Caring for koi: How To Prepare Your Koi pool For The Major Storms
In caring for koi, there are important precautions and measures that you can do when faced with small and large-scale storms. No matter where you live, it’s quite inevitable that you’ll encounter at least one extreme weather condition throughout the year. We have seen the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, showing us that having an emergency plan is the way to avoid the total destruction of your fish and your koi pond as well.
Small-Scale Storms:
Preparing your koi pool for such small-scale storms is much easier compared to those of the large ones. These few simple steps will guide your koi pool through such storms.
1) Stop feeding your pets. Truth of the matter is that your koi pool has enough natural sources for food for the pets to feed on so that they won’t starve for a long period of time. If your filtration system are undamaged, not feeding your pets will reduce the risk of ammonia problems in the future.
2) Make big water changes to your koi pool. If the time comes that something goes really wrong and you’re unable to take care of the koi pool immediately, your pets will have the privilege of getting the freshest water that’s available to them. Leave out several inches of water so as to make up for the coming rainfall so that there will be lesser chances of overflowing.
If you got a drainage system, just be sure to clear it of any kind of debris to make it work very well. Now, if your koi pool is at ground level and you’d expect high waters to occur, you can add some protection through sand bagging around the area, which will keep your pets confined within the area if the time comes that flooding will occur.
3) Place a net over your koi pool to ensure its protection from flying debris. The same net that you have used for the fall to keep out the leaves will do, so long as you will secure it down very well.
4) Remove any object that can blow over, away or fall into the koi pool. Remember this: if you can push it over, so can the wind as well! The items that can be blown away by the wind should be removed completely and then placed inside your house.
Large-Scale Storms:
Large-scale storms prevent any type of preventative measures from being successful and effective. In koi watch, the only way to completely save your koi pool from such storms is by removing completely your pets from the pond itself.
In koi watch, it’s good to have all the equipment that you need to transport your pets readily. The equipment that’s needed to bag and transport your pets is small and can be stored easily when they’re not in use.
You must have the proper bags ready to transport your pets. Never try to use trash bags or regular plastic bags for this, as these materials aren’t designed for the task, and may even damage your pets. Make sure to get bags that are big enough to hold and store your pets.
You’ll also need rubber bands for each of the bag that you buy. Choose those that have good quality, so as not to let the pressure of the water pop the rubber band out as you’re transporting your pets.
You need to have a net that’s big enough to compete with your pets. Although you won’t need the net to pull the fish out of the water, you’ll need it to direct your pets to the place that you want them to go. Just take proper precaution in handling the net, as they can cause potential damage to your pets, especially the larger ones.
To give the best care possible, use a paint bucket to catch your pets, as the bucket will not hurt your pets like nets can. Make sure that your bucket is just big enough to contain your pets.
Tags: Koi, koi care, Koi Pond Maintance
