Step By Step Guide To Caring For Fish Pond

CARING FOR FISH POND  --  Caring for fish ponds is work to be done. Although the pond was designed to be self-cleaning but still important to do regular maintenance. Treatment with fish regularly will keep koi healthy and beautiful. There are some simple steps that can be done.

1. CLEAN YOUR POND: Use a Pond Vacuums to clean the pond of all leaves and debris accumulated over the fall and Winter months

2. WATER TESTING: Before adding Ultimate Water Conditioner, do an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test using a Water Test Kit to check parameters just so you know where your water parameters are at when you start.

3. ULTIMATE WATER CONDITIONER: Add Ultimate Water Conditioner at the proper dosage rate for your size pond.

Ultimate adds slime coat removes metals, prepare the water (basically ages the water). This is the only thing you will need to do prior to putting the fish in. Removes & Detoxifies Chlorine, Ammonia, Copper, Heavy Metals, and Chloramines.

4. DOSAGE RATES: 5 fl.oz/10 gal, 1/2 fl.oz/30 gal, 1 fl.oz. 60 gal, 2 fl.oz/120 gal, 3 fl.oz/180 gal, 1 cup/480 gal.

5. DEBRIDE PROHEALTH: Add Debride Prohealth (At the proper dosage rate for your size pond). Debride Prohealth is a broad spectrum treatment that calms Koi & Goldfish, reduces losses, eases stress, minimizes infection and aids healing, thereby helping to protect Koi & Goldfish during illness, handling and transportation. DOSAGE RATES: 1 fl.oz/60 gal, 16 fl.oz/960 gal.

6. PROFORM C: 2 hrs after adding Debride Prohealth, add Proform C (At the proper dosage rate for your size pond). Proform C is the safest and most effective treatment for the control of Koi diseases caused by Ichthyophthirius (ich), Costia, Trichodina, Chilodonella, Oodinium and fungal infections. NOTE: Do not add nitrifying bacteria yet! Before Adding in Nitrifying Bacteria, wait until Proform C has run its cycle as Proform C will knock some of the bacteria. See Proform C for dosages and cycle details.

WARNING: Do not add Salt when using Proform C.

7. DOSAGE RATES: The standard use-dilution of ProForm-CF is 5 mL (1 teaspoon) per 50 gallons of pond water. Prior to starting treatment with ProForm- C™ perform a large, initial water change (at least 1/3 of the pond's present volume). It may be necessary to perform such water changes at least 24 hours in advance of the adding ProForm-C™ to the pond so that suitable water conditioners may be added. A nearly complete water change, prior to the use of ProForm-C™, will often prove to be highly beneficial to the ultimate success of the treatment. Repeat treatments, as necessary, with pre-dosing water changes of 10% to 25%. Repeat at least every 24 hours until a cure is affected. Re-treatment as often as every 8 hours is possible if the fishes can be closely observed and progress of the disease careful observed.

For such frequent re-treatments, the diseased fishes should be moved to an aquarium with suitable filtration. This will make the course of the treatment easily observable. For "ich", observation of the cycle of the appearance and disappearance of the white spots should dictate the course of the treatment. At those times when the spots are gone, or reduced in number, the ProForm-C™ should be re-dosed following a water change.

8. KOIZYME: Add Koizyme at the proper dosage for your pond. When used as directed, Koizyme will reduce the bacterial count of Aeromonas, Pseudomonas and other pathnogenetic bacteria to such low levels that they will not be a threat to the health of our fish.

You start treating with Koizyme in the Springtime once the water temp reaches 50 to 52 degrees. If you had treated with Koizyme the previous year you would still "start over" and do the five initial treatments at full dosage rate, then go into the "Maintenance" program. You should continue the "Maintenance" program the entire season until the water temp drops back into the low 50 degree area. DOSAGE RATES: 50 to 62 degrees -- Double the label dosage of 20ml (4tsp) to 40ml (8 tsp). 63 to 68 degrees -- 1.5 X the label dosage of 20ml (4tsp) to 30ml (6 tsp). 69 and above -- normal label dosage

9. JUMP START BENEFICIAL BACTERIA: You want the water temperature to be a minimum of 65, if below 65 degrees, it will take longer for the water to cycle. WATER PARAMETERS: Look for an ammonia level of .5 ppm before adding Beneficial Bacteria. Once .5ppm is reached, add a beneficial bacteria like Jump Start. Jump Start is a professional formula of 50% Nitrosomonas and 50% Nitrobacter nitrifying bacteria. Jump Start is excellent for rapid "cycling" in a new bio-filter or re-starting of existing bio-filters in Spring or after use of harsh medications.

IMPORTANT: Turn off your UV when adding in Nitrifying Bacteria, the UV will kill the bacteria.

10. WATER CYCLING INFO: It will take at least 1 week to start forming ammonia eating bacteria. Nitrosomonas turn ammonia to nitrite, nitrobacter converts nitrate to nitrate. Nitro Bacter will take at least 2 weeks to cycle, it is a slow process. (Nitrites) will take 10-20 days for this to cycle. After adding Jump Start, a few days later, you need to do Nitrite test. If nitrites get above 1.0, you need to add 0.1% Salt. (Nitrite is absorbed through the skin of the fish which can cause brown blood disease).  Adding salt will protect the fish during cycling of the filter. Nitrifiers don't like salt in the early stage of cycling, it’s ok once pond is established.

When seeing nitrites, that means your producing the 2nd food which is the nitrobacter. Once seeing 3-4 days of nitrites in the water, start testing for nitrates.  If you see nitrates, that means the system is cycling. IMPORTANT: Don't mess w/ the PH level, if the level changes quickly, that is what causes problems. It doesn't hurt to check PH but don't mess with it. DOSAGE RATES:1oz./36 gal, 8 oz./288 gal, 32oz./1200 gal




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