In This Chapter
- Minimize the numbers: That’s what friends are for
- Maintain water values: Cut the feedings and test the water
- Provide short-term solutions: Ammonia and nitrites down, oxygen up
- Solve the pump and filter problem: Alternative energy sources
As anyone with electricity in her home knows, the power is bound to go out (when you least expect it, when you’re late for work, and when you’re drying your hair). For a koi-keeper, a power loss means more than frizz — this small inconvenience can turn into a hairy ordeal if you have a koi pond and want to keep your koi from going belly-side-up.
The great news is that you don’t
have to feel like a duck in a shooting gallery when your power goes out — you
can take certain actions after the power goes off. To help save your koi (we
figure you can take care of yourself just fine), your first concerns are
- Providing oxygen to the fish
- Keeping water quality from deteriorating to a dangerous level
We hope you never need this info,
but at least you’ll have some course of action to follow when the lights go
out. (You did remember to keep fresh batteries in the flashlight so you can
read this, right?)
Lower the Fish Load in Your Pond
In this case, you’re moving koi,
not cattle, and they’re only going into show tanks that have battery-powered
pumps. Be sure that you have enough tanks on hand to handle an emergency. See
Chapter Making
Sure Koi Are Right for You for directions on calculating the ideal number of koi per tank so you’ll
know how many tanks to keep, and be sure to check Chapter Preparing
for Your Koi’s Homecoming for advice on
moving koi and adjusting them to new water.
Tip
If you don’t have show tanks, bag up some of your koi and take them for temporary residency in the ponds of your koi friends who still have power. Trust us, these people will understand. Next year, they may be the ones without power. Be sure to alert your benefactors of any of your fish’s health concerns so they can take appropriate quarantine measures.
Stop Feeding Your Fish
Your koi may gather at the pond
edge and beg shamelessly, but it’s all show. They can go for a week without
food and not suffer. When the power goes out, don’t feed your koi, even if that
little Chagoi hottie makes eye contact and goes “Wa-wa” with her mouth. The last
thing you need is your koi dumping ammonia and nitrites into the water — which
is exactly what they do when you feed them.
Do a 30-Percent Water Change
The easiest way to provide oxygen
to your koi and dilute the ammonia and nitrite levels at the same time is
through 30 percent partial water changes. We provide all the details you need
to tackle this process in Chapter Maintaining
Your Pond.
Plan on doing these 30 percent changes
daily until the power comes back on. You do have lots of dechlor on hand, don’t
you?
Test Your Water Daily for Ammonia and Nitrites
As depressing as it may seem, you
have to be extra vigilant about your pond’s water chemistry when your power
goes out. Use your test kit daily and record the levels so you can see where
they’re headed. (To find out how to test your pond’s water quality, head back
to Chapter Maintaining
Your Pond.) If the ammonia and nitrite levels get to the top edge of the
safe area, you need to take further steps to protect the health of your koi.
See Chapter Maintaining
Your Pond for this too.
Add Salt or Zeolite
Warning!
Ordinary kosher salt, that miracle tonic, can help reduce the nitrite level in your pond. Just add 10 pounds per 1,000 gallons, but be careful that no other medications are in the pond. If you’re combining salt with partial water changes, use a salt meter or a test kit to keep the salt level around 1 percent.
If you forego salt, a mesh bag of
the mineral zeolite can suck up ammonia all on its own, and you can recharge it
overnight by soaking it in a garbage can filled with heavily salted water.
Shake out the bag the next morning and it’s good to go.
Obviously, you can use salt or
zeolite in your pond, but never, ever at the same time.
Use an Inverter to Power Your Air Pump
An inverter is a device that
changes DC to AC, meaning it can convert power from your car battery into power
for one of the devices you use in your pond. Just plug it into your car’s
cigarette lighter.
Remember
The inverter may not be able to provide enough current for your filter pump, but it can power an air pump (see Chapter Planning Your Koi Pond) or a 6-volt bilge pump. You don’t use the bilge pump to empty your pond; you use it to aerate the water, directing the pump outflow through your bog pond or across a 2 x 4 piece of plastic corrugate before the water drips back into your pond.
Let ol’ Sol Power Your Pond
Solar power can actually be
practical (meaning that it’s handy when you need it, not that it’s cheap). You
can buy and install solar-powered aerators. These are designed primarily for
ponds in isolated areas (but then again, when your power’s off, anyone can feel
plenty isolated). You have to provide a housing enclosure for the compressor
and batteries and a pole for mounting the solar unit, but who cares? These same
solar units can power water pumps.
Solar-powered aerators are made
by several manufacturers — most are made for lakes, which is more than what you
need. Use your browser to search for a manufacturer of solar aerators for fish
Mist Your Pond
Add a mist nozzle to your garden
hose and place the end over the edge of your pond. Brace the hose in place with
a couple of bricks and turn the water on. The water absorbs oxygen from the air
as it sprays into your pond. This can be done continuously, along with the
other measures mentioned. If you dechlor for your daily 30 percent water
changes, you don’t need to worry about dechlorinating the water added by the
misting.
Use Compressed Air
You can also rent tanks of
compressed air to bubble air into your pond. Your local pond store can usually
recommend a local source, or search online. (Sorry, you can’t get tanks of
oxygen except with a physician’s prescription, and those small tanks only last
four hours. Besides, you may need the oxygen yourself when you figure out what
it’s going to cost to replace all the food in that doublewide freezer you just
bought!)
Use a Portable Battery System to Power Your Filter
You can actually buy an emergency
back-up power system for your pond. One model is a 1,500-watt system with an
inverter to power two AC outlets. This same unit can power air pumps and air-powered
filters. You recharge the unit with your car battery or with a solar charging
unit (you provide the car battery; the vendor can supply the solar unit). Use
your phone book to find a local vendor to save on shipping costs, but if you
can’t find one locally, try an Internet search. One we found was Superpond, 422
E. Columbia Dr., Kennewick, WA 99336; phone 509-586-1945.
by R.D.Bartlett and Patricia Bartlett
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