i was wondering if that was possible....i read in koi kichi that ,in japan ,when they bring in the fish from the mud ponds they add them to the indoor tanks that have been cleaned out with cleaned out media and have been only running for a week so basically a new pond set up...they add all the fish..and deal with the ammonia and nitrite problem with in flows of fresh water...i think i have alot of bio capacity that should be able to deal with whatever i throw at it but i also know i am starting from scratch and the bacteria need the ammonia from the koi to start colonizing ......i hope they can keep up but i had never heard that you could start the process without a measurable ammonia spike... i will keep testing and keep the feed moderate until i have some nitrate...