Koi Transfered from RO water

[Geoff9]

Hi All
After asking a friend about how damaging it could be to transfer a koi from RO to my none RO water,my pond parameters below,he suggested it might be an interesting post on Koiquest.
PH 7.8
TDS 213
GH 13
KH kept at 4

Regards Geoff

[Duncan]

so whats the parameters of the RO pond where the fish is?

dunc

[greg]

Geoff,

Interesting question and i can see where Duncan is going with his question i think, as there are two stages to the transfer.

a). The immediate PH changes etc.

b). The longevity of the koi in your water in terms of condition conmpared to the pond it comes from.

[Geoff9]

Hi Duncan and Greg
As I'm on a closed site I can answer the question,I don't name dealers as a rule but I was looking at a Koi on Yumekoi and as he uses RO I was wondering if it's a good idea buying from Mike,hope thats ok to say,if not please remove the post.

Thanks Geoff

[Gazza]

Hi Geoff,

Mike who just make sure he is a reputable dealer and carries out a good QT

I personally think you will be OK with your water as yours is not to bad and i know people who i have moved fish onto that do not run RO and have much harder water than i and have had no problems with the fish.

[Duncan]

Geoff no problem mentioning mike he is after all a sponsor here on koiquest so thats a done deal mate

regards your move you ar not a million miles away from mikes water certainly a lot closer than most folks

what you may not realise is many dealers are buying koi from Japan that are in incredibly soft low pH water many in the late 6's. they have to make the same transfer at the dealers here when they get to England 99% of which dont even bother to use RO water so these fish will go from 6.8 to quite possible 8. something in one quick hit

the idea that a koi can adjust to a pH shift of say 7 to 8 in one hour by gradually mixing water in the bag is a missconception, it will possible take a full week for that fish to make the physiological/metabolic transistion and it will notbe happy during that time. certainly days not an hour or two and almost all imported japanese fish go through this better than we should expect imagine what the shift must be for a fish from Japan to certain dealers who support and promote water that is that hard you could walk on it ??

the reason for this hard adjustment is the fish must balance its own body fluid/ and blood pH balance this is critical to the koi if this is not balanced it finds it hard to absorb oxygen into the tissue where its needed and dump CO2 if its any consolation the koi's blood pH is around 7.6 to 7.8 dependant on if its in need of oxygen at the tissue site or oxygen rich at the tissue site any external pH influences make this process harder to achieve

read my atricle on the main site called "blood relations " this will expelian this in more detail

personally i think your fish will be fine they may even like being able to see where their going when they get to your place mikes water may be good but its about as clear as a japanese mud pond

if you want me to explain waht happens as oxygen is transported in the blood i'll put something together for you but i have cut my main typing finger at the moment and its uncomfortable

dunc

[Manky Sanke]

Duncan,

The effects of abrupt changes in pH and/or KH on a fish's blood and respiration is something that interests me. I think I've got the basics, but if you have time to elaborate on how oxygen and carbon dioxide are tranported, I'd appreciate it.