Things to know about koi fish | Keeping Koi Fish or Koi Carp The Successful Way By Ben Helm

Here are the links to all 10 chapters of Ben Helm's Book which shows you how to Keep Koi Fish or Koi Carp the successful way ... the link is to an Adobe pdf file so it is best to right click and select "save as" or "save link as". This will allow you to save the file to your pc, laptop or hard drive.

Ben is an expert on Koi and you will discover the most important things to know about koi fish. Download each episode in PDF for ease of printing and saving...

Topics Covered...

  • Providing Koi with the conditions that they require
  • Pond vs Filtered Pond - A Practical Illustration
  • Regular testing. If you can measure it, you can manage it.
  • What achievable targets has a natural pond set us and how do we best achieve those targets in a filtered pond?
  • Biological water parameters.
  • Chemical water parameters
  • Physical parameters.
  • Koi Husbandry.
  • Normal behaviour.
  • Putting koi behaviour into context.
  • Seasonal inactivity.
  • Quarantine.
  • Fighting or spawning?
  • Shyness.
  • Husbandry - Not so hands-on.
  • Maintaining health and preventing disease.
  • Maintaining healthy koi.
  • Maintaining the health: disease balance.
  • Rate of recovery.
  • Preventing disease.
  • Where does 'disease' come from?
  • Quarantine or acclimatisation?
  • Methods for Maintaining Health:
  • Methods for Preventing Disease
  • Disease - Diagnosing and Treating
  • Treating and Healing: A Team Effort.
  • Medications: Toxic but Effective
  • Know your pond volume.
  • Treatment on an individual basis.
  • Four types of pathogen.
  • Viruses
  • Bacteria
  • Fungus.
  • Parasites
  • Nature's Balancing Act
  • Identifying microscopic pathogens using a microscope.
  • Do's and Don'ts when diagnosing and treating disease.
  • Food and feeding.
  • Food - The pond's software.
  • Koi food. How does koi food work as our ponds 'software' and what results can we expect to achieve when using it
  • Energy
  • Growth:
  • Health
  • Colour
  • Water quality
  • Feeding.
  • Seasonal feeding.
  • The 5 Nutrient Groups - What they do for our koi
  • Protein.
  • Carbohydrate.
  • Oils.
  • Vitamins and Minerals.
  • Filtration.
  • Koi pond filtration - what is it?
  • The tasks that a filter must carry out.
  • Mechanical filtration serves two purposes in a koi pond.
  • Aesthetics
  • Filter function
  • UVc’s … Ultra Violet Clarifiers
  • Why are there so many different types of filter?
  • Methods of mechanical filtration.
  • Settlement and vortex
  • Entrapment
  • Biological filtration.
  • Pump fed or gravity fed?
  • Gravity fed.
  • Pump fed.
  • Golden rules.
  • Avoiding and confronting common problems.
  • Problems with your pond and filter system.
  • Know your pond's vital statistics.
  • Auto top-up
  • Pump Standby
  • Problems with water quality.
  • Better quality water at source
  • Saltmeter / Refractometer.
  • Surface foams and frothing water
  • Problems with your koi.
  • Avoiding unnecessary treatments - get to know your koi better.
  • Keep a log or koi diary.
  • Understanding the Koi's Calendar.
  • What time of year is it?
  • Water temperature
  • Water Temperature and 'Degree Days'.
  • Day length
  • Photoperiod and Growth
  • The Koi's seasonal calendar.
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter
  • The undesirable effects that heating a koi pond can have on the koi's seasonal calendar.
  • Temperature / Photoperiod mismatches
  • Growth rates.
  • Breeding Koi.
  • Just got to breed!
  • When will my koi spawn?
  • How the professionals can do it.
  • Koi Pond Spawning
  • Limitations of a flock spawn.
  • You've made it!