Level 2 - Certified Koi Keeper (CKK) Courses

Lab

Part 1 - A DVD provides the first part of a two-part lab course.  The DVD format was chosen for practical reasons.  We believed attending an in-person lab would be somewhere between inconvenient to cost prohibitive for most students.   At the time of this writing, we have students that reside literally thousands of miles apart; one even outside the US (and across the pond!).   With this and part 2’s online format, students won’t have to buy a plane ticket, spend money on a hotel room and meals in restaurants to attend this lab.  With the money saved, students could likely buy a nice microscope, a good digital scale and pay for the entire CKK curriculum of courses if they were so inclined.

It’s worth noting that the DVD portion of the course is not a shopping list offering multiple ways to do various things.  The video shows, by example, one good way to do each of the subjects covered.  It is believed if students learn and understand one basic and usable technique, they can be immediately effective and expand their knowledge of options later.

Part 2 - The second part of this course will be an online seminar (webinar or something similar) where students and instructor(s) participate in reviewing case studies.  This is intended to sharpen the students’ detective skills and teach a systematic way to problem solve.  And like Part 1, it required no travel.

Biosecurity, Quarantine and Record Keeping

This course discusses Biosecurity, of which Quarantining and Record Keeping are part. This course teaches the "why" and the "how" of protecting Koi from the spread of diseases, and how to incorporate good Koi husbandry in every Koi Keeper’s routine.  Biosecurity consists of the practices and procedures used to prevent the introduction, emergence, spread, and persistence of infectious agents and disease within and around a Koi habitat.  This Course describes practices that help eliminate conditions that can enhance disease susceptibility among the fish.  

Koi Diagnosis and Treatment

The Diagnosis and Treatment Course will take the student through many techniques of Koi medicine to include helpful do's and don'ts.  The Course covers diagnosis of Koi diseases and effective and timely treatment that reduces morbidity and prevents death.  The student will learn how diagnostic tools - microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests - and treatment chemicals - allow effective case management.

Koi Physiology

Physiology, in contrast to anatomy, is the study of the body in its entirety and how the various components of the body interact to make the organism function as a whole.  In Koi Physiology, the student will learn how all the bodily components of a Koi function and the effects of how outside influences occur on systems within the Koi.  Because the study of physiology necessitates an understanding of the function of individual components of the body (anatomy), the studies of anatomy and physiology are inter-related.

Koi Anatomy

Anatomy is the study of the structure of living organisms and the relationships between body parts. The Koi Anatomy Course give the student an understanding of the anatomical structures of a Koi, including cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems.  The course also covers how each system depends on the others, either directly or indirectly, to keep the body functioning normally.

Koi Nutrition

Koi Keepers enrolling in this course will become familiar with the terminology used when discussing Koi nutrition and dietary requirements, the factors affecting Koi growth, the dietary requirements of Koi, the principles of the varieties and types of Koi food and methods of feeding Koi, how commercial Koi food is formulated and manufactured, the nutritional deficiencies that can occur and the analysis of Koi nutrition problems.

Koi Pond Filtration

Our ponds are a limited volume of water. In order to successfully sustain, in a healthy condition, a large number of koi, we have to re-cycle that water through filters (devices used to remove solids) and bioconverters (devices remove chemicals).  The purpose of the Filtration Course is to provide the concepts of the pond equipment used to remove the unwanted substances such as carbon dioxide, solids and nitrogen waste products then adding in vital oxygen.  This course provides information on the ever evolving filtration and bioconverter technology without promoting a specific design concept.  This course will cover the essential maintenance of filters and bioconverters and will help students develop an ability to analyze pond filtration problems.

Pond Construction

Pond construction design concepts have been an ever evolving science since the first hobbyist built the first pond.  That would have been a so called natural pond with no filtration.  The combination of plants and fish in an artificial body of water was supposed to work.  After a few fatalities, a better design was sought.  Trying to emulate an aquarium with gravel bottom filtration did not work much better.  Over the decades we are where we are today.  This course covers what we believe to be the most up-to-date information on the topic.  Three phases of the pond building process are covered in this course – Planning, Designing, and Construction.  Each of these includes numerous topics that should be understood before the first dollar is spent on the significant investment of building a Koi pond.  This training module will help with understanding the decision processes involved in pond building and will provide insight to the trade-offs and options that should be considered.

Water Quality

Water Quality is probably the single, most important aspect to grasp in order to become a keeper of healthy and prospering Koi. The purpose of this course is to instruct the student on how to acquire quality water, how to perform proper testing, how to understand test results, and how to properly react to test results. Learning about water quality and water clarity aren’t the same. Crystal clear water can contain compounds that are deadly to your fish.

!If you're not havin' FUN, you're not doin' it right

 

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