.

Hoping for close to 35-37cm...............

Adi wrote:

Hoping for close to 35-37cm...............

wow thats a huge increase, im hoping for something in the region of 32cm.

was 32-33cm when transfering to the big pond from QT......so hoping we added another 4-5cm......comparing No6 to the others it has grown a massive amount.....just catching is the challenge

oh ok. forgot yours is bigger. pls ignore me... lol

was 26cm when it got No6.........so grew 6cm in QT now we'll see how much....

Yesterday our honour Admin himself accused me of telling fisherman tales. This insult was levelled at the sacred Koi show of all places and, in aggravation, in the presence of fellow forum members.

I was so hurt that I had to net Mambo#5 to prove my tale.

I am embarrassed to admit that I did spin a yarn; Mambo#5 is actually 31 cm and not 30 as I so boldly claimed.

PS. I will have to get a longer ruler for the next photo session.

Mooi Jan, dit lyk my julle het my enetjie "getoor" sy moet die uitsondering wees, so ek moet maar die "quality" kaart gebruik, groete aan die manne by die skou.