Koi Queries by Fred Ayres
Shortly after the formation of the Yorkshire Koi Society in October 1975, I started to receive numerous letters requesting solutions to all sorts of Koi and general pool husbandry. These arrive at an average rate of 4 per week, and from my records I saw that I recently answered my 1000th written query. Most of the questions are fairly routine, being based on pool and filter design. A few are catalogues of disasters, others are rather amusing, and some are unanswerable. However, on the occasion of this milestone, I have prepared a small digest of some of the queries.
These are all genuine’.
1. I recently emptied my pool to clean it out and transferred my carp to a large plastic
container full of damp grass cuttings, an angler friend had recommended this to me while
the pool filled up. The next day I went to put the fish back but found them all dead. Why?”
2. Can you design a filter for my pool? It has a surface area of about 7 acres and holds about
7 million gallons.
3. I have a number of Koi over 2 ft long. Will they eat the 3ft grass snake, which swims
in my pond? I have not seen it recently.
4. I recently read that Koi can live for hundreds of years. Is this true? If it is, what should I do with my Koi after I die?
5. Are Koi edible, or does the colour of their skin make them poisonous?
6. I have a mixed collection of fish in my pool but most of them keep disappearing. These include Koi, Goldfish, Golden Orfe, Tench, Rudd, Roach and Minnows. The only fish which is doing well is the young pike I introduced some months ago?”
7. Is it true that on one special day each year the Japanese fly their Koi from flagpoles?
8. Can you tell me who Old Moses is, and how he filters water?
9. Is it true that if you feed Koi on raw meat they will not eat algae?
10. I have just bought an old bath in which to keep some Koi
(a) How much water will it hold?
(b) How many Koi can I keep in it?
(c) How big will they grow?
(d) Should I keep the plug in?
(e) The bath is pink, should I paint it another colour, or do Koi like pink?
(f) Should I fill the bath full of gravel before putting the Koi in?
Tony