Spring coming early for California....

[aquitori]

I have been watching the weather reports for Cali since I am here in Missouri, Spring is coming early for us hobbyist there....With that in mind for those bringing fish to shows in the coming weeks should we be doin our Spring treatment for the pond now or after the show?

[marco]

What do you mean by Spring treatment, Aquitory ?
Thanks

[dinh]

what things you do for Spring treatment during water around 55C?

--Dinh

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori I have been watching the weather reports for Cali since I am here in Missouri, Spring is coming early for us hobbyist there....With that in mind for those bringing fish to shows in the coming weeks should we be doin our Spring treatment for the pond now or after the show?

[Steve Nguyen]

indeed. we are getting warmest Feb weather ever. I don't remember the weather was as warm as it's now in past. I check my pond water thermo over the weekend and it's at 58F degrees. weather forcast for a few more days in low 70's. my fish are more active now and they want to be fed

Steve

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve Nguyen indeed. we are getting warmest Feb weather ever. I don't remember the weather was as warm as it's now in past. I check my pond water thermo over the weekend and it's at 58F degrees. weather forcast for a few more days in low 70's. my fish are more active now and they want to be fed Steve

your new avatar is too small to see compare to the previous one.... is that your Chagoi or Shusui?

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by marco What do you mean by Spring treatment, Aquitory ? Thanks

Spring treatment would be like cleaning out some of the bio chambers from the previous summer growing, removing the sludge from the bio and treating the pond with superverm, quickcure, proform c, etc...after doin your clean out.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by dinh what things you do for Spring treatment during water around 55C? --Dinh

Since the good bacteria are dormate, and the water is still a bit cold...you might clean out your bio. I do this yearly, since my system is not to big. This yearly clean out save me from having any problems goin into a full summer of feeding. After clean out you treat the water with quick cure, paracide green, proform c to kill off any bad bacteria you may have stirred up clean the chambers. Also wihile you are at it you might want to treat the pond with superverm to make sure. From there you should be feeding light anyways, since the temps are not hot enough to feed higher protein food. You can use Microlift to boost the bio or a product called ABA....When the bio becomes back online in 2 months after cleaning it is ready for summer feeding.....

[Dennis Woollum]

As I lifelong Bay Area resident, I can almost assure you we will have another cold snap before spring. It may be mild in the high 40's, it may get into the 30's for a bit. I would wait until March to ensure Spring has arrived.

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Since the good bacteria are dormate, and the water is still a bit cold...you might clean out your bio. I do this yearly, since my system is not to big. This yearly clean out save me from having any problems goin into a full summer of feeding. After clean out you treat the water with quick cure, paracide green, proform c to kill off any bad bacteria you may have stirred up clean the chambers. Also wihile you are at it you might want to treat the pond with superverm to make sure. From there you should be feeding light anyways, since the temps are not hot enough to feed higher protein food. You can use Microlift to boost the bio or a product called ABA....When the bio becomes back online in 2 months after cleaning it is ready for summer feeding.....

I do clean up my bio system yearly....

Just wondering if all koi are in excellent health. No symptom of any disease, is that still good to use QuickCure, Paracide Green, or Proform C to kill off any bad bacteria?

--Dinh

[koiczar]

Guys

This is a very important discussion!! I personally waited too long last year (did my cleaning in April) and had nothing but problems.

Tonio - the bacteria (nitrosomonas) doesn't really go dormant as much as we think. Most of the time our water stays around 50F during the winter. It does definitely diminish it's effectiveness though. Of course Nitrobacter is definitely gone (active above 65F) and will have to come on line later (keep an eye on your nitrites) if you start to feed early. I believe feeding too heavily (just because we're having an early spring) gives one a false sense of security. Don't trust the weather now to be the same in a month. We usually get temperature changes around the end of March into April that can cause a lot of problems, such as drastic drops in temperature overnight resulting in "frost warnings". The variance of temps from day to night can really stress the fish out - so be forewarned!!

Personally, I use two different treatments during spring and fall. However, this year I'm going to reverse the protocols I've employed in the past. FIRST, I am going to use PraziPond, as last year all my problems stemmed from a fluke infestation/bacterial gill infection. After 7 day treatment in vitro I will do a 25% water change over 3 days. This gives the fish a chance to relax. Then I will do two separate treatment regimens of 3 consecutive days of ProForm C, with 25% water changes over 3 days in between each regimen. This usually will get rid of Trichodina, Costia and some other bad boys. Then I will do another 25% water change over 3 days. This seems to work really well for my system. Of course all filters get a thorough cleaning before I start!