Technology, H2O2 Oxydator, Pond Oxygenation And Water Quality

The worst advice I ever got was from a koi dealer who advised shutting off one of my hiblows to avoid turbulence that upset kois. Those of us who have seen the postings on Yotti's pond and his fantastic fish grown in highly oxygenated water knows the beneficial effects of oxygen. David Soon's postings on Cavitated water are also highly educational.

We all know that the koi hobby, there are many hurdles or challenges to raising good fish -- koi selection, management of water quality, feed, disease control and the use of technology.

From the early days of picking up this hobby, I have always tinkered with improving water quality -- from the use of PP bombs to increasing flow rates, modifying filter chambers and filter media etc.

Back when photocatalytic TiO2 was still in research phase, I experimented with the help of Japanese nanotech experts on the use of TiO2 with Sunlight and UV lights for the treating pond water. Its use was already proven in the waste treatment field, but unfortunately, while the TiO2 succeeded in breaking up the cell walls of the unicelled algae, it was not able to remove green water as these broken celled algae proliferated with wild abandon.

The use of PP bombs to increase Total Dissolved Oxygen ("TDO") is well documented elsewhere in this forum and is, indeed, an important part of the resources available for disease management. The other equally formidable weapon is Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) which is a powerful disinfectant with strong oxidation properties :http://www.koiquest.co.uk/hp1.htm. It is conventional theory that H2O2 has to be treated with utmost respect due to its potentially destructive effect. A bit like the atomic bomb.

So it is no accident that I sat up and took immediate notice when Dr Sochting's Oxydator came onto the market. It was like there is now a method to harness nuclear energy through nuclear reactors -- in this case, it is the brilliant Oxydator.

Details of the Oxydator can be found here: http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~freshwater_sochting_oxydator_information.html

I took the risk of trying out the Oxydator in my ponds for the last 6 months, on the basis that since the Germans had gone on to market the product in the US, it should be relatively safe if they are prepared to take on lawsuits in that market.

I also asked the local dealer to work on larger units rather than the standard 1 litre units for use in large ponds. The manufacturer developed the 5 litre Maxi Oxydator that treats 25 tons each.

With increased oxygen, my fish prospered due to enhanced TDO and incidents of disease dropped drastically even though my pond is overstocked. In fact, the fish grew so fast that the ponds are now overcrowded.

I figured that even if all the other benefits fail to materialise, I would still have an uninterrupted supply of Oxygen that will ensure fish survival during a power blackout. You will be surprised how often the conventional battery backed Uninterrupted Power Supply fails -- one even blew up the battery due to overcharging!

Cheers,

Jeff

Humpbacks In My Pond

From the early days of my two year journey as a koi kichi, I have googled regularly on how to pick kois and lurked on many koi websites. But the best advice was given by a well meaning koi friend who had 15 years in the hobby -- how to spot a koi with jumbo potential.

Then, there is that tricky business of picking female tosais. Having studied lots of tosai bodies and pectoral shapes, felt thousands of gill plates and pectoral fins, and up ended numerous tosais for a closer examination, I have reached the conclusion that a fortune teller's job is a lot easier!

There were many twists and turns in my journey, and picking a good koi without costing an arm and a leg became the ultimate challenge, with more challenges to follow in raising and grooming them to full potential.

There were short cuts along the way, and I have raised many an eyebrow among well meaning koi sifus by buying "finished" koi show winners which tend to be male more often than not. Well, there is always that exception to the rule which happens more often than you think if you go for the runner ups -- not quite finished yet, but having show quality bodies, patterns and great potential. They turn out to be females most of the time, with another shot left for the 1st prize later in life.

Joining growout competitions is another trick, if you go for future kois rather than trying to win the competition with a fast to finish koi. The cost is affordable, with the Japanese breeder keen to promote his fish by throwing in some potential jumbos to excite local hobbyists.

Finally, there is always local breeding, with the first pick of jumbo tategois.

In the end, I find myself always irresistably drawn to high backs, or hump back kois as they tend, more often than not, to reach jumbo.

With 20 nisai and sansai kois with the dealer heading for the mudpond, there is a small number of interesting humpbacks left in my pond:

This 57cm Marudo Showa has been genetically blessed with a pronounced hump, and is still a future koi.

These two 50 plus cm Gonjiro sankes are jumbo tosais, and their protruding humps and striking patterns make their future interesting. Their hibans were stretched rather thin by their fast growth rate, and they will need careful grooming to finish well.

These two Nogami tosais are about 45cm, and have unusually high backs. Another showa sibling rocketed to close to 60cm and have been sent to the mudpond.

This supposedly male 52cm Maruyama Showa has a body and thick tail tube that many show winners would die for. Another huge humpback, I suspect she is female and only time will tell if I am right.

This 50cm Dainichi Tancho Showa tosai is male, but with a body that shouts female. Its sumi is not yet finished, and hopefully it will finish as a spectacular female jumbo tancho showa!

Finally, the totally unpredictable! She is most probably female, and her thin beni will need careful grooming to get them to finish well. The patchy beni on her head looks extremely weak, but there is hope yet that the underlying sumi might emerge to cover up the defects.

Admittedly, she required a lot of imagination before I finally picked her for a pittance. Only time will tell!

Jeff

Living On A Prayer In The Mudpond (Updated)

After 6 months in the mudpond, and battling the risks nature threw at them, my kois came back fully invigorated and living life with a vengeance. So I must really thank Sentul Park Koi Centre for doing a professional and fantastic job in taking care of them.


Not long after picking up the hobby, a koi kichi friend mentioned the Japanese explained to him that kois raised in concrete tanks grow from the "outside", but those that went into mudponds grew from the "inside".


Thinking then that it was nothing but some Zen like mumblings meant to make the raising of kois a difficult and obscure mysterious art, I think I know now what they really meant after looking at the returnees from the mudpond. Most have put on girth and strength, and look much healthier than their pond raised buddies.


This Momotaro Ginrin Sanke grew a whopping 9 cm, and she is barely into her sansai year. From her magoi like structure, she looks like there is more growth in her and I suspect that she might hit more than 90cm on account of her distinguished Ryu sanke bloodline. Her example corrected a long held view among koi kichis than gin rins do not grow jumbo. Well, happily, sometimes they do, I guess :)





This 78cm Hoshikin Sanke is quite a stunner as it about a year and a half since I acquired her as a 30cm tosai. To hit 48cm in that short period of time blew me away. She has always been a big eater, feeding both at the top and bottom of the pond.


She was a left over koi and not a fantastic looker at first, and the only point that drew me to her was her high hump back. Her body was already great back then, even though her pattern was nothing to shout about.


She arrested my attention, and with barely visible sumi on the empty shiroji section on her tail, slowly invoked a dream that she might, with some luck, finish with good and strong sumi balancing off the beni patterns.

She went in at 69cm, came out of the mudpond at 76cm, and promptly grew another 2cm while in SPKC's concrete quarantine pond.


Her colors improved and when the submerged sumi finally emerges, she will be quite a jumbo sight to behold. She taught me in my short 2 years in the hobby that imagination is rather important when picking tosais with future potential, as we need to look beyond what is visibly present to its potential and what it could become. And the dream along the way is one hell of a roller coaster ride!



This fantastic Maruyama Kagura Murata Kohaku was 58cm when she went into the mudpond, came out at 63cm and grew while under quarantine to 66cm. At the rate she is going, she should be hitting the other end of 70cm by the end of 2009.


She was not great looking at first, certainly not when comparing her to her more expensive and better patterned siblings. I was attracted to her huge hump and great body, although the pattern looked breaky and uninteresting.


But her beni was deep red, and my imagination took over with the dream that her pattern will stretch and break up eventually, leaving her with a more interesting pattern when she finishes.


She blew me away with her growth rate as she is another big eater, and coming out of the mudpond, her final pattern is almost there. I suspect that her pattern will only stretch adequately and break up sufficiently when she reaches 80cm, but hey, that's what the game is all about, isn't it? The careful selection of an unfinished tosai with potential, and the subsequent grooming, dreaming and hoping that she will fulfil the potential I saw in her.

















This sandan Maruyama Kagura Murata kohaku did not do as well as expected. She went in at 56cm, came out at 62cm and grew another 3cm while under quarantine.


Her beni has consolidated very well considering she use to have a 50 sen coin window in her shoulder hiban. Now, all that is left are 3 tiny dot windows which should close up when she finishes.


Her body did not bulk up as well, although structure wise she has a big head and should make jumbo.


Over the next few months, she will need multivitamins in her diet, and maybe a shot of antibiotics to clear up any internal parasites.


She has picked up her appetite considerably since returning from the mudpond. If she bulks up and finishes well, her good sandan pattern will make her look quite stunning.


Who knows, she might pull off a big, happy surprise eventually or at least, that is my koi kichi dream ;)



To be honest, at one point, I had doubts whether this Kagura Murata Maruyama Kohaku is a female as she has a thin, male like body.


Her positive traits were her superb pattern, sharp kiwa, white shiroji and thick beni although she was somewhat lacking as far as body is concerned.


She went into the mudpond at 53cm, and came out at 60cm. Her body has bulked up considerably, and she looks very promising for the future.

While she might not have a big hump to start with, she seemed to have caught up while in the mudpond. I have always made it a point where possible to pick up high back or hump back kois as this genetic trait will give them a head start in growing great body conformation. Yet, sometimes there are kois that grow humps after a bout of high protein feeding and exercise in a well designed pond.


Happily, she is one of them. I can't wait for the time when she finishes with a great body :)





This Momotaro Showa went in as a 48cm tosai, and came out a whopping 59cm. She has definitely overtaken her male sibling which I did not put into the mudpond.

She is still a future fish, and her beni needs to consolidate over time. Based on what I can see on her brother, the beni should finish deep red.


She has developed quite a big appetite since returning from the mudpond.


With her solid bloodline, and based on her growth rate while in the mudpond, I have every confidence that she will hit 80cm, or at least that is my dream ;)





Well, I am glad I took the risk of putting these beauties into the mudpond even though there are otters, eagles, monitor lizards and anglers aplenty.


So glad that I put another 20 of my hump backed and other kois with good potential into SPKC's mudponds.

I know there is a big debate out there on keeping kois in concrete ponds versus mudponds. Well, I do not want to say categorically one is better than the other, except that the Japanese breeders do grow their kois in mudponds for a season or two and many of the Koi Show winners imported from Japan has been raised in mudponds.


But what I do know is that the tosais that I picked and raised from young do need some time in the mud just to catch up with their more privileged silver spooned Japan mud pond raised friends.


Jeff

For those who want to read my earlier posting on these kois, check this out: http://jumbosplash.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html