Mud Ponds Are Not Always Best

[MikeM]

I've been staying indoors catching up on my reading as Hurricane Dennis goes past. I came across an interview of Masayoshi Kakayama of Ogawa Fish Farm published in the March 1995 Rinko in which he insists that mud ponds should not be used for koi who have not been in one for three years. He explains:

"Mostly, such a koi will die in the muddy pond, or change for the worse. It is given food satisfactorily by the keeper and lives a comfortable life in the pond fully equipped with a filter tank and a purifying tank. Therefore, the koi kept in the pond rich in oxygen adapts itself to surroundings and can breathe easily. No dirt comes into the gills, so the functions of the gills deteriorate. That is, it is overly protected. Once that the koi overly protected for three years is put into muddy pond, it is natural that it should die from a sudden change in environment."


Then, in the mid-June (2005) issue of electronic Rinko, an article on raising male koi for show suggests that they should not be kept in mud ponds after age 2, because they will grow longer, without gaining bulk. Nisai males desired for show should be raised in filtered ponds so the easy life will let them be lazy and become fat.

We "always" read and hear of the wonders of the mud pond. So, it is curious to read different perspectives, separated by a decade, but both perceiving the mud pond as a physical challenge and the hobbyist pond as a life of ease.

....as always with the blurbs I share from my reading, I am not vouching for the views expressed.

[hauns]

Well the idea behind it isn´t that bad. But on the other side the same would be applicable if I put a koi from a "high-tech pond" (oxygen reactor, oxone reactor, etc.) into a normal pond or pond with bad filtration. In some of this ponds you have a percentage of oxygen from 150% and up (because of oxygen reactor).

Another idea: In a normal pond a male koi has to fight for food. Maybe not fight but has a hard time to get one because the females are bigger.
In a mud pond there is a lot of food and place.

I don´t have the experience of this people and/or the experience that most people have here, but I still have some theories and maybe some of them are true while others are not.

[dick benbow]

I think it is inherent in all men to challenge the accepted pathway of thinking.

in both cases mentioned there are always exceptions to the rule.



if i had the chance to grow a koi in the mud ponds of niigata, male or female

2 or older, it would go in there!



maybe I'm just a traditionalist! (lol)

[koifishgirl]

This could be the problem that I am having with my koi, I purchased two momotaro koi that have been in a dealers pond for a while, in what I would think would be better water quality than any mud pond.
Since putting the koi in a mud pond of good quality water, problems have come up. Take a look at these two koi. There must be some truth to what he was reading. These two koi have been in a mud pond for three months, have lost most of the good color and developed ulcers, I guess do to parasites. I hope these two koi make it and dont die, I have got meds on the way to get them well but if they stay in a mud pond they might not make it.

[MikeM]

KFG: I do not think those are "ulcers" as I normally think of them. Looks more like a physical injury, like from some type of beetle or something? Kind of looks like what I've seen when anchor worm is pulled off a fish. Perhaps those who raise koi in mud ponds regularly will have a better idea.

[Bob Winkler]

Not sure I am looking at the same thing, but anchor worm in mud ponds are a common cause of problems.