Keep things Nice and simple

[Dave 54]

Again...for a newbie, the internet is confusing...decietfull...repititious...tireing...and sometimes not even available. This thread was started with the notion of keeping things simple for the newbie (if I am recalling correctly). The idea of having a good reference book on hand, is to me, without question a must. I am a newbie.
Sometimes (alot of times) I don't even know what it is I should ask. So I get online, surfing around for answers to something I know little about. Get three or four different views...answers....reasons...and sale prompts. I purchace stuff I think I need....I mean I can on about whats all wrong, but you get the picture I'm sure.
I'm not someone who incapable of describing a problem, or understanding how to do anything that is being explaned. I don't believe everything I read, and not afraid of stepping outside the box of all things that are tried and true. But I'm no different than the next person...including you...when it comes to starting a new adventure, like ponding, fish keeping, skydiving or whatever.....it's not as easy as learning to tie a shoe. There will be parts that time to learn in order to be understood. Standard things in general. Everybody is different, and has their own way of doing something. But until they learn what works for them, most will makes mistakes, too. It helps to keep things simple as possible for someone just learning what to do. Having common scence and listening to mother nature, two things good to have and do.

Susan

Perhaps my reluctance to use the net comes from the fact that we came into it quite late on in life and my perseption of it is different than crsubletes idea if it .
Koi Keeping to some like ourselves become a passion hence this year being the start of our 27th year in the hobby.
Books have been a major factor in my 56 years hence my trust of them and mistrust of the net.
Common sense is a large factor in fish keeping for us anyway., common sense played a major factor in miltiary life too , yet it is strangely lacking in some people, its as though its been taken away from them.somewhere along the line perhaps through the education system where exams and passes seem to be the main thing our governments care about these days, yet when these kids get to university especially Oxford and Cambridge (they are found lacking ) both are very critical of our education system and how children are taught.nowadays.....
There are fish keepers out there who quite simply dont wish to know anything other than the bare bones of our hobby but at least they know them and are not afraid to ask should they find themselves with a problem, but there are those who think they know everything when in fact they know very little,.they are the ones who dont last long, making the most basic of mstakes seems to bring them crashing down and they leave the hobby never having learnt anything simply because of a big head....
I find we are always learning with this hobby and an open mind is a must .as is a willingness to share that learning, exactly what Spike and kOI are trying to do but even there books are still a factor as you'll see when he puts together his recomeded reading list, which he also had put together on the Health forum AKCA which I still have a link too.
I was in a discussion with Kevin Novak about books and what they do for the hobby and was amazed when he showed me his collection of over 2,000 books collected over the years as we have, he stil finds them useful.to cross reference with
All are still useful to us and call me old fashioned if you wish you cant beat the touch feel smell and layouts of books, things like kindle and these other reading tablets are are sadly robbing us of .
Yes there is a huge amout of data on the net which can be a minefield to the novice as we previously discussed
I do have one or two ebooks Kevin Novaks Anoxic filtration ebook and Chris Neaves book for the South African koi Society health forum but thats as far as it goes.for us.
My Passion for books showed when it took me two years to track down a pristeen copy of Nicholas Saint Earnes book Advanced koi Care.
It was sent to me in the end by a friend in Plano Texas after helping her with a koi problem, I do believe that the book has been re issued, this time with a spiral binder and I believe it has also been updated.yes?
How many of us factor in air and water temperatures or know that it can give you different readings perameter wise?
Yet this is something we do every day and has become second nature too us, how many of us clean our filters prior to winter and during spring and for what reason we do it , these are vitally important lessons that must be passed on if people want to aviod the death of their fish .
We have a thing we call the Areomona Ally in the koi world which must be avioded hence the cleans prior too and after.
This thread is really turning out to be a great thread

rgrds

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

Yes that is so true I was lucky my mentor was the former head of the British koi keepers societys Koi health forum and a club member my other runs the Uk's only koi and goldfish pond rescue service.
They got me through the coldest winter on record in the UK but I did have 22 years of indoor keeping behind me still it was a steep learning curve, since then weve gone from strength to strength.
I've saved that site off it may come in useful for novices later on

rgrds

Dave

 

[Sparky]

Having been a koi Keeper for the last 26 years I see time and time again other keepers who act like their subject is rocket science and it basically annoyes me greatly it really does......
Keeping koi infact any fish for that matter isnt rocket science its just a matter of plain old common scense and we must remember this when it comes to a novice fish keeper as we have a duty to keep things nice and simple
Start with the basics and the newbie cannot go wrong if you get a novice who thinks that they know everything quite simply walk away because your wasting your time.
Sad I know because of the fish that will most probably die at their hands as you cant educate pork can you ??? .
However most newbies with a little advice and steared in the right direction take on everything that you say.
Here you have the makings of a fish keeper, you must also make sure that they read up on their subject this way they start to learn on their own and will need less and less help eventually when its their turn they will be in position to pass on that knowedge that you freely gave them in their early days .
Act like our subject is Rocket science you can bet your bottom dollar that their will be one less newbie as they dont understand a word your saying to them.
I had good teachers especially when it came from me stopping indoor koi keeping to acctually going into the pond .
I had to forget most of what I knew about indoors and think purely pond, forgetting much of what I was doing prior to going into the pond only taking the health side of things with me , thinking big was the hardest part .
So remember if you come across a newbie in your travels, keep it plain and simple and you'll not only have a good fish keeper but probably a good friend too ......


rgrds

Dave

Best post ever!

 

[Lisak1]

@Sparky - Dave is a favorite around here. He's been MIA for a while dealing with some health issues, but when he's here he's a great source of knowledge on indoor koi keeping, dedicated koi ponds and koi health. He's been in this hobby for many years. We hope he and his wife are doing well.

 

[Bluerooster]

Keep it simple, is some of the best advice on giving advice. After all pond and fish keeping ain't rocket surgery.
I've had indoor aquariums in the past both fresh and salt water. I've found that the principle of salt water aquarium and outdoor fresh water pond is very similar. More so than fresh water aquarium. In that; the goal is to reduce the workload by creating a self sustaining ecosystem on a small scale. Once established, the pond should require very little upkeep, to keep it going, clean, and fish happy. (same with saltwater aquarium) All the chemicals and what not on the market today, are just a quick fix, and not for the long term. You'll still need to add water from time to time due to evaporation, clean filters every so often, and keep a sharp eye on various water quality levels, but a well established pond should be able to keep that pretty well regulated. So don't spook the newbie with too much detail. They can do what I did. get a dozen live bait fish, and start there. They will die off, but that's what they do. I lost all my minnows save one, but they managed to keep the plants fertilized, just enough, so I didn't have to add tabs. Simple things like that, and keep the water moving,