hi, we have a mix of fish in our pond and feed some bog-standard koi food from a local farm shop. I have noticed in recent months that the largest koi are looking a little 'dull'; anybody have any suggestions for a decent food I can buy in bulk to 'brighten' them up? They are all very healthy, just be nice to have the oranges a little brighter if possible!

I purchased two koi at the weekend to add to my established collection, one small white koi and a grey one. Both were being chased quite a bit when they first went in, by the goldfish mainly which are the same size. I kept an eye on it as it was pretty intense. After a day or two it seemed to let up and the white koi was just hanging around the side of the pond, quite sedate, I assumed because it was worn out and settling in.

I got home today and this white koi is upside down and at the bottom of the pond. It is still breathing and I have removed it from the pond and put it in a separate container. It feels quite hard, has a light covering of algae on it which wasn't there the other day and even seemed to 'vomit' what looks like greeny/yellow bile?

Has anyone any ideas of what I can do or what has caused this?

The other fish are all fine, the other koi I purchased the other day is fine. It's horribly distressing and I don't know if I can do anything :o(

Hi people! Ok, rather than trust unreliable websites I thought I would ask the question here. We have two large bucket containers with some very healthy and large tadpoles in now after rescuing the spawn from the pond. Has anyone else had any experience of tadpoles in their pond with fish? We have quite a mix of fish, from smaller goldfish and orfe to much larger (massive actually!) koi. The idea was to put the tadpoles back into the pond once they had hatched and grown to a larger size (literally at the stage of growing legs and losing their tails now some of them). If we put them in the pond now, do you think the koi will eat them up?!

Thanks people! Will keep the filters and just stick to a monthly or bi-monthly empty as sludge rarely builds up in there, it really is quite a good filter system.

Seems to be going well with the pond; put the first dose of Blanket Answer in the other week (when we had the first rays of sunshine and the inevitable green masses started to appear in the pond!) followed up with Sludge Answer, which I am not as impressed with...it has left a bit of a foam on the pond for the past two weeks, little unsightly, and the pond water is not as clean as before. Sure it will clear!

I have got a new camera so once the weather picks up, I shall definitely get some pictures posted to my profile!

Thanks. I know how the filtration system works, just not sure of frequency of cleaning for this particular model on Oase filtration system specifically. Just wondered if anyone has the same model?

Hello people, long time no post! Spring is on the way and my pond is starting to come to life (fairly large mixed wildlife/koi/goldfish/carp pond and waterfall)! I started feeding a little wheatgerm last week, it all went very quickly!

I was wondering if anybody else has a BioSmart 24000 and can advise me on cleaning it? I obviously pump the handles inside every so often and clean out the waste that way, but how often do I need to replace the foam filters? It will be two years since I bought the unit this April and there are no issues that I can tell (replaced the UV last year). Do I even need to replace the filters or just flush them out; they seem pretty hardy? I am always conscious of the 'bacteria' int he filtration unit and do not want to wash it away (which come to think of it, do I need to 'top' that up too?!)

Thanks! Neil

Crikey! Well I am SURE they were in a big tank with one other type of fish in the shop...I may go back and check as they did just look like normal dark fish but had very long barbels. I'll report back...

As well as my other post on sturgeon, I have also been looking at catfish. Not sure what particular type, but I noticed some the other week in a shop; small dark fish with rather long 'whiskers'. What are they? Are they common pond fish? Thanks!

OK, I think I may get blasted for this having read some other threads, but I have noticed sturgeon being sold at all of my local shops lately; they look like fun fish to have in a garden pond, certainly adds a new visual dimension in comparison to the existing fish I do have. I understand about their need for live food etc., and I understand they get large and whilst I do not have a lake I don't have a tiny pond either... has anyone here actually got sturgeon in their ponds, with koi and other fish? Are they really to be avoided? The caresheet I just read here too does not seem to positive about them, but I am still really undecided. Thoughts and experiences would be hugely appreciated! Thank you!

That's interesting.

I was told about it via my Dad's friend who has pretty much converted his garden into an area of multiple koi ponds (but with no plants?!).

I had tried a few things before to get rid of the blanket weed and spent hours dragging the stuff out (and freaking out my old housemate as she hated the look of the stuff!).

I am rubbish at working out the measurements for it (and I work in finance!) so always rely on my other half, who is a Quantity Surveyor to tell me how much to put in the watering can!

Surprised about the zinc; will keep an eye on that, but as I have said, never had any ill effects at all, my fish are very healthy and I still have lots of frogs, toads and newts lurking around. It would be interesting to see if anyone has had any bad experiences using it?