Hobbyists before the Hurricane

[luke frisbee]

last year I was prudent before the Hurricanes hit Florida...and I am offering this as an option tot he mainstream that i feel is wrong in how to approach "saving" their koi in a "During and Post" hurricane situation...
I KNEW I was going to be hit hard. I decided that if i did not decide which koi I wanted to have alive once I got back to the house the choice would have been made with a less discerning eye and without my interests at heart.....
So i figured that X koi could live in the pond without electricity of several days and I whitttled it down to that amount....I did throw all the "B" team into the unfinished "lake" and they survived and bred....but that is another story...
YOU could layout a piece of liner in a 18 inch hole underneath a shade tree and toss them in it...at least they have "a chance" and the others WILL make it......

The fish I left in the "Main Pond" (back then) LIVED!

if you got some koi that are a cut better than the rest save them....do with the B team what you can...even before i got to come back to the house (three days after the Storm) i felt good knowing that my best koi were given the best I could give them.

[luke frisbee]

and that "dose the pond with baking soda and drop the depth by a foot? ......
The baking soda is going to shock the fish from what they are used to, and then the storm water is going to slam the reading back the other way..... stress on top of stress

And dropping the water a foot? you are kidding right?
By reducing the volume by that great an amount you are increasing the potential negative reaction of the storm water...and by lowering the water level a ft you are going to trap all the rain water that falls on the pond instead of allowing some of it to flow off the surface.... which will shift the ph and the water temp even more...I'd leave the pond as full as I could get it.
And dropping the pond a ft could also have the negative affect of increasing the water temp.....

I think the reason so much is suggested to be done is because so much is going to happen...doing less would be better as far as I can tell.
I know many of us have to do something, but think about it.

[MikeM]

Good idea, Luke, for the typical hobbyist with overcrowded pond. I agree about the Baking soda, too; but LeeB has her reasons.... I think it depends on the nature of your water as to whether baking soda would be appropriate. My water is so hard and alkaline that I do not get concerned about low KH. A few inches of rainwater would improve the water quality! LOL ... but I'll skip the 'cane to find out.