Here is a Pic of my Pond it is 3m x 2m by 1.9m deep the waterfall is 2m high,

Under water Pic of some of the fish in the pond

just wanted to find out i was or am having problems with foum on the surface and made up my own proteen skimmer as i showed in my first post could this protien be comming from the water fall or ir it comming from the food,

Also i read in one of the posts that you should not feed the fish colour enhancer till they about 4 years old is that true as all my fish are less than 3 years old. and would like to show the better koi.

Wow, nice pond. And some nice babies.

I dont feed colour enhancing food. I feed Sakura (Chris Neaves's Food), it does have 5% spirulina which does help with colour, Year round. I supplement this with natural foods, bloodworm, worms, and a seafood mix i make myself and mix up in the food processor and freeze in ice cube blocks. u can also feed lettuce and other greens.

My personal opinion is that you are wasting your time with all the fancy, colouring up foods and wheatgerms etc etc, the scientific evidence that these works is very thin. Rather get a good cost effective staple food and supplement with some natural foods.

I swithched to Sakura food in march and have not looked back.

I got a Kohaku in march that measured at 7cm, it benched at 19cm or 18cm on friday and took supreme aswell as best potential size 1 at the baby show this week end. i also had a Kumunryo that went from 7.5cm in dec 08 to 24cm and took 3rd in the Non-metallic.
A sanke i got in Oct 08 at 8cm benched at 32cm and took first place size 3.

Do some research, remember to adapt it to your local conditions and then decide on a good staple food and stick to it.

Goodluck.

P.S Please bear in mind that any opinion expressed on this or any other forum is purely my own opinion, based on my own experience and learning curve in keeping koi, and is not the opinion or standpoint of any organisation and or committee i may or may not be part of. Also note that i am not a Member of, or director af any organisation , company trading in the koi industry. Nor am i employed, or receive any commission from any company whose products i may mention from time to time.

Hi Shawn

Nice underwater photo. Bearing in mind that you are a professional deep sea diver by trade, did you ever join the fish when taking photos?

IMO, koi always looks better from the top and you can judge quality also much better from the top.

Hi Angry

The pond dimensions you gave indicate that your water capacity is some 11400 litre and from your All My Koi post it seems as if you have 19 Koi.
With all the Koi in this pond it amount to 600 litres per fish.

Please be advised; watch out for the SAKKSA Koi police and especially the SF man as they will be on their way to put you in chains for breaking the rule with regard to the pond overstocking law.

In all seriousness your stocking level is high; I and many others suffer from the same disease!

Consider building your second pond!

Jan

PS Compliments on your nice pond and beautiful fish!

Hi Jan,

I hope Sf stands for Sand filter and not silly fool!
Janneman if your calculations are correct, then our man Angry does have a problem indeed!
At this point there is no immediate danger regarding his Koi, but as time goes by and the Koi in the collection grows bigger, he will have a problem.
Only criminals are put in chains, not stupid Koi keepers, they learn the hard way!

Ek dink Sand Filter maar is nie seker

Hi Jan, Pieter is deel van die Security Forces (SF), sien sy website: http://www.ppsecurity.co.za/, jy moet oppas wat jy se.

Daar was 'n Muskiet genaamd, Jannie............................of Paul of what ever..........................




JA PASOP!!!!!!!!!

Pieter J de Villiers wrote:

of Paul of what ever..........................

JA PASOP!!!!!!!!!

Ek is nie bang nie, ek lei my koi op om my te beskerm en ek gaan 'n grag om my huis bou waar ek hulle huisves, hier is een van hulle:

Ek is b'bang !!!!!!!!!!!
Paul ek sal 'n peloton van daai visse koop, stuur die rekening.
Dan sal my dam so vol wees dat die sf man en SAKKSA Koi polisie my regtig iets sal aandoen.

Onthou die training van die SF.........................



maar anyway.................................

well guys you got me all worried now, i did just 3 days ago get rid of zip and marble which were my 2 biggest fish, the post of my fish iwas told they were not good quality, so that is 95cm of fish out my pond , could you just tell me is it not 60cm of fish per meter square so if i messure all my fish it comes to a total of 5500cm how do i work it out what legth of fish can i have if my pond is 2m by 3m by 1.9 deep. well if i have to many fish make me an offer on any you guys like but there are a few in there that i will not get rid of for all the money in the world.

Hi Angry
The general rule as a minimum requirement would be a 55cm or a 3kg Koi per 1000lt of water in a pond with good water conditions and a mature filter system. More serious keepers will look at 1 Koi per 2500lt and I see the American Koi Kitchi refers to 4500lt per Koi.

My new pond currently under construction will hopefully be 2000 to 2500lt per Koi depending on me being strict with myself.

Should your really want to sell some Koi, hire a pond from SAKKS for R 250.00 and sell your Koi on auction on Sunday 04 October.

Any one interested let me know latest Wednesday so I can collect more 2m vats for the Social Day

Hi Angry

Like you, I will also fight to death to retain certain (if not all) of my team if the SAKKS police et.al. arrive at my doorstep to remove the over limit koi in my pond!

I found a pond calculator spreadsheet by Paul somewhere. Be damned if I know where, help Paul? Entered your 11400 litre with the result: Recommended total length 1520 cm, make your own conclusion.

I subscribe to the weight to volume ratio for calculating stocking levels. More small fish can be kept than large ones. Who will have the guts to get rid of their koi if the threshold is reached!

Also consider your bio filters capability to handle the waste produced. This is directly proportional to the volume and quality of food fed and consumed by the fish.

In conclusion; as we speak I am heading for the threshold and are exploiting the following alternatives:
• Negotiating with the superior half to convert the swimming pool to a 30000 litre Japanese style pond (possibilities - bleak)
• Constructing a second pond (awaiting SF mans reply to my request for equipment to empower me to illegally obtain the funds required for the project)
• Extend my existing pond (impractical and impossible)
• Give up (not an option)
• Any other ideas?

Ag shame ou Jannie,

jy het 'n probleem!
Jy mag maar langs my dammetjies kom sit...........................

Met my visse?

Hi there guys well Bobby I would have loved to have been there on the 4th but Im offshore trying to make some money as Jan says I can only have 3 big fish in my 11400lt pond (thats just crazzzzzzzzzzzy) So what now think i need to buy a new plot of land so i can build a pond first and in the corner of the yard a house just big enough for the wife and kids, well guys you must all have a blast at pauls farm on the 4th wish i could be there.

Hi Angry
Then I am in serious trouble as I have 10 in my 10000lt pond, biggest 71 and smallest about 40cm. I have a major space problem and you will see under pond build how I am battling to fit a 28000lt pond.

The WCKC will have more social events shortly, I am sure you will be able to join us later on a pond Safari once you have returned with bags full of money to spend on Koi.

Shawn don’t panic!
I agree three fish only is crazy. But on the positive side; they will each be 5 meters long! You will have some seriously valuable and dangerous Koi!!! I need some of these for protection against he-who-will-not-be-named.

I have read somewhere that roughly 80 cm is the norm for a big Koi with few growing bigger. In your case that will mean a capacity of 19 big babies. A fish of this size will weigh roughly 10 kg a whopping 190 kilos of fish meat! Now hold on to your hat; this fleet of whales will consume in the region of 1,5 to 2 kg Koi food per day.

At the price I recently paid for Saki Hikari growth this translate to a cost of between R 5 400 and R 7 200 per month. I envy the brave Koi keeper who can afford that!

Picking up from Bobby post; 19 fish will be over the top. You should be able to keep up to eleven 80 cm. monsters. Costing you between R 3 100 and R 4 200 per month of Saki Hikari growth!

Now, while typing this, I have decided to buy the cheapest food available; my Koi will then not grow so fast or big, saving me a fortune to spend on my new pond!

Please, will somebody tell me what the cheapest food is and where to buy?

Jannie,

Quote :

Met my visse?

Bring net vir elkeen sy eie stoel!

Quote :

Please, will somebody tell me what the cheapest food is and where to buy?

Ek gebruik AquaNurto( dis nou daai met die Rooibos in) dit meng ook goed met die "garlic" wat ek by voeg.
Dit kos so in die omgewing van R 220-00 per 6kg sak, maar jy kan dit by Paul kry vir baie goedkoper.

Hi Jan

I do not want to debate the pro's and con's of Koi food, but feeding at 1 to 1.5% of body weight in the height of summer, you will find that with a good food, you will feed less, better water quality due less waist, faster filter recovery, improved skin quality and better growth.

Have to run before SF catches me here. LG

Bobby wrote:

I less waist
Have to run before SF catches me here. LG

Sorry Bobby just cannot resist!

Waist, a definition:
The part of the human trunk between the rib cage and the hips, usually narrower than the rest of the trunk

Conclusion; good food will keep Koi slender around the waist.

SF is also on my case.

The Economy food is R345 for 4kg and staple R850 for 10kg. Not to bad. Then again, the Maki- Saki should waist less around the filter and your pocket at R1795 for 15kg.

Quote :

Waist, a definition:
The part of the human trunk between the rib cage and the hips, usually narrower than the rest of the trunk

LG het nie so iets nie, hy eet te lekker!!!!!

Now Im lost who is SF????? and also i need to come see some of you guys when i get back to cape town early November as i really am a lost soul when its comes to Koi keeping, but whoever SF is stay away