Hi

My pond is complete and will be filled with water the coming weekend. I bought brushes for my mechanical stage and special stone for the bio stage. The lady at our local Koi dealer in Pretoria recommended that I place abucket of chicken livers is the bio filter to start the bio organism grow in the stone. Is this a recommended practice instead of the bottle stuff that you can buy?

Bennie

Sounds like a bad idea. Does not make sense.

The best way to kickstart a pond is to get some mature media from a friends pond/local dealer. Add it when you add the fish, as the bacteria will need some Ammonia and Nitrites to develop further.

Hmmm ... chicken liver, dead rabbit, cow intestines .... all great kickstarters but for a French Drain and not a Koipond bio filter

Zook,

With all respect, I really think your local Koi dealer to know nothing about Koi Ponds!

You could use a media from another party as suggested by Paul, but then you stand a good chance to import their “troubles” to your own pond.

Rather, use Bao Bio Clear:-
*It boosts biological activity
*Contains superior naturally occurring bacteria
*Powerful effect during start-up and other system problems
*It is stable and does not require refrigeration

And available at most reliable Koi dealers.

Bao Bio Clear is a great product. Add 2mL per 1000L of pond water. Repeat after 48 hours. About R90 for 200mL which can treat 100kL of water

Thanks guys as you can see I am no zook wrt Koi's yet. If I read correctly I cannot start the biofilter before the first fish is introduced. How do I then ensure the water condition is correct before first fish is introduced?

Thanks

Bennie

You have to run your pond a while before adding the fish to stabilise the PH and to get rid of all the Chlorine and possible heavy metals in the water. I always add salt to a new pond.

As soon as the PH is stabilised and all chlorine is out, you can add kick start bacteria (from another healthy pond or the liquid type, bio clear / bio boost etc) and add your fish at the same time or a day later.

Add fish gradually, limit food, and do a lot of water changes initially while monitoring the water daily for the fist week for ammonia and nitrites.
You can not create a mature system without fish. The bacteria needs the ammonia and nitrites to develop and survive.

Some people buy a few gold fish to get the system going. I would not do that. Pet shops very seldom quarantine their gold fish, and why take the risk of adding possible parasites/bad bacteria to your pond even before you introduce your koi?

Hi Zook,
To seed any bioligical filter you have to seed it with THE CORRECT BACTERIA.

Recently heard some say add Yogurt - yes a good media for bacterial growth but not the specific bacteria you need in the filter.

Many years ago a guy tried to seed his filter with a few 5kg packets of Hikari koi food. The only thing this would have done is add to the ammonia content of the water.

By far the fastest way to seed a biofilter is to take some media from and established filter - a well established filter and simply place this media in yours.

With all due respect to bacteria in bottles - there is no substitution for the real thing.

You will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly the bacteria will spread in you filter. You just need the water parameters as the admn mentioned and some fish, a pump and off you go.

Regards,
Chris

as chris said, also 3 or 4 R5-00 feeder goldfish or shubunkins from the local petshop.

add and leave to run for a number of weeks.

P.S. With KHV, and various other diseases i would prefer NOT to use media from some one elses pond.

I would go the feeder goldfish route and run the pond in properly.

The only things that happen quickly in fish keeping are Really BAD things.

Ptience is rewarded in the long run

Hi,

Another suggestion - once you are happy with the new water (changed after filling to get all the residue and gunk out) add a little salt (1 -3 kg per 1000 liters) then just add the koi (importantly not too many at first) - limit feeding to a small feed once a day + watch water parameters (test kits) + change water if necessary.

All Koi diseases have been around a long time. Adding seeded media is no more risky than adding new koi.

Kind regards,
Chris