Koi pond articles of interest and filtration

Future articles

• Threat to my Koi?
• Submergible vs external pump
• Blue Heron deterrents
• Advantage Bead bio-filter
• Killing Flukes with a dip

 Click the above links

• Why install a pond skimmer
• The importance of bottom drains
• Why install a U.V. Light
• Can the water get any cleaner?

      Check back for the above articles...

I was cleaning string algae from my stream and waterfall and I noticed a LOT of black streaks covering the rocks. I looked closely and to my amazement, I realized that the rocks were COVERED with thousands of small black worms that had attached to the surface of the rock. I scrapped a few off and photographed them. Do you know what they are? Are they a threat to the pond and or fish? Please advise ASAP.
            Stuart, Grass Valley, CA

Investigation of Stuart's black streaks revealed that they were not a threat at all to his pond or fish and that they are called Black Fly larvae. 

Black flies live as larvae in shallow, clear, fast-running water in rivers and streams. The black, spindle-shaped larvae live on the stream bottom attached to rocks and other submerged objects and feed on tiny bits of organic matter, algae and protozoa. Larvae transform in the water to adult flies that rise to the water surface in a bubble of gas. The adult flies are usually present for about 3 weeks before they die. The adult Black Flies are not known to bother humans out west, unlike their northeastern US relatives.

Submergible pumps really make ideal small pond pumps. Simple to use, hook up and no fancy PVC plumbing required. Just slip on the hose and lower pump away into the water with the hose end flowing over the water feature. 

While they are cheaper to buy then an external pump, this may be a mistake in thinking that you are saving money. Submergible pumps use more electricity to operate then external pumps. It it very important to consider the watts or amps any pump draws when running. Since pond pumps require running seven days a week in order to maintain the bio filter, it is important to factor in how much it will cost each month or year for electricity. It does add up over the years as you can see from our comparison below. (If ease of installing is a factor, then consider paying a plumber, and you will still end up saving money.)

Comparing the following two pumps may help:

Submergible pumps also require removal in order to unplug the pickup area when they become plugged up.
Submergible pumps usually have shorter warranties and burn out faster then external pumps. This then means you end up buying another pump or two during a three year time. Were as the external pump is warranted for three years and is likely to last twice that. And the PerformancePro pumps use a Baldor motor that can be repaired  to extend the life for possibly another five or seven years again.... Even more savings!

Click here to read more about or purchase your PerfomancePro pump

Many if not all Koi pond keepers in time will see a Blue Heron either considering some prize fish in a pond or flying away with one. It can be a heated discussion when talking to someone that has experienced Koi just disappearing or who have watched a Blue Heron flying away with one of their Koi in beak. 

Many things work and some better then others depending on your point of view. 
Wires like a fence around the pond about 6 to 12 inches off the ground. (Trips them)
Wires strong through the air in some sort of grid. (Trips up the flight)
Plastic Life like Heron. (Some believe they are territorial and won't land around another)
Dogs (A dog in the yard or in a dog run close does help as long as the dog is awake)
Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler (3 second water sprinkler activated from motion)

  

Click here to read more about or purchase the Scarecrow Motion Activated Sprinkler

The Advantage Bead filter really is a pleasure to own and operate. Its combined features make it a superior filter in many ways to other filters. As a mechanical filter, it is simple to operate when cleaning out the trapped crud and the water remains crystal clear in our 6 foot deep 5200 gallon pond which is home to 30 Koi.. As a biological filter, it really does do a fantastic job in keeping ammonia and nitrites to zero no mater how much we feed the fish. 

The test results clearly indicate that the Advantage Bead filter operates with less head pressure then the other bead filters. One filter listed in the results that actually has some lower head pressure then the Advantage filter fails to perform one major task that the filter should be doing. That is mechanically trapping crud and filtering it from the pond. The reason the other filter has less head pressure is that its media has a flow through design. The water flows through so well, it doesn't trap all the crud.

As you can clearly see from the picture to the right, the plumbing is simple and straight forward. The patented head design can't be duplicated by other companies. The superior head design improves water flow and does a better job of backwashing then the competitions during cleaning. One leading bead filter requires draining slough from the bottom drain during the weekly cleaning. This step is not needed or performed when cleaning is done with the Advantage Bead Filter. All crud is backwashed out leaving the user with less work to perform. Better design and less work is an advantage... The cleaning or backwashing is simple and takes only minutes. And it can be done while wearing church cloths. 

Since cleaning is vital to good performance, the Advantage bead filters comes standard with a 2 hp air blower which does a great job in breaking up the crud. Some filters either don't have a blower unit, charge extra for it, or only offer the 1 hp air blower. Simply another advantage to the Advantage Bead Filter. Superior and no extra costs.

Then there is the "Guarantee" that no one can beat! If you are not completely satisfied with the filter for any reason during the first year, we will buy back the filter and pay for the return shipping. That's a 100% refund!

Our usage confirms that the Advantage Bead filter is; a state of art bead filter, which provides both an extremely efficient mechanical and biological filter all in one. Very much worth the money and well made!

Click here to read more about or purchase your Advantage Bead Filter

  Read more about plumbing  filtering systems by visiting:

www.KoiPondFiltering.com 

I recently discovered white vinegar (5% acidity) kills Flukes (a parasite) that are often found on Koi. I scraped one of my Koi which had stress lines and missing scales and placed the sample under my microscope to identify the parasite as Flukes. I then added one drop of white vinegar to the slide and the flukes died instantly. 

I thought of vinegar because I own a blue and gold macaw and a breeder suggested I add a small amount of raw, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar (purchased from health food stores) to her drinking water once a week to prevent parasites.  After verifying my results under the microscope several times I decided to dip my Koi up to the gills in straight vinegar. I did another scrapping of the scales and found no flukes remaining on the fish.   

I kept the Koi in a smaller tank for 10 days and dipped them again to kill any eggs that might have hatched. My pond is 13,000 gallons and I have city water so I didn't want to add Formalin and salt and have to further stress my fish with water changes. I’d like to pass my findings on to others who want to save their fish from parasites rather inexpensively.
            Susan Bush, Indiana

Susan has not only shared this info with us, but has also passed this info onto Dr. Johnson, which was impressed to hear about her findings. Doc operates the web site www.KoiVet.com. This really is very impressive and your findings are sure to help many.  Thank you Susan.