No matter where you live in Australia if you have bought koi or goldfish online, or any pond fish for sale, you should use this time to prepare your pond for when the warm weather really heats up. Pick a mild day its time to do some general pond maintenance.
1. Is your temperature in the pond below 10 Celsius? Keep feeding a wheatgerm based food. The reason you feed wheatgerm is its easy to digest in cold water. Our wheatgerm floats so you can sight the fish and check their condition at the same time.
2. Is your water warmer than 10 Celsius? keep feeding the wheatgerm based food,and you can mix in a higher protein food such as hikari gold or saki balance with probiotics, to kick off spring feeding. Start with a small amount and mix more as the water gets warmer, till you are feeding all higher protein during summer. As the water temperature goes up the koi metabolism gets faster and your fish will want more food.Summer is the time to condition your fish for growth and colour the high quality food also looks after the water. This summer we will be feeding Saki Hikari Balance and Hikari gold to the hatchery fish.
3. The last leaves will have fallen by now, so clean out the bottom of the pond, with a long handle net or if you have a pond vacuum use that and do a water change at the same time.
4. If you have a back wash function on your filter? do that, wait a week before you clean the filter media we dont want to lose the beneficial bacteria in the filter by doing to much cleaning this early in spring. wait a another week before you do the filter media. At the end of winter your beneficial bacteria is at its lowest point as much of it dies off over winter. this bacteria converts all fish waste and other by products from ammonia to nitrite to the much safer nitrate which you can take out of the water via a water change.
5. Check you pH, you want 7.4 to 7.8 for koi or goldfish. Add bicarb of soda (from the supermarket) 25 grams per 1000 liters, your pH will fluctuate between day and night. Going lower at night which means there is less oxygen available to the fish, so make 7.4 the lowest pH acceptable. Test every 24hrs at the same time till you have reached the desired range
6. treat algae or murky water with algae killer or clear water have some on hand so the first signs of pea soup (green) water you can treat the pond. Water Cleaners. Remember using any chemical of this type takes oxygen out of the water so put extra oxygen in when you add the algae killer or clear water. Dont add on a very hot day.Spring is perfect. Oxygen levels are at there lowest in the early morning.
7. Salt the water, pool salt or rock salt, just plain salt nothing added. 1kg for every 2000ltrs of water in the pond. Just tip in undiluted where the filter water returns to the pond, the current will disperse the salt around the pond over time.This naturally builds body slime on fish to combat any stress and keeps parasites out. You will also see a difference in your fish after about an hour the colours will be more vibrant and your fish will be happier.
8. You can now re pot any plants that have outgrown the pots and divide any that haven't been done for 3 yrs. By the way did you know one dragonfly will eat hundreds of mosquitoes per day.
9. Top up evaporated water and remember to use water neutralizer to take out the chlorine and heavy metals in tap water. Dont kill your fish with chlorine.
10. Now we are into spring you will be outside more often,when you feed you fish with a floating fish food to bring them to the surface try and see how they look, be on top of any issues now to avoid a setback. Clean your Pump and the head of the water fountain.Read Buying a pump.Top Tips for use and longevity
A pond enhances your enjoyment of your backyard space and garden.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE WATER,
if you get that right, the fish will thrive and breed, and you'll be able to enjoy your pond
with healthy fish for years to come!!!
Windsor fish hatchery breeding and selling koi & goldfish to the public since 1984