Koi Karp, I Think, And New Pond.

[Tatafufu]

Hi, hopefully someone can help me..

We've just moved into a new house which has a pond in the garden with a pond approx 6-7ft by 6-7ft. not sure of the depth, will check this later. There is a pump that puts water into the pond but I'm not sure of any filtration (although there is a 'square' patch of water at the side that may be part of a filter?). Apologies for the vagueness, but I really know absolutely nothing about these things!. I guess what I need to know is how often to I need to turn on the pump to renew the water, how often do they need feeding (and just about anything else that may be of help). I remember when we looked around the house that we were told they were koi (I think 6 or 7 of them) but in honesty I thought the previous owners would take them with them.

anyway, they are beautifull looking fish - some appear darkish brown in colour and others are golden orange (so assume these may be godfish?) at it would be a real shame if they didn't make it due to my ignorance.

any help would be gratefully received!

Thanks.

Rick.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi there and welcome to the forum .

Hm, the first thing to find out is whether the fish are koi or goldfish- if they are koi, they will grow too big for the pond, but if they are goldfish, then they're fine in the pond .

One of the main differences between koi and goldfish is that koi have a pair of barbels/whiskers on their mouth while goldfish do not. You can see the barbels/whiskers on this ko's mouth in the pic below;

http/www.wildwoods.co.uk/watergarden/koi.jpg

Goldfish have no barbels/whiskers on their mouths;

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...ng_goldfish.jpg




The pump needs to be kept on 24/7, learning about how water quality works in ponds/aquariums is very important- in essence, the way water quality works is the same in a pond just as it is in an aquarium. The article below on avoiding and treating new tank syndrome, is very handy for learning about the basics of how water quality works;

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

Keep good water quality and your fish will be a lot healthier and happier .



With feeding, its best to feed the fish a varied diet, so try and feeed the fish more than one type of food- you can get alternative fish foods like bloodworms, krill, myasis shrimps etc from petshops, these foods are good for adding a bit of variety in the fishes diet.

Feed the fish as much as they will consume in a minute or two- if there is still uneaten food left over after 10mins, it means you are feeding the fish too much, so just cut back a little bit on the amount of food you give them each feeding time. After a while, you will just get a "feel" for how much food your fish need as you interact with them more and more .
Feeding the fish 2 times a day is good unless your fish are still very young and small (where 3-4 small meals a day would be more beneficial), in the wintertime though, if the temperature of the pond drops below 10 degree's, you should stop feeding the fish as at these temps it is too cold for the fish to digest the food quickly and the food may just end up sitting in the fishes gut causing internal problems.