Transporting Koi to the Show

[Russell Peters]

Ken Tran, Takehmi, Andy Moo and Ben Plonski have been using a product called Mica Balance. I picked some up at the San Diego Show and am planning on trying it in my transport tank. At the Show it helped with water clarity and reducing fish stress. We'll see?

[Auntiesue]

Interesting!! Tell us more about this product. Does it list what is in it?

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by Auntiesue Interesting!! Tell us more about this product. Does it list what is in it?

I don't have it here with me, it is at my store. I will post it later. The thing that I noticed was that Asahi Kois water was crytal clear for the whole show. When I asked Henry about it he said it was the same water he had for three days. It was sparkling and his Koi showed no stress.

[Auntiesue]

For sure I'd like to know more about this!!

[Russell Peters]

Oops, I forgot about this.

[Russell Peters]

Mica Balance does not say anywhere on the container what it is. It does however say what it is supposed to do. It is a coagulent, which would explain the clear water in a show tank, but it also says that it eliminates pathogenic coliforms, promotes rapid establishment of nitrogen cycle and maintains optimum DO and DOD levels. There is also no contact information on the container for the manufacturer. It says product of IONX, a California corporation.

[Auntiesue]

We're heading to the Indy show this weekend. I'll see if any vendor carries it and give it a try. Sounds like something I might want if it works as some say it does.

[JoeW]

We used Mica Balance in selected show tanks at KA one year at the urging of a few MAKC show people. The results were inconclusive, i.e., we did not observe any appreciable difference between tanks with or without MB.

I had used the product first in a mock show on my back patio before using it at KA and found that it did lower the pH somewhat, but I no longer recall the exact data. Someone thought this could be counter acted by adding Baking Soda to the water to help maintain the pH and some was added to select tanks but this did not seem to make much difference in pH in the show tanks as measurements were inconsistent.

It is a flocculent and at KA that year did seem to work well for that purpose in some tanks that contained a fine greenish silt. I believe the directions on the bottle state to put it in the water 24hrs or so before introducing fish so it really would not be of practical use maybe for that reason in a show setting. Its use in Henry's vendor tanks is a different application in that he uses a filter system in conjunction with the tank set-up. The water has the flocculent and the filter more easily picks of the solids, thus the very clear looking vendor tank.

As far as stress is concerned, NovAqua or StressX is added to show water at the beginning of the show and many fish seem to respond well to this in that ones that often come in looking stressed generally improve overnight in the treated show water. Since the water in a transport tank is continually being stirred up this would seem to defeat the flocculent aspect of the product. I can not comment one way or the other regarding other claims.

[LammiKoi]

Excellent! This is the information I have been trying to search for online! This info will come in handy for a novice who will be taking his koi to a koi show for the first time. Thanks again for the great thread and posts!!!!!

[koibooi]

I read the discussion with interest and there seem to be no real concensus as to which is best. I have most large koi in the region of 70 - 85cm. In this region I am having major problems with using bags. The tied area of the bag typically acts like sandpaper and damages the top and bottom of the tail fin and I have had a number of nose damages. Maybe for small fish the bag is best and for big fish the tank is best.