AquaLife2U Q & A

Welcome to the AquaLife2U questions and answers section. Here we share our expertise in fish keeping with you, providing answers to any questions you may have regarding your fish pond or indeed your pond fish.

To send us a question, use our contact form or send an email directly to questions@aqualife2u.com.

Pond Fish Keeping

• A heron has taken a liking to my fish any ideas?
• How can I prevent the water in my pond from turning green?
• What should I look for when selecting Koi?

A heron has taken a liking to my fish any ideas?

There are many products on the market from infa-red water squirters to plastic herons. I have had limited success with these products and in the end found that there was only one fish saving solution....a net. Choose a net that is black or dark green in colour to blend in with the surroundings and stake it securely round the pond.

How can I prevent the water in my pond from turning green?

After further discussion the green water that i think you are refering to is single cell algae, providing there are plenty of nutrients in the water and there is sunlight it will spread like wild fire, as many as five million cells per milliliter of pond water can be present. The algae cells are so tiny that even the most advanced mechanical filter wont pick them out so eventually you have a pond that resembles a pea soup untill the sunlight deminishes, usually in Autumn/Winter when the last thing you want to do is sit and admire your Garden pond. There are two things you can do, firstly treat the water with chemicals (you will only see small improvements, and i'm not sure i would like to treat my pond fish to a dose of chemicals over too long a period of time) a more effective answer in a UV clarifier, basically this device clumps the algae cells together making the cells larger therefore easier for the filter to pick out, a very effective and reasonably inexpensive solution.

What should I look for when selecting Koi?

Good question...there are a few factors to bear in mind which all depend on how much money you are prepared to spend, firstly where is the Koi from?

Koi carp can come from many countries including Japan, Israel, Malaysia they are shipped here quaranteened and then sold in many outlets throughout the country, as you can imagine the costs involved in this kind of operation are huge and they are obviously passed on to the customer.

What we at Aqualife2u have found is the British Koi breeders are making substantial steps in being able to compete with such countries (check out our pictured British bred Koi....not bad hey!) and at a fraction of the cost...anyway enough of the sales pitch, back to the fish... look at the colour and markings on the Koi they should be bright not faded and have clear definition between any colours/markings. Finally and most importantly check for any signs of disease, (I have a disease guide on the home page of this site) this is vital, here at Aqualife we have stringent disease prevention procedure which means we are confident that your fish arrive disease free and healthy we even back this up with a 5 day guarantee.....Most retailers may not.