2500+ Gallon outdoor BUILD THREAD at Ellis Aquatics
- Thread starter JDEllis
- Start date
was never a big fan of the grow foods...in that old small pond I had I would feed that food to the koi I had and it would make their bellies swell up huge and make them grow but they would look deformed and color wasn't too good. Now im more patient and am feeding them a more balanced diet food for color and growth. I also have been feeding them krill, and old foods from the shop that don't sell as well and WOW are their colors amazing right now and none of them are swollen or deformed looking. One of the first 3 I put in late last summer (blk/wht one aka "leche") has grown several inches since putting it in back in sept/oct.
The fish deformed is not from the food. It is the tank water and environment like too small pond or shallow, poor water quality and etc. None of mine deformed except one rescued already little deormed one. Warm weather make their metabolism up and hungry fast. Feed them actually healthy for them.Feed them staple and color food help but some mutt always be a mutt (depend on blood line and quality when you first get them, and how you keep)
That is very very true. What I meant by deformed looking was an overly swollen belly like the fish always looked pregnant. I spoke with one of the koi food manufacturers and they were explaining to me that some of the cheaper "grow" foods use a few fillers that "bloat" the fish and that's why most grow goods leave your fish looking fat up front instead of a more normal smooth transition in girth along its body.
He also said feeding grow foods during the winter speeds up this bloat look because of the metabolism being so slow.
Back then o never even new about all the different foods for each season and all that. I had only ever seen food for growth and food for color. So now beings I'm lazy I got an all season food like staple. All fish look great and color is amazing. They are not growing as fast as my old ones did but I'm in no rush either and am happy with the growth rate/color/shape of them now.
Years ago had no idea there was so much to pond/koi keeping "almost" as much technical stuff as a saltwater tank of you really pay attention to everything in a pond like: parameters, light exposure, gravel vs bare, fish selection, natural foods, algae control, food selection, etc.
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He also said feeding grow foods during the winter speeds up this bloat look because of the metabolism being so slow.
Back then o never even new about all the different foods for each season and all that. I had only ever seen food for growth and food for color. So now beings I'm lazy I got an all season food like staple. All fish look great and color is amazing. They are not growing as fast as my old ones did but I'm in no rush either and am happy with the growth rate/color/shape of them now.
Years ago had no idea there was so much to pond/koi keeping "almost" as much technical stuff as a saltwater tank of you really pay attention to everything in a pond like: parameters, light exposure, gravel vs bare, fish selection, natural foods, algae control, food selection, etc.
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Went to the nursery (and set up an account with them, so anyone needing some plants/flowers let me know lol EA Gardening: a branch of Ellis Aquatics hahaha) and picked up a bunch of stuff for the back. We grabbed pretty much anything that we could find that would attrat butterflies and hummingbirds.
Today we planted almost everything and also ran some additional drip lines for the new plants.
Also added a XXL 48" hammock chair that hangs over the upper ponds edge so if you turn around after sitting down, your feet dangle over the pond (or if you are tall like me, your feet hang in the water.
Adding some cushions and pillows to the fire pit bench sectional later this week.
Hung up a small bird feeder and going to hang the hummingbird feeder later this week.
After that I think this project is finally done. Yeah right there will always be something that needs to get done or changed lol
Ill try to post pics sometime this week.
Today we planted almost everything and also ran some additional drip lines for the new plants.
Also added a XXL 48" hammock chair that hangs over the upper ponds edge so if you turn around after sitting down, your feet dangle over the pond (or if you are tall like me, your feet hang in the water.
Adding some cushions and pillows to the fire pit bench sectional later this week.
Hung up a small bird feeder and going to hang the hummingbird feeder later this week.
After that I think this project is finally done. Yeah right there will always be something that needs to get done or changed lol
Ill try to post pics sometime this week.
