As fish keepers there are times when we need think about adding chemicals to the water to treat our fish.
Remember at the best of times that all chemicals can be dangerous to us so if accidentally splashed onto your skin wash them off immediately
1) Be sure to check all water parameters, such as temperature, ammonia nitrite, nitrate pH before, during and after the use of any medications in your pond, ensure that your filters are in pristine condition.
2) Never put chemicals in a pond with water quality problems i'e water parameters
3) Always remember you must switch off U/V's before medicating your pond.
4) Ensure you have diagnosed the correct problem before you treat your for parasites, investing in a microscope will help you identifying your problem parasites.
*Note buy a decent microscope not a children's one its worth spending out to get the best results.
5) Make sure that the gallons of your pond is correctly calculated as overdosing medication can kills koi, and under dosing wont help them "a tip here is if you ever upgrade your pond is to invest in a water meter, then you'll know your exact gallons as we do".....
6) Always read the manufacturers or suppliers instructions carefully for directions of use, dose per gallon and frequency of use, never hazard a guess it may be wrong !!!.....
7) Always wear rubber gloves when handling chemicals, remember to wear protective glasses ensure you cover your skin,
8) Be temperature aware when using treatments on your pond as most chemicals cannot be used below 10c-50f
9) Introduce additional oxygen when treating a pond by adding extra air-stones to the pond .
10) When putting medication in the pond mix the measured dose with a larger quantity of pond water and gradually distribute using a watering can around the entire pond surface this allows for a good covering of the pond with the treatment being used
*Note its a good idea to have a separate watering can for your pond for pond treatments only and one for your garden.
*The reason behind this are the dangerous pesticides we sometimes water our plants with .......
11) Treatments always place a strain on your ponds filtration, so possible stop feeding 48 hours prior to treating your koi
12) Remember you must treat the pond at a suitable time of day making sure that you are there to observe any adverse reaction to the medication.
*Note should this occur however remember to act quickly and do a water change to remove it
13) Never use chemicals that are past their expiration date, We always always date them when we buy them with the date purchased. and mark with the dosage its best to use a permanent marker pen fot this..
* Note throw away any that have been open for 6 months this is so that you know the optimum time you can use the medication for
* Note a tip here is to use small bottles of chemicals not the large otherwise this leads to waste and disposal problems later on .
14) Remember to store correctly and keep at the correct temperature "the makers recommendations on storage temperature", ready for use again", at a later date .....
*Note storage in wooden sheds is not advisable because they tend to warm up in direct sunlight often above recommended storage temperatures.
15) Never treat an entire pond to medicate one fish when at all possible.
*Note put the ill fish in quarantine for treatment.
*Treating an entire pond may very well upset the entire Eco-system resulting in more damage than cure.
*This is especially true of anti-bacterial treatments.
16 ) Its a good idea to invest in a QT facility which then negates the above you can either make a QT facility or buy one as we did....
*Note you'll find spending money at this stage will be worth the investment especially if you need treat your fish again in the future you then have your QT facility on hand and ready to go giving you a piece of mind (they are worth there weight in gold they really are).....
17 ) Remember to lock these chemicals away out of children's reach, we keep ours in a locked case in a cool place.....
18 ) Always look at the instructions and store as the manufacturer recommends temperature wise as it will prolong the life of your chemicals .
19 ) Disposal can be a problem , don't flush unwanted chemicals down the drain, for years we had a problem with disposal so we stored our unwanted chemicals in the shed, which was far from ideal.
*Note we asked our chemist if she would dispose of any out of date treatments we have .
*She was only too pleased to help out with this for us do this .
20 ) If salt has been used prior to you using chemicals especially Formalin ensure it is removed from the water completely before treating .....
Dave
Remember at the best of times that all chemicals can be dangerous to us so if accidentally splashed onto your skin wash them off immediately
1) Be sure to check all water parameters, such as temperature, ammonia nitrite, nitrate pH before, during and after the use of any medications in your pond, ensure that your filters are in pristine condition.
2) Never put chemicals in a pond with water quality problems i'e water parameters
3) Always remember you must switch off U/V's before medicating your pond.
4) Ensure you have diagnosed the correct problem before you treat your for parasites, investing in a microscope will help you identifying your problem parasites.
*Note buy a decent microscope not a children's one its worth spending out to get the best results.
5) Make sure that the gallons of your pond is correctly calculated as overdosing medication can kills koi, and under dosing wont help them "a tip here is if you ever upgrade your pond is to invest in a water meter, then you'll know your exact gallons as we do".....
6) Always read the manufacturers or suppliers instructions carefully for directions of use, dose per gallon and frequency of use, never hazard a guess it may be wrong !!!.....
7) Always wear rubber gloves when handling chemicals, remember to wear protective glasses ensure you cover your skin,
8) Be temperature aware when using treatments on your pond as most chemicals cannot be used below 10c-50f
9) Introduce additional oxygen when treating a pond by adding extra air-stones to the pond .
10) When putting medication in the pond mix the measured dose with a larger quantity of pond water and gradually distribute using a watering can around the entire pond surface this allows for a good covering of the pond with the treatment being used
*Note its a good idea to have a separate watering can for your pond for pond treatments only and one for your garden.
*The reason behind this are the dangerous pesticides we sometimes water our plants with .......
11) Treatments always place a strain on your ponds filtration, so possible stop feeding 48 hours prior to treating your koi
12) Remember you must treat the pond at a suitable time of day making sure that you are there to observe any adverse reaction to the medication.
*Note should this occur however remember to act quickly and do a water change to remove it
13) Never use chemicals that are past their expiration date, We always always date them when we buy them with the date purchased. and mark with the dosage its best to use a permanent marker pen fot this..
* Note throw away any that have been open for 6 months this is so that you know the optimum time you can use the medication for
* Note a tip here is to use small bottles of chemicals not the large otherwise this leads to waste and disposal problems later on .
14) Remember to store correctly and keep at the correct temperature "the makers recommendations on storage temperature", ready for use again", at a later date .....
*Note storage in wooden sheds is not advisable because they tend to warm up in direct sunlight often above recommended storage temperatures.
15) Never treat an entire pond to medicate one fish when at all possible.
*Note put the ill fish in quarantine for treatment.
*Treating an entire pond may very well upset the entire Eco-system resulting in more damage than cure.
*This is especially true of anti-bacterial treatments.
16 ) Its a good idea to invest in a QT facility which then negates the above you can either make a QT facility or buy one as we did....
*Note you'll find spending money at this stage will be worth the investment especially if you need treat your fish again in the future you then have your QT facility on hand and ready to go giving you a piece of mind (they are worth there weight in gold they really are).....
17 ) Remember to lock these chemicals away out of children's reach, we keep ours in a locked case in a cool place.....
18 ) Always look at the instructions and store as the manufacturer recommends temperature wise as it will prolong the life of your chemicals .
19 ) Disposal can be a problem , don't flush unwanted chemicals down the drain, for years we had a problem with disposal so we stored our unwanted chemicals in the shed, which was far from ideal.
*Note we asked our chemist if she would dispose of any out of date treatments we have .
*She was only too pleased to help out with this for us do this .
20 ) If salt has been used prior to you using chemicals especially Formalin ensure it is removed from the water completely before treating .....
Dave
