KUALA LUMPUR: With Chinese New Year just around the corner, many choose to invest time and energy into an early spring cleaning including clean their pond water to usher in the Year of the Ox.
Although having a water pond at home with fishes especially Koi symbolises wealth, positive energy and renewal for the household, maintaining and cleaning the pond water can be a huge struggle.
With these simple tips from Koi fish and water pond experts, here are some of the easier ways to maintain the aquatic animals, so good Feng Shui will always flourish in the home.
A Koi specialist from Atarashi Koi, Andy Gan said in a statement, major rule is not to overpopulate the pond with fishes because can lead to various hazardous effects such as sickness within the pond or deterioration.
A Koi expert from Yamakoshi Koi, Mah Chin Chye said, it is important to invest in high quality koi food that provides essential nutrients and vitamins, as well as a balanced source of protein, carbohydrates and minerals.
“Not only does the type of food can directly influence the Koi’s health and growth rate, it also affects the water quality as a whole,” said Mah.
The next tips are, always choose the right size of pump to facilitate proper circulation of water through the filter in order to keep the water sufficiently clean for the fish to live and breathe comfortably.
It is also better to use a pond or aquarium net to skim the leftover debris out before they have a chance to descend to the bottom where they’ll decay. In a balanced natural ecosystem, nitrogen cycle is one of the processes that hold all these in check.
The combination of decaying debris, fish waste and uneaten fish food can all lead to the ammonia levels spiking in the fish’s living space.
In order for the pond to be a successful habitat for the fishes, aquatic plants such as floating plants, deep-water emergent plants, or submerged plants are needed to be introduced in order to maintain a balanced aquatic ecosystem.
Regional Business Development Manager of Waterco, Koo Zao Cheong said, choosing the right filters such as biofilters are the most crucial for Koi ponds as it functions to remove bad nitrogen compounds, such as ammonia and nitrite.
He said, biofilters provide suitable bed surfaces for beneficial bacteria to grow which provides assistance to the nitrogen cycle.
“If research is not done correctly and sand filters are being utilised instead, they will not be able to remove the build-up nutrients from faeces and uneaten fish food which can cause the Koi to be unhealthy or worse,” Koo said.
He added, filtration devices also help efficiently maximise the water flow and filtration, while saving time and water which Malaysians should start practicing too.
By following these few simple tips and getting the proper devices to work, there is no doubt that the water pond will flourish and the aquatic beings will thrive in a home pond. – Bernama
