Spring

[Dave Collins]

Don't despair with all this cold weather we’re having. I had to cut the lawn this week before it got too tall. This can only mean one thing, Spring is on its way. Time to get the pond ready, I’ve just treated mine with a 30% dose of PP to keep the bacteria level low as the pond slowly warms up. Pond is still at natural levels of about 9°C but in another 3 weeks it will be time to heat to above the 14°C level so that the Koi’s immune system can protect them.

Also on the list of things to do is drink a beer at weekends in the sun

[Duncan]

Hi Dave that's a damn good idea on both counts

i like the 30% dose idea to cut the bacteria back a bit i nice cheap option

dunc

[Dave Collins]

Thanks Duncan,

I've used this PP protocol every Spring for a few years and it seems to work. Thankfully the beer drinking comes around more often.

[Airlite]

Dave, any chance you could describe your 30% PP protocol in a step-by-step post so that a beginner like me can see what's involved and what the benefits are? The beer drinking protocol I've got sorted already

Thanks, M

[Duncan]

hi

i would imagine he works out a full dose for his pond at 1.5 gm per ton( 220 gallon) then divides by 100 and times by 30 so lets take 2000 gallons for example

2000 / 220 X 1.5 = 13.63 gm / 100 = 0.13 for 1% x 30 for 30% = 4.09

for me i would just take the 13.63gm in our example and just split it three ways its near enough

dunc

[Dave Collins]

Hi Airlite,

Duncan is correct. In my case its 10,000 / 220 x 1.5 = 68.18 gm / 100 for 1% -0.6818 & then x 30% = 20.45 gms so I dose with 20 gms.

The aim is to reduce the bacteria count in the pond before we start to warm up to Spring temperatures. As the pond warms up the bacteria starts to multiple fast and can cause ulcers as the Koi are still inactive and can spend a lot of time at the bottom. Add to this the fact that the Koi’s immune system is not really active straight away then any small injuries can become infected.

I don’t like to tempt fate but with this PP protocol I’ve not had the problems coming out of winter that some Koi keepers experience.

You can also have a read of the Duncans thread linked below.

Remember, 1) know the pond volume
2) PP is can be dangerous for the Koi but also YOU !!
3) I am only using a 30% dose to reduce the bacteria count so my pond only stays pink for 1H30 or so. I'm not treating for nasties so this is enough

http://www.koiquest.co.uk/forum/viewtop ... 29&t=12498

[Airlite]

Fabulous, thanks both of you (Dave and Dunc) for that - this is my first season so these tips are invaluable for me. I'm around 1500 gallons only but I'll ensure I make an accurate volume calculation taking the filter and small vegi-stream etc into consideration before I dose with anything at all.

I'm not heated currently so would obviously find it difficult to quickly raise the pond temp out of the aeromonas alley range as the weather warms up in spring. With that being the case, is there an optimum time/temp that you would apply a 30% PP in order to keep unwanted pathogens at bay and would this be done just the once or would dosing twice (say when the pond temp rises above 6C then again in a couple of months perhaps when the pond gets to around 14C) be a reasonable strategy to see the fish through?

Thanks again, M

Edit: Just worked out pond volume - not as much as I thought (typically) - 1417 gallons/6442 ltr

Further edit: You may remember that I'm also looking at adding an small anoxic filter pool to my system (this will work out at 233gal when built - 6ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft). How does a treatment such as PP affect an AFS?
(one for Manky?)

Thanks again, again, M

[Manky Sanke]

There are aerobic (nitrogen cycle) bugs in zones A and B and facultative anaerobic bugs in zone C. Normal doses of potassium permanganate are no more harmful to the aerobic bugs than they are to the biofilms in conventional biofilters and will have no discernible effect on the facultative anaerobic bugs deep down in zone C.

[Dave Collins]

As Manky says, no problem with Anoxic filters and PP. In your case I'd dose a second time about four weeks after the first dose.

It's better to be safe.

[Airlite]

Thanks fella's. M