Hobbies: How to Choose between Goldfish and KOI

How to Choose between Goldfish and KOI

Written by Brett Fogle

Continued from page 1

Pond Goldfish

Japanese KOI on repparttar other hand, and especially repparttar 116250 larger ones, will often create a huge mess out of submerged potted plants. They seem to enjoy 'digging' in repparttar 116251 soil of repparttar 116252 plants and sometimes even knocking them over. This all leads to added mess in repparttar 116253 pond, and can create a real problem for repparttar 116254 pond owner.

Generally, it's best to not have submerged plants in large pots, when also keeping KOI. The ideal KOI pond is much deeper than repparttar 116255 average water garden, so repparttar 116256 necessity for plants to help with water quality and shade is reduced.

However, if you still do want to keep potted plants in your KOI pond, we recommend wrapping netting over repparttar 116257 tops of repparttar 116258 pots, to keep repparttar 116259 fish from digging in repparttar 116260 pots. Another thing you can do is to top repparttar 116261 pots with 1" of pea gravel, and then larger river stones or similar over that. The KOI will not be able to get past repparttar 116262 larger rocks.

As far as mixing Goldfish with KOI, this is fine and very common, we've just tried to highlight repparttar 116263 most important differences between repparttar 116264 two and between repparttar 116265 average water garden and KOI pond. Feel free to experiment with both, and then decide which fish is more to your liking.

*********************************************************** Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several pond-related websites. He also publishes a free monthly newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over 6,000 pond owners. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive a complimentary 'New Pond Owners Guide' for joining, visit MacArthur Water Gardens

Pond Salt for Health Fish

Written by Brett Fogle

Continued from page 1
How Pond Salt helps Improve Gill Function to Reduce Stress.... During periods of disease and stress, healthy gill function is disturbed. This can lead to repparttar

loss of electrolytes through repparttar 116249

gills, sometimes called osmotic shock. Osmotic shock interrupts healthy gill function by reducing repparttar 116250

intake of oxygen and repparttar 116251

release of carbon dioxide and ammonium from repparttar 116252

fish. Pond Salt reduces repparttar 116253

risk of osmotic shock by supplying natural electrolytes through repparttar 116254

chloride cells in repparttar 116255

gills. Nitrite Toxicity Overcrowding and overfeeding can lead to elevated nitrite levels especially in newly set-up ponds. The nitrite ion NO 2 enters repparttar 116256

gills and prevents repparttar 116257

blood from carrying oxygen resulting in nitrite toxicity or "methemoglobinemia". Pond Salt will temporarily block repparttar 116258

toxic effect of nitrite. All natural Pond Salt is safe and non-toxic to all pond fish when used as directed. Pond Salt can be used safely with Pond Care water conditioners, filtration materials and fish foods. Directions for Use: 1. When used as a general tonic for fish, and as a stress reducer, add 2 -1/2 cups full (728g) of Pond Salt for each 100 gallons (378 L) of pond water. Sprinkle salt evenly around repparttar 116259

perimeter of repparttar 116260

pond. Avoid any contact between salt crystals and pond plants. If this is not feasible, pre-dissolve salt first. IMPORTANT NOTE: Once added to a pond, salt does not evaporate and is not filtered out. Pond Salt should only be added as directed; with each water change, or when fish have been treated with medications. 2. When used to reduce stress in separate treatment tanks or during fish transportation, use 4 tablespoons full (95.2g) of Pond Salt for each 10 gallons (37.8L) of water.

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