Pondkeeper's How to...

Water Gardens Gazette number 319

Contents
1. Time for an interesting competition .. win my book
2. Bridges and ponds
3. Are you a pond keeper or a koi keeper?
4. A bit about fish
5. Admin Section

1. Win a copy of my book "The Complete Pond Solver"

Many people write to me with suggestions and questions on ponds, water features and water gardens in general. Well in excess of a million people have visited my web sites this year already so there must be some great success (and horror) stories out there. Would you like to share these with the world? Here's the competition details. (this paragraph is 58 words ... see below)

1. Write your story about your pond in-between say 250 and 400 (I promise not to count the words). Your story can cover anything you like so long as it is pond and water water feature related although bear in mind I would like to share your story with others around the globe so preferably it should contain lessons, tips, tricks etc for successful pond keeping. You do not not have to be a Charles Dickens either ... the content is what is important. So do not be scared or reticent to write in

2. Write your story directly into an email by clicking here

3. Feel free to include a jpeg image of your pond so long as low resolution (ie less than 100 kb) but this is not a requirement

4. You must grant permission for me to publish anywhere on the web so that others can see you story. You will be provided with information on where you can see the published story

5. The author of every story that is judged (by myself) to be useful for publishing so others can see, learn or, perhaps, smile at knowingly will receive a copy of my book. This will be emailed to them in pdf fomat. If you don't get an immediate response be patient since I am off to the UK this week where we exhibit at the major garden show called GLEE starting Sunday.

Do send your stories in ... they will be very welcome.

2. Bridges, gardens, California Redwoods and ponds

Bridges of Madison County, The Bridge Over The River Kwaai, A Bridge Too Far .... there is something very special about a bridge and each of these great films always remain in mind. When I think of bridges I always think of water and I never could resist stopping the car to look over the bridge when I crossed what appeared to be an interesting trout stream ... bridges create an aura of mystery, romance, far away places somehow or at least they do to me. You know so many gardens and ponds could benefit from this feature.

What prompted me to write about bridges was information I received from Rod Bird in California who owns a company called Redwood Bridges in Fresno, California. I found the information extremely appropriate and thought it worth sharing with you since it brings out important points to be aware of when thinking of buying that bridge to span your pond, creek, or stream. His point about span length is particularly important as also is the use of stainless steel fittings as distinct from galvanized .... nothing is worse than trying to remove a corroded nut and bolt or screw. To me this means stainless steel fittings are not a luxury they are essential. Here's Rod's story with thanks to Rod for taking the trouble to contact me..... by the way here are his contact details for those folk in the US looking to buy a personally designed and built Redwood bridge (Rod has told me his prices cannot be beaten and that he personally guarantees total satisfaction and a full money back guarantee) ... for the record I have no commercial involvement whatsoever with Rod or his company

Contact Rod on 559-272-6155, take a look at his prices at http://www.Birdweb1.com or email him by clicking here . He seems like one of those really nice people to me.

California Redwood Span Bridge Information by Rod Bird:

Wooden bridges have been used for many centuries for things such as draw bridges, for spanning crevices, over creeks, ponds, gulleys and in fact anywhere to cross over low areas such as valleys, dips and depressions as well as water of course.

Japan started making wooden arch bridges many decades ago to beautify and maintain Koi ponds and water gardens ... I'm sure you have all seen those appealing pictures of Japanese gardens all of which incorporate a wooden span bridge.Other parts of the world caught on during the last 20 years or so.

The wooden arch bridge is usually made of cedar, pine, douglas fir and a few places use the more durable and weather, insect and water resistant California Redwood. We use only 100% California Redwood to build our Redwood Pond Bridges to assure many years of use and beauty.

When looking for a Pond bridge, you should know exactly how long the bridge will span. Some bridge builders sell an 8 ft bridge but it will actually only span about 6 1/2 ft.

You should also make sure the bridge is made of weather and water resistant wood or sealed and stained, along with stainless steel hardware such as bolts, washer, nuts and screws. We use only stainless steel hardware in all our bridges and on all our bridges we measure the span length that it will span and not the arch length.

You should try to find a bridge that is very easily assembled and only a few tools required. We number and label each board, each post and rail and you just match the numbers and put in the screws and tighten. It takes an average of 20 minutes to assemble our bridges.

Here's Rod's details again .....

Contact Rod on 559-272-6155, take a look at his prices at http://www.Birdweb1.com or email him by clicking here . He seems like one of those really nice people to me.

Thanks again Rod for the valuable advice and input

3. When does a pondkeeper become a koi keeper?

I recently wrote about a lady wanting to sell her young koi but alas could not find any buyers. This prompted me to think a bit more about koi keepers and pond keepers. It occurred to that it is possible to almost classify different stages or even different pond keepers .

Class 1. The Peter Waddington's and Nigel Caddock's of this world ... people who are passionate about their exceptionally successful and large and beautiful ponds, and koi. Not only are such persons interested in learning the maximum amount about the koi they own personally but they actually study and develop theories and systems to assist in the development of the hobby as a whole. They go out of their way to help others by authoring books, manuals, articles and magazines. They may even have developed a commercial interest but not necessarily. Koi keepers like this are prepared and do spend large amounts of money on an ongoing basis on their prized koi collections. These keepers are interested in Tategoi .... young potentially major show winners

Class 2. Somewhat down the scale are the the large show prize winners. Those people who have possibly bought prize quality fish for the simple reason they could afford them and wanted to enjoy the thrill of winning and competing in prestigious koi shows. Such people spend vast amounts on money on buying new koi frequently as well as building bigger and better ponds.

Class 3. The avid koi keeper who sees keeping koi as an entertaining interesting and challenging hobby on which a fair amount of money can be spent. This koi keeper type would enter important koi shows, perhaps win some of the lesser prizes quite often and rightly pride him/herself on the efforts and rewards of the hobby. This person would almost certainly share ideas through club or association membership. They probably subscribe to koi specific magazines. The person would have a keen interest in water quality and all its aspects.

Class 4. The koi keeper who keeps ONLY koi in the pond but has no desire (yet) to enter or win competitions. The person is motivated by wanting to see how the smaller koi grow in the pond environment. This person is probably someone who may turn out to be a class 3 member one day and then class 2 and then .........

Class 5. People like me and probably most other pond keepers. They want a nice crystal clear pond with life in it ... goldfish, koi, rudd, golden orfe, plants, insects and other cold water pond fish ... it is not important that the fish must be koi. The type of fish in general is not too important .... the quality of life afforded by a beautiful pond in a nice garden is. These people are characterized by wanting to learn more on a ongoing basis in order to make their pond "work" even better. It is a bit like owning any other family pet and is a part time hobby.

Which class are you in?

My new low cost book "How To Get and Keep Crystal Clear Water" contains a chapter on blanketweed or string algae elimination using Barley Straw. This chapter is based upon the only scientific study of using Barley Straw I have found .... and it is not just a matter of adding some Barley Straw to your pond if you want it to work. The book is only $8.00 or the equivalent in your own currency. Check it out by clicking the link below. If you buy the book I will be happy to send you the full scientific report on request ... email me for this info with your purchase reference number. Without this reference number I will not be able to provide the article

Spend a little to learn and SAVE a lot ... click here

You can read more here

4. A Bit About Fish

We watch our fish swimming around the pond all day. From year to year they get a bit bigger, plumper and more friendly. All day long they breathe and have to digest food to get bigger. Here's a bit more of an insight of what's happening in that watery environment each and every day.

Fish breathe in through the mouth and out through the gills ...... In this way oxygen enriched water is passed across complex structures and cavities containing myriads of blood vessels. As the water crosses these blood containing structures the oxygen is removed from the water.

A bit of classical chemical engineering takes place here. Blood circulating through the gill system tends to pass in what is called counter-current direction to the oxygen enriched water .... some of you may recall my cup of coffee article explaining biofiltration principles and something similar is happening here. In simple terms the oxygen concentration in the water must exceed that in the bloodstream for oxygen to leave the water and pass through the gills into the fish's circulating system. This is why oxygen depleted blood is the first to come into contact with oxygen enriched water ... hence the term counter-current. The fish actually takes in water simultaneously which it later excretes through the kidneys.
As this counter current process is taking place nitrogen containing chemicals pass from the blood stream out into the the circulating water via the gills. These chemicals show up as ammonia which is removed by biofiltration and is the primary reason for needing a biofilter if you keep fish since even small concentrations of ammonia are poisonous.

Koi digestion and growth

Koi have teeth, yes.

The food they take in is "ground up" to some extent. They are also able to remove planktonic or tiny food particles by filtration. Food passes into what is essentially a tube with waste products coming out of the back end after nutrient extraction using the so called stomach and relevant organs. The ability to digest food is very poor and reduces significantly as temperature drops. This is reason retailers sell wheatgerm for winter feeding since it is supposed to be more digestible at the lower temperatures .... I wonder??????

You should read my long article on koi food at http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/koifood.htm for more information.

Koi in average situations will grow quite quickly until they reach an equilibrium state which to a large extent is determined not just by the amount of food ingested but also by the size, shape, depth and water movement within a pond environment. Nigel Caddock did some work on making koi swim against currents induced into a pond by jets of water to determine effects on growth, shape and body mass.

Small ponds cannot produce large koi.

Under good pond circumstances it appears that a 1 year old koi could be about 12 cm (5 inches) or so and by the age of 10 could be as big as 70 cm ( 30 inches) depending upon its living environment over that period of time.

I am not sure if this milestone has been reached yet but at one stage a massive prize was offered to the first koi keeper who could raise a kohaku (red and white only) koi to 1 metre length ( 39 inches). I do know this limit was approached on a few occasions.

The typical weight of a 70 cm koi would be around 5 kg in excellent condition ( 11 pounds). To buy a mainstream koi of 70cm length would cost a lot of money in any country. On the other hand most are not worth very much money unless bought from a well known dealer.

Koi can live very long lives ... and in Japan have lived close to 100 years.

Finally in this very basic introduction to koi let me suggest to you that nobody has any idea what a koi of say 1 year old will look like at 5 years of age even though some highly experienced breeders may be able to get close.

Consider this when someone tells you differently and also don't fuss too much about selecting the 10 best from that tank of 400 small 2 inches long koi next time you take a visit to your dealer. And certainly do not pay more based upon a dealer's belief that the fish will DEFINITELY be a winner.

On an aside the top Japanese breeders cull about 99% of all koi bred .... they do a basic inspection at lightning speed in an attempt to sieve out the best potential .... somehow.

Spend a little to learn and SAVE a lot ... click here

3. Admin section

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