Thanks everyone for the kind words,No I've never tested my water, but in 4 years I've only lost 3 fish and it was due to a power outage..I don't really understand where things (ph,nitrates, etc)should be to test? I have 15 fish that range from approx 5in to my biggest being approx 1 1/2ft, 2 are goldfish..only 3 of my koi are over a foot long,the rest are 5-10in but I do plan on adding to my existing pond or building a new one all together to accommodate them once they are full size but they have lots of room as of now, but I do know that will change as they grow..especially having babies lol
senecassmoker weve lost 9 koi in the last 28 years , sadly we lost a chagio just the other day when it jump clear out of the pond most probably after insects .
It wasnt parasites because I took a slide after I found the dead koi [you have to do one on a live koi only ] the microscope came up negative and all our water perameters where good.
You can learn about using a microscope in the articles section however you need a good scope ours is x 40 to x1026 with occular.
Both
@Mmathis and
@bettasngoldfish have bought their own and are now actively using them.
I note that your using cherios to feed your koi [only do this as a treat].
Koi if properly looked after will live for 80+ years, goldfish 40+
Our oldest koi is fast approaching 29+ years and recently survived a lightening strike on the pond , however hes now a tad bent head to the right tail to the left as is our Aka kigoi the third koi a gin rin kuhaku survived with just a small back hole in his head which has now disapeared.
Out of the koi deaths weve had three jumped clear of the pond , one out of a tank at a FBAS fish show [it later died of septicemia].
No parasites where recorded of any of the koi nor where there probelms with our water perameters.
So we surmise they jumped for insects and simply misjudged their landing one of those got caught in the net we used to have and died.
One lost one to old age last year aged 27 years one to a compromised immune system, two to a gram negative infection on the change over from tank to pond after we removed the undergravel filter from the tank prior to the change over from inside to outside [my fault].
As well as one to an ulcer whist in QT [ after checking our notes].
Dave
this will be our 3rd "remodel" of it...please keep in mind I lost my grandfather 2 1/2wks ago so it hasn't been cleaned as well as it should and we've had lots of rain
