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Hello Koi Enthusiasts!
This blog is here to provide a spot for various things that do or might pertain to Koi. This stuff is intended for your entertainment, and is not meant to meet the stricter standards of our ebooks and courses, so use this info carefully and at your own risk. The short articles here may be descriptions of techniques that have proved effective, an introduction to new fish research, facts, graphs or just something FUN about fish! This information can be a springboard for your imagination and an entertaining place to learn something new. Information that was first published in Question of the Week can be found here.
The more we learn about Koi, the more FUN this hobby is - and we always say - if you're not havin' FUN, you're not doin' it right!
This article is by Marisa Persaud, and teaches us a bit about the history of planted aquariums. Certainly the principles we can learn from both Bonsai and Aquascaping can be used to design a beautiful garden and pond environment for our Koi!
This article appeared March 7th in the Howard Houghes Medical Institute news. While the article is about the virus as it pertains to people, KHV is a herpes virus that affects Koi. The hope is that if scientists are making progress on combating the herpes virus, this will trickle-down to something useful for our Koi! Full article after the break...
Why are the courses strange? That's Professor Strange, of course! We are honored to have one of the country's leading fish experts teaching 3 courses for K.O.I. These courses are ONLY AVAILABLE once a year, at most - AND REGISTRATION IS CURRENTLY OPEN! REGISTRATION IS LIMITED - First Paid, First Served. Courses take about a month, and if you want, you can take all 3 concurrently! See details below the break...
Registration OPEN for 2017
Limited Time, Limited Number of Students Accepted
Students may take ALL 3 Courses at Once!
Registration Closes February 24 or when a course is full. You will be receiving materials from Professor Strange before the end of the month. First assignments due March 6th. All courses must be completed by March 31.
This Pic was sent to me by a friend - gee, and it's not even Halloween!
The satellite, launched Jan 31, will help predict floods and droughts. Turns out that most of the Koi ponds in the USA are in warm climates that are particularly prone to droughts, and water rationing is never good news for Koi pond owners needing to do water changes. This satellite will provide excellent data for Koi keepers! Full article after the break...
A 370-milion-year-old, primitive fish sported a weird pair of fins just below its anus, new research shows. An article from "Livescience"after the break... Now - how many fins do our Koi have???
Sometimes, you just need a chuckle...
Have you wanted to learn to use a Microscope to be a better Koi keeper, but just haven't found the time? Maybe you have a scope, but never get it out and use it? Here's your opportunity - more info after the break...
Yes, you can use the standard shapes above to calculate volume, but they are notoriously inaccurate. Mike Anger, CKK, teaches you a simple and ACCURATE way to calculate your pond's volume, after the break... If you want to learn more, take K.O.I. Pond Construction #202 - CLICK HERE for more information about the course.
Cindy Badder, CKK and Koi Health Expert frequently working on Koiphen, wrote some great little articles on Parasites. This one is about the dreaded "Ich." Want to get a chance to see these buggies in person? Come to the K.O.I. Lab at the PNKCA Convention on June 19, 2015! CLICK HERE for more info on the Lab. I've only posted 3 of Cindy's articles - do you want to learn more about Koi Parasites? Take K.O.I. Diagnosis and Treatment #207 - CLICK HERE for info about the course. Full text after the break...
Cindy Badder, CKK and Koi Health Expert frequently working on Koiphen, wrote some great little articles on Parasites. This one is about Anchor Worm. Want to get a chance to see these buggies in person? Come to the K.O.I. Lab at the PNKCA Convention on June 19, 2015! CLICK HERE for more info on the Lab. I've only posted 3 of Cindy's articles - do you want to learn more about Koi Parasites? Take K.O.I. Diagnosis and Treatment #207 - CLICK HERE for info about the course. Full text after the break...
Cindy Badder, CKK and Koi Health Expert frequently working on Koiphen, wrote some great little articles on Parasites. This one is about Fish Lice. Want to get a chance to see these buggies in person? Come to the K.O.I. Lab at the PNKCA Convention on June 19, 2015! CLICK HERE for more info on the Lab. I've only posted 3 of Cindy's articles - do you want to learn more about Koi Parasites? Take K.O.I. Diagnosis and Treatment #207 - CLICK HERE for info about the course. Full text after the break...
Why is every Koi pond that you see a different depth? Becuase they should be different! See anaylsis after the break...
Over the years, Spike Cover collected some really clever tips and tricks of use to all Koi Keepers! Text after the break...
The other day, I was talking to Syd Mitchell, Water Quality Guru Extraordinaire. We were discussing ponds that have the propensity to pH crash, and he said he knew of some folks using an Automatic Dosing system for Baking Soda (if you don't know why stable pH or why adding Baking Soda may be important to your pond, you might want to invest a few bucks, and read "Alkalinity and pH"). Syd was explaining how to make your own dosing system - schematic and more info after the break...
We all know that there are good bacteria and bad bacteria. Every organism has good bacteria in the gut that are essential to life, but pathogenic bacteria are an ever increasing problem. They can evolve and change faster than we can create new anti-biotics to destroy them. A big part of research is in making sure that the bad bugs don't escape whle we're studying them in the lab. Some help in that direction may be on the way! Thanks to Spike Cover for finding this article - full text after the break...
There is a new monitoring system available for Koi ponds that measures pH and KH3 (not TAN), as well as temperature and water level. It graphs the results of pH and KH3, and sends alerts to your phone or computer. WOW! More info and the web site link below the break...
Scientists have discovered how prized bluefin tuna keep their hearts pumping during temperature changes that would stop a human heart. The research helps to answer important questions about how fish react to rapid temperature changes, and may lead us to better understanding of how our Koi function. Full story below the break...
One club member to another - "Never ask Google for Koi Health advice... My Kohaku went from 'occasionally flashing' to 'clinically dead' in 3 clicks..."
So that's why you should come to K.O.I. when you have a question - Current, Accurate and Useful info that can really help!
We have all heard of the dangers of drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA. That is why this discovery might be a key to future antibiotics that can help both our Koi and ourselves.
We all know that Koi can survive winter under the ice in ponds - but did you know that a new robot has found fish beneath the Antarctic ice, and this robot could be used to explore Europa? This article is from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.
Have you heard about Rain Gardens? We all know that rain-water runoff can be a big problem to Koi ponds, mostly cause it carries in toxins from the surrounding landscape. Rain Gardens - a 'bioretention system' help! While this study pertains to the Pacific Northwest and Salmon, the principles can be incorporated into our Koi pond landscapes. Another thought - just try and get everyone in the neighborhood not to use chemicals on their lawns and gardens... Full story after the break...
Here's a pic of my pond this morning! Typical January day in Connecticut... In the middle, under the evergreens is my 4-foot waterfall, and that stripe across the middle? That's the net that stays over the pond from October to April to keep the leaves down to a dull roar... Notice the Beech trees at the right keep their brown leaves all winter, dropping them occasionally. This is only 6 inches of snow - tomorrow, we're in for a blizzard with 18 inches predicted, maybe more... But I still LOVE winter - see why below the break... BTW - It's now been exactly a year since we started the K.O.I. blog, and we've posted nearly 100 articles for you to enjoy and learn from. Thanks to all our contributors! If you find it useful, or have ideas for articles - please email me: pattist@snet.net Thanks for being here!
Neat idea for an aquarium - a stackable "Fish Hotel!" Details after the break...
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!If you're not havin' FUN, you're not doin' it right
