The Tranquility of a Koi Pond

A Koi pond can certainly be a source of great joy. There is something tranquil and beautiful about a clear pond teaming with these beautiful fish. Of course, your Koi pond is not just going to happen by itself. It takes a certain amount of work and some know-how to get your Koi pond the way you'd like it to be and keep it that way.

If you have trouble with parasites in your Koi pond, you could decide to remedy it with a little salt. Koi, like many other kinds of pond fish become susceptible to parasites if they are completely deprived of salt. It means that their bodies are placed under stress from having to constantly struggle to maintain the correct electrolyte balance. In fact, to ward off ill health and parasites, some pond owners decide to salt the whole year round with either 2.5 lbs of salt to 100 gallons, or 1.5 lbs of salt to 100 gallons, if you feel you have aquatic plants that won't be able to tolerate the higher level.

Is Your Koi Pond Deep Enough?

It is important to remember when creating your Koi pond that if you live in a cold area, either you should make arrangements to move your Koi to an indoor tank in the winter months, or provide them with a pond deeper than 30 inches so that they can take refuge from the cold. You will probably need to keep the pump and filter running during these cold months too.

If you are patient, you will easily be able to breed your own Koi for your Koi pond instead of paying for them all. Once you have a female that is about to spawn (you will be able to tell from her swollen belly) remove her from the pond and place her in a specially prepared aquarium with one male. Once she spawns and he has done his job, remove both male and female Koi back to the pond or they may eat the Koi spawn. Then, just wait and take care of them while they grow big enough to be put in the Koi pond. You may have to cull some of the resulting Koi (or give them away or whatever) because you could get thousand of Koi from just one breeding!