OSMOSIS Some of the things you never wanted to know about Reverse Osmosis

I have put together several articles on Reverse Os-mosis that were written by Mike Snaden of Yumi Koi in England. Yumi Koi has a reputation of being able to grow their koi to 80cm and larger and to help their custom-ers do the same. Mike has taken his meters and other parameter checking tools to Japan and actually checked the water at many premier “mud ponds” to see if he could learn what makes them better than our ponds. He believes that he has figured it out, and his results have shown it. Some of these articles are quite a few years old, and some of the equipment he shows is outdated as tech-nology keeps improving. If you purchased an under-sink Reverse Osmosis unit for drinking water in your home, without know-ing it you would be sending 5-8 gallons of water down the drain for every one gallon of pure water that you would get to drink. That’s not good, but we can do better now. I believe that everyone could benefit their koi by making their water more pure. Now all of you know that I am pretty darned anal about researching things before I jump into something, and I did about 50 hours of research two years ago on RO and deter-mined that it would be a great thing to add to my pond, but that it was much too expensive for my budget and wasted way too much water. So I just gave up. Then last year Michael Cox went to the 2009 BKKS National Koi Show in England and spent some time with Mike Snaden. So then Michael got the RO bug, with the same concerns that I had. The difference was

that Mike Snaden pointed Michael in the right direc-tion to alleviate the problems (cost & waste). Now why should we jump on this bandwagon be-cause some “koi guy” in England says it’s the way to go? Well here is a quote from someone that we know and respect, Dick Benbow: I've played with RO for two years now. I got

into it as a method to bring down by PH which was way too high (8.2-8.5 ) My initial unit barely did 100 gallons a day but eventually caught up with my inside pond of 2,000 gallons. The following year I went to 200 gallons a day which amounted to a 10% water change daily. I now am putting together a 400 gallon a day unit for my outside pond to achieve another 10% daily water change. My inside unit puts my water parameters at 7.8 PH, 60 KH and GH with a TDS of just over 100. My Koi of grown tremendously despite having small pond to grow them in. I have noticed that sumi takes forever on some individuals to finally show as the hardness is so meager. I have not experienced it but have heard that some beni tends to respond with RO water to a condition that appears to look like secon-dary Hi. I hope to have the outside pond up and running end of this month to accept my ship-ment of Purdin Koi that I have hand selected over the past two years. It has been my observation that both the look of the water and the fish have benefited.

And Michael Cox has said that he is very happy with the results that he has had over the last many months.

OSMOSIS Some of the things you never wanted to know about Reverse Osmosis

My intent on giving out this information is to let you read and then make up your own mind as to the bene-fits of Reverse Osmosis. Then if you are interested, I can show you how to put together a system that will do the job for your particular needs at a cost that is affordable. The main thing to know to start with is what are the Total Dissolved Solids in your source water and your pond. I would be happy to come to your pond and check them for you as I am probably the only one who actually has a TDS meter. Enjoy reading the handout, and I look forward to see-ing you at the workshop.

Japanese breeders and universities are constantly striving to perfect production, growth, and health aspects of koi; it is accepted that the Japanese are the true masters and have made important dis-coveries that link good koi health, excel-lent growth and superior hi development to many aspects of koi keeping, including the subject of water hardness, and TDS levels. This wonderful hobby would bene-fit greatly from attempting to learn from the Japanese professional Nishikigoi in-dustry. It's all too common to hear people say that mains water in certain areas is too soft, and should be hardened. It's under-standable that Carbonate Hardness (KH) should be elevated, but the same cannot be said for General Hardness. accepted wisdom It is generally accepted in Japan by the koi industry/breeders, that koi growth is enhanced in soft, and pure water. Hi will become thicker, the shine of the skin (Tsuya) will improve, and last but not

least, the health of the koi will be stimu-lated and greatly enhanced, hence less problems. One point worth noting is that the Japanese feel that hard water will cause

pigment cells on the koi's skin to lie flat to protect itself from hard water, hence, koi in hard water will often look a very vivid, and hard red. But, in soft water, the pig-ment cells will stand up rather like velvet, giving a softer colour, but much better luster and colour quality. Generally, people in the UK tend to believe that koi are put into Japanese mud ponds because the high mineral

content and low stocking levels will make the koi potentially grow larger and at a faster rate than would otherwise be the case. Whilst there is an element of truth in this statement, it does not show the full picture, and can be easily misinterpreted. The fact is that many of Niigata's mud ponds have soil that is so dead from lack of minerals, that only rice (or koi) can be grown there. However, mud ponds do offer benefits such as live insects, and plankton, which cannot easily be recre-ated within a closed pond system. KH Carbonate Hardness or Alkalinity. Carbonate hardness is essential for the buffering effect it has on the pH of water within a pond. If a recorded pH of a given volume of water is 7.5 and an amount of acid is added, it is commonly expected that the pH value should drop by the cor-responding amount of acid added. If there were little or no KH value to the

MIKE SNADEN

Reprinted from the April 2003 issue of Koi Carp magazine.

Advanced GH

magic water

The Japanese are the true masters in growing koi, but what are their secrets? Mike Snaden snubs conventional wisdom and offers up the secret in the form of soft water...

Momotaro Koi Farm's famous pond, the biggest filtered concrete pond in Japan, containing a massive 330,000 gallons. The filters in the left corner are for removing Nitrates, and also lowering water hardness.

The Japanese are the true masters and have made important discoveries that link good koi health, excellent growth and superior hi development to many aspects of koi keeping.

Momotaro Koi Farm use ‘Bacteria House’ media in these shower filters, partly to lower the total hardness of the water

water, this would be the case, but the purpose of KH is to act as a buffer, so rather than the acid directly influencing the pH value, the acid is spent on the carbonate ions in the KH value, and only when the carbonate re-serves of the KH value are used up will the acid directly influence and lower the pH. Hence, if the KH value falls too low, the pond water pH will be influenced too easily by everyday occurrences such as fish respiration, fish urine, waste by-products from filtration system bacteria, plant life and even acid rain – in short, just about everything that is considered normal in a pond environment that is capable of introducing an acid base. So by these examples it is easy to see why KH is so important. If a pond has a low KH, and regular pond maintenance isn't carried out, the water will lose it's buffering capability,

14dH (250ppm, or parts per million). In Japan this would be considered ex-tremely high! The general guide as an optimum GH in Japan is about 50ppm (2.9 dH), with many people feeling that if a reading is at or above 2 dH (34ppm), it should be lowered. TDS Total Dissolved Solids A TDS reading represents anything that is dissolved in the water being tested. This includes GH, KH, fish waste, un-eaten food and chemicals. It is often said that koi will only grow to the size of the pond, but in truth, the koi will grow ac-cording to the TDS level in the pond. A heavily stocked pond, with lack of water maintenance will result in a TDS level that will continuously escalate, hence slowing koi growth as they get older, (consuming more food, and creating more waste).

MIKE SNADEN Advanced GH

‘Bacteria House’ filter media being used in a submerged filter

Momotaro Kohaku, 33cm in April 2002 now 49cm (see Koi 4(b) top right)

President Maeda says that low water hardness and low Nitrates are of the utmost importance in the quest for maximum growth, and good development in koi.

and the pH will fall. At first this isn't a problem, as koi are best suited to a pH of 7.0. But, if left unattended, the pH will fall to dangerous levels, and quickly crash the system, resulting in acidic water, and a pond full of either very unhappy or dead koi. A good KH level should be somewhere in the region of 2 to 6dH, with my prefer-ence being 3dH. There is no point in run-ning a higher level than six, as this will often result in a rise of the pH. The Japa-nese consider a pH of between 6.8 and 7.4 to be ideal. GH General Hardness This is a measure of the amount of dis-solved solids (mineral content), for exam-ple, calcium and magnesium. GH has nothing directly to do with the KH buffer-ing effects of water. A GH measurement is no indication of the KH value as the two are totally separate independent readings. Japanese Nishikigoi profes-sionals desire low GH values. GH can be measured as ppm or dH, (German De-grees of Hardness). A typical tap water reading in the Bristol area is around

Sakai (Hiroshima Showa) Tosai in June 2000 at 26cm (left), now 61 cm in Feb 2003 (right)

Koi 1(a) Koi 1(b)

Koi 4(a)

pond water statistics The following are pond water statis-tics compiled over the past three years Bristol, Mains water pH 7.5 Pond pH 7.4, TDS (pond 7800 gallons) 315ppm, KH- 5dH (89ppm), GH- 13dH (232ppm) Pond number two, 4400-gallon, TDS 310ppm. Rain water 30ppm (TDS). Swansea, Mains water pH 7.1, Pond pH 6.9, Mains water 51ppm (TDS), Rainwater 25ppm (TDS), Current pond TDS 111ppm. Japan, Mains water 75ppm, Rainwater 3ppm, Pond water (mud ponds) 35 to 108ppm (TDS) Pond water (hobbyists ponds) 108 to 220ppm (TDS)

Case studies swansea pond The pond case study in Swansea contained only 2,500 gallons of water, which was heavily stocked. This pond was rebuilt in Summer 2002 (two months during which the koi were in another pond, and not grow-ing). The new pond contains 7,530 gallons. Wakabayashi male Kohaku 39cm (two years old in 2000), is now 64cm and approaching five years old

Wakabayashi male Kohaku 47cm (three years old in May 2001) grew to 68.5cm (Feb 2003) (now approaching five years old). Koi One: Sakai (Hiroshima Showa), Tosai (one year old) in June 2000 at 26cm, now 61cm Feb 2003 (now coming up for four years old). Koi Two: Momotaro Tosai Kohaku (one year old), 34cm in March 2002, now 52cm, and not two years old until 17th May 2003! Koi Three: Momotaro Tosai Kohaku, 34cm in May 2002, now 49cm. Momotaro Kohaku 22cm Tosai in Feb 2002. In the summer of last year, this koi suffered from wasting disease and lost weight to the point of becoming a skeleton. It then recovered, regained its weight, and still managed to grow to 41.5cm! (Feb 2003). Koi Four: Momotaro Kohaku, 33cm in April 2002, now 49cm. bristol pond The Bristol pond case study is our own pond of 7,800 imperial gallons. Despite being run at similar temperatures, and similar feeding rates to the Swansea case study, the Bristol pond cannot achieve the same growth rates. The only major difference that is apparent, be-tween the two ponds, is water hardness, and a vastly different TDS level. The average growth in this pond has been perhaps three to five centimetres. The normal growth rates for our pond and others in the area are similar, but gener-ally typical growth rates for the higher TDS readings in the Bristol area would

MIKE SNADEN Advanced GH

A typical Japanese mudpond, where koi are renowned for ultimate growth during the summer months

Takigawa 105 to 108ppm, Imai 35 to 48ppm, Inoue 35 to 48ppm, Momotaro 75 to 85ppm. Naturally, all of these ponds have growth rates equal to but mainly greater than the pond in Swansea! But, tempera-ture in Japan also plays a large part, as do the many additional insects etc, that breed in the clay base to the ponds. Other points to remember: • Feeding raises TDS, • Chemicals raise TDS, • Fish waste raises TDS, • Iron, salt, and calcium raise GH, and hence also raise TDS, • High Nitrates raise TDS.

be disappointing when compared to what can be achieved in the areas where wa-ter of a lower GH and TDS is prevalent. There is no doubt that ponds in Bristol area with a lower GH have growth rates better than those with a higher GH. japan Typical Japanese case studies are as follows; these figures are for various Japanese breeders mud ponds in the Hiroshima area. All of the readings are TDS readings, and hence represent a total of GH and KH levels combined. A 'PPM' figure should be divided by 17.9 to obtain a dH reading. Wakabayashi 65 to 78ppm, Takumi 76 to 85ppm,

It is generally accepted in Japan by the koi industry, that koi growth is enhanced in soft, and pure water even soft water won’t make inferior koi become big

Momotaro Tosai Kohaku, 34cm in May 2002 (left), now 49cm (right)

Momotaro Tosai Kohaku, 34cm in March 2002 (left), now 42cm (right)

Koi 4(b)

Koi 3(a) Koi 3(b) Koi 2(a) Koi 2(b)

momotaro koi farm Momotaro is probably one of the top three breeders in Japan. President Maeda is much happier growing koi in concrete ponds, as the koi can be care-fully watched, and their growth and de-velopment can be carefully controlled. This is an area where Momotaro Koi Farm excels! President Maeda has de-veloped a new filtration media called 'Bacteria House'. This media has an ap-pearance of coral, but is a man made material, which is baked at high tempera-ture (1,300ºC). This media is used in his filter systems, and also in multi-level shower filters. These trickle filters obvi-ously remove Nitrates, but Mr Maeda says that this media also helps lower wa-ter hardness. President Maeda says that low water hardness and low Nitrates are of the utmost importance in the quest for maximum growth, and good development in koi. Using such methods, President Maeda has achieved the following: – Around 1997, Momotaro managed to produce a Tosai Kohaku of 51cm! De-spite such fast growth, the koi maintained wonderful quality. – He has also grown the first one metre Go-Sanke! Please note that Momotaro bought this Sanke at eight years old and 80cm, from Yamamatsu (originally bred by Sakai of Isawa). This koi was pur-chased as a hopeful parent, and Mr Maeda managed to grow it by 21cm in just three years. This growth is more than

at any other stage in its life. japanese opinions Mr Izeki of Izeki Products is quoted as saying that, he considers a water GH value should be as low as possible, also if GH measures 2dH (34 ppm) or over, it should be lowered. Mr Izeki achieves excellent, growths rates equal to mud pond growth rates in his concrete ponds partly by maintaining low GH and TDS values. Dr Takeo Kuroki (Honorary Chairman of the ZNA), Mr Nobuo Takigawa, and Professor Ken Sasaki (of Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin University), have written that: "Hardness is an indication of the amount of calcium or magnesium; the lower this is the better suited the water is to the raising of Nishikigoi. A reading below 50ppm (2.92dh) is considered desirable. This degree of hardness is also said to control the appearance of the hi and the sumi". the high and the low roads There are two routes to take with hard-ness levels in your pond. – HIGH GH LEVELS/high TDS. Good sharp white ground and sumi development, but poor growth rates. (Ideal for those that are hoping to show their koi, or those that have less time to devote to pond maintenance). High GH levels can also cause hi (red) to break up. – LOW GH LEVELS/low TDS. High growth rates, deep and even hi, but softer white skin, and slower sumi development. Bear in mind however, that just a few weeks in hard water will im-prove the white skin ready for a koi show. It would be preferable to definitely go for the latter approach, it could be viewed as a waste of time and money to invest in buying an expensive koi, and then restrict it's growth and development. Please bear in mind that if a koi is des-tined to develop sumi, it will still develop in soft water, but will just take longer. The Japanese approach is to enjoy a koi as a 'project'. When the 'project' is completed, they will look for a new Tate-goi to work with. maximizing potential Compare your mains water TDS to your pond TDS. If your pond TDS is signifi-

cantly higher than the mains water, then it is because your pond is probably over-stocked, overfed, or perhaps just badly maintained. Weekly monitoring of the TDS levels can enable you to adjust your pond water, and hence, maximise your koi keeping pleasure! You too can grow koi like as though they were in Japan! Also, bear in mind that Japanese water usually contains virtually no minerals, hence the benefit of adding clays. Ask your local water board for a report, and see for yourself what kind of mineral con-tent is present. But, bear in mind that an abundance of minerals means a high GH, and hence, a high TDS. Don't waste the growth potential of your koi, and don't forget that if you want to make your koi grow big, make sure the parents are BIG!...even soft water won't make inferior koi become big.

MIKE SNADEN Advanced GH

‘Bacteria House’ shower filter used on a hobbyst's pond in Japan. The plants are more decorative, than functional. These shower filters remove Nitrates, but also soften wa-ter, and hence offer unparralleled growth.

A ‘Bacteria House’ shower filter, which quite simply sits on top of the filter system. This is made from a plastic drum, which has a perforated base, thus allowing water to fall freely back into the main filter system. A pump pushes water up the grey pipe, and through the 'shower' holes, which then pours down over the filter media, and back into the main filter

Mike Snaden has spent the last four years fervently trying to research the exact reasons behind the mystique of the wonderful growth rates in Japan, and is actively experimenting with the fruits of his research for the benefit of other koi keepers outside of Japan. Mike has been a hobbyist for over nine years, and a dealer for the last three.

A RO plant. The stainless steel cylinders contain the semi-permeable membranes that strip the water of all sub-stances other than pure H2O

Soft water offers great benefits in

terms of growth, health, and develop-ment, but isn't the 'be all and end all'. More to the point, hard water should be looked upon as a bottleneck, or limiting factor. At this point, let's try and change the angle from which this whole topic should be looked upon. 'TDS' (Total Dissolved Solids) is the more important factor in all of this because although it will give an indication of water hardness, it more importantly helps us to understand water condition. (Note that sometimes, TDS is also referred to as 'Total hardness').

tds explained A TDS reading doesn't directly dictate whether water is hard or soft, as it should really be viewed as a 'grand total' when looking at water makeup. A TDS meter will measure anything that is dissolved into water, such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, organics such as uneaten food, or dissolved fish waste. This is the reason that it is often referred to in Japan as a 'water quality meter'. You will no doubt notice that there is no reference to GH levels in this arti-cle, as they are reflected in the TDS level, and are generally considered in Japan to be kept ideally below 50ppm, or 2.75dH. Japanese water

The vast majority of areas in England are unfortunate insofar as they have hard water. In Japan, it's a different story. Wa-ter in Japan is extremely soft throughout the country to the point that even Japan's hardest water is still softer than most of England's soft water areas. People think that clays and oyster shells are put into mud ponds as minerals to benefit the koi, but in reality, mud ponds are filled pre-dominantly with rain water. Acid rain in Japan is a common prob-lem, and apart from shells serving to help the growth of insects and other organ-isms, they also serve to help prevent pH crashes in times of heavy downpours. Heavy rain is a big threat to koi that are

Advanced GH MIKE SNADEN

Reprinted from the August 2003 issue of Koi Carp magazine.

softly does it

Back in the April issue we looked at the benefits that could be gained from nurturing soft water. In the second part of this article we expand on some issues raised in the first part, and also help you realise that living in a hard water area needn't be the end of the world.

With my 'home made' soft water (and of course other factors), I have man-aged to grow these tosai at one cm per week. This pond contains over 110 koi, with many now up to 40cm. All of this has been possible without mak-ing the koi overweight.

In

mud ponds, as it can quickly turn the water acidic, hence breeders will often rush out to mud ponds when heavy rain is expected, and will throw in literally tonnes of shells to try to combat the effect. man-made water Koi kept in man-made filtered koi ponds require very different methods of water management. For a start, such ponds are heavily stocked, so rain-water isn't an option for filling our ponds, since this will quickly lead to pH crashes. Rain water in Japan generally has a TDS of about 3ppm, and hence absolutely no KH value. But, since the stocking rate is so very low, the soil and shells help create an eco system in which the koi thrive. But, push things too hard by overstocking, and the mud pond's eco-system is very quickly destroyed.

back to our koi ponds In a filtered pond, the biological activity and production of Carbon Dioxide both turn the water acidic, hence the need for Carbonate Hardness (KH). It is important to remember that because we are trying to keep our ponds clean for viewing purposes, it is impractical to line the bottom with shells or clays, since our koi create so much waste that bottom drains become of paramount importance. This is the primary reason that rain (with no KH value) is unsuitable for filling our ponds. Those of you who have visited Japan will probably have noticed that the majority of hobbyists ponds are covered to avoid acid rain from entering the pond. When running such soft water, acid rain will very quickly deplete the KH value, and then turn the water acidic. On a trip to Momotaro's Tosai Auction in April, I once again took my TDS meter,

so that I could compile notes. Momo-taro's water is pumped from a bore-hole (water well), and naturally has a TDS level of 73ppm. Bearing in mind that that reading represents a total of KH, GH, and any other dissolved solids, and that 1KH or 1GH equates to about 17ppm, and the figures start to speak for themselves. With a figure of 73ppm, the absolute maximum level of KH and GH combined would be a total of 4dH, which for argu-ments sake is a theoretical 2dH of each parameter, a far cry from those levels recommended back here in England, and that's on the new water, not the pond water, which will always become lower! reducing tds levels Now on to the ponds... Most of Momotaro's ponds had a TDS level of around 80ppm, but their best performing tosai growing pond had a TDS level of just 53ppm, and KH level of just 1dH (17ppm), and that's in an indoor filtered pond! It seems odd that the pond TDS level is lower than that of the new water, but Mr Maeda says that their 'Bacteria House' filter media actually reduces TDS levels. Between Daisuke Maeda, and Toyota-san (who is responsible for water testing at Momotaro Koi Farm),

Advanced GH MIKE SNADEN

This Momotaro Kohaku measured 22cm in March 2002. In the summer of 2002, it suffered from wasting disease and came close to death. I would estimate that it lost two to three months of growth because of this, and consequently, the koi had to regain its lost weight before growing

A TDS reading doesn’t directly dictate whether water is hard or soft, as it should really be viewed as a ‘grand total’ when looking at water makeup This is the same koi as the 22cm Kohaku, but as of April 2003, it now measures 48.5cm. When Daisuke Maeda saw this koi in March of this year, he declared the koi female, and confidently said that Colin would be able to grow the koi beyond 85cm in his 7,500 gallon pond

The water coming from the hose on the left is from an R/O plant and has a TDS of 5ppm, and KH of zero. The water from the hose on the right is mains water and has a TDS of about 300ppm, and a KH of about 11dH. But, the result of these mixing is a TDS of 75 ppm, and KH of 2.75dH... that's more like it

our water It has long been said that it is necessary to maintain high KH values and even GH values in our ponds in England. I personally can't understand this, as there is a vast difference between 'enough' and an 'excess', whereby the extra levels serve no practical or explainable purpose.

we managed to talk about water hard-ness, and Mr Toyota was fully in agree-ment that soft water was better for growth, and that a KH level was only needed to be high enough to give a sta-ble pH, if monitored daily. 'money for old rope' Let's take a look at a typical pond scenario whereby a fictional pond is situated in a soft water area, and the water is buffered with Sodium Bicarbon-ate to a level that is somewhat exagger-ated above those levels that many peo-ple would recommend, to see the cost involved. Let’s assume that your mains water runs a KH of 1dh, and that you have been advised by someone that sells Bicarb, to keep your pond KH at 10dh. If your pond had zero KH value, it might take 100kg of Bicarb to get your KH up to 10dh. Then, you flush your bottom drains on a daily basis, wasting 10% of your water, and hence top up with your mains water (of 1dh value). This top up drops your KH level to about 9dh, so you add 10kgs of Bicarb to get back up to 10dh. Assuming that your 10kg of Bicarb costs £10, it would cost you £70 per week to maintain the target KH level. So, let’s assume that you are in the

same position, but are only aiming to maintain a KH of 3dh. The same 10% water change would lower your KH to perhaps 2.7dh, so you might need 3kg to get back to the target 3dh. Doing this every day would only cost you £21, a great saving of £49 for you, and a great loss of income from your Bicarb source! why run a high kh? Even in a reasonably heavily stocked pond, a KH level of 3dH is almost impossible to de-plete in a week, and let's face it, you would be guilty of bad koi keeping if you didn't flush your bottom drains at least three times a week during the summer months anyway.

so, what do you do? Do you buy a KH test kit and keep track of the levels, or do you throw in loads of Bicarb to raise the KH value to exces-sively high levels? Chances are that if you carry on with regular water changes with new water with a KH value of 4dh, your KH would always run at perhaps 3dH – the result? No expense wasted on Bicarb! In a pond with a KH of just 1dH, the pH would probably run at around 7, and sel-dom drop at all, whereas at a KH of 2dH the pH would tend to run at 7.5, but push the KH higher than 6, and the pH will have a tendency to run higher... perhaps up to 8.0. Why bother? The Japanese generally feel that a pH is bet-ter below 7.5 rather than higher. If you live in a hard water area, it is possible to make water soft, if you use the right equipment. You would be for-given for thinking that you could use an 'ionexchange' water softener to make your pond water soft, but in reality this would prove to offer no significant bene-fits, because as the technique suggests, you would be quite simply 'ion-swapping'. what is ion exchange? Ion exchange is where the water sof-tener swaps Calcium and Magnesium ions for Sodium ions. A popular miscon-

Advanced GH MIKE SNADEN

This Kohaku also measured 22cm last year as tosai, and is now 47cm. In my eyes, this will become an outstanding koi, and is also female, so will become very big. We will photograph this koi for the next part of this article

Mr Mori of Okayama, Japan, has koi that he has grown from tosai of around 22cm, in this pond which is about 24,000 gallons. One Sanke that resides here will be three-years-old in August, and is already in excess of 70cm. Who says that koi can't be grown big in a filtered pond? We should all learn from this, and strive to achieve more from our koi

Koi kept in man-made filtered koi ponds re-quire very different methods of water management

ception with water softeners is that they put salt into the water, which simply isn't true. The salt (Sodium Chloride) is used to regenerate the ion-exchange resins during a flushing process, once their ca-pabilities are exhausted. The problem with water softeners is the fact that they ion swap, rather than sim-ply removing them. This means that by swapping ions on a one for one basis, the TDS level remains exactly the same, when the aim of the game is to lower the TDS. But, by using a 'Reverse-Osmosis' (R/O) plant, the water can be completely stripped of all minerals and contami-nants, essentially producing pure H2O, or distilled water. This water will usually have a TDS of perhaps 5ppm, depending on the effi-ciency of the R/O plant used. Most of that 5ppm figure would actually be Carbon Dioxide, which makes the water acidic, but will quickly gas off, leaving you with a pH of around 7. R/O plant water on its own is very dangerous for aquatic life, as it has absolutely no pH stability, and no mineral content. But, when mixed back in with untreated mains water, you can make wonderful water, which can give you wonderful results! how I can achieve my 'ideal' water My Bristol mains water currently has a TDS level of 335ppm. Contained within that reading is the KH, which runs at 11dH (190ppm). As far as growth and koi development (and shimmies) are concerned, our local water is terrible! But, since my R/O plant produces water with a near zero TDS, I can mix this water

with untreated mains water at a ratio of 75% R/O water, and 25% mains water, which results in a TDS of just 84ppm, and a KH of 2.75dH, which I feel is ideal. This may sound complicated, but pro-vided that you know the KH value and TDS of your mains water before you mix it with R/O water, you can use the TDS

meter to determine the KH value of your mixed water. In this case, if my mixed water TDS level rises above 84ppm, I just reduce the flow of mains water a lit-tle, and if it's too low, then the flow is in-creased. Running the above KH reading is perfectly safe if you carefully watch and make regular notes of your pond KH level. Obviously, if the KH depletes be-low the desired level, I have to either change more water, or add a 'harder' mix of water. The next part in this series will focus on how to safely run soft water, and how to do it in a 'Water board friendly' manner.

Advanced GH MIKE SNADEN

This particular R/O plant wastes very little water. But, RO water alone is dangerous, and must be mixed with mains water in order to obtain the kind of water you desire

This Sanke arrived in December 2002 at just six months old, and 23cm

If you live in a hard water area, it is possible to make wa-ter soft, if you use the right equipment

As you can see, this Sanke has grown from 23 to 33cm in four months (up until April), with most of the growth having been achieved in the latter six weeks despite being one of over 110 koi in the 4,400 gallon pond

Looking back to the original Water Hardness article in April's Koi Carp magazine, if you wish to see some of the koi that were featured and grown in soft water... see us at the BKKS National Koi Show at Newark!

water – reverse osmosis MIKE SNADEN

This is the third part in the series that focuses on water for growing koi, and the aim of this is to explain how I have managed to create my own soft water. This can be a costly exercise, but one that I feel to be

well worth pursuing. water wastage A R/O plant is a unit containing a semi-permeable membrane, which effectively rejects minerals and metals, leaving dis-tilled (virtually pure H2O) water as the end product. The rejected minerals are disposed of as ‘effluent’ through a waste pipe. I consider my R/O plant to be an invaluable asset nowadays, but in their usual guise, they

are very environmentally unfriendly, sim-ply because of the quantities of water wasted. This is where mine differs greatly, as I will explain. re-cycled water Conventional R/O plants waste about 85% of the water that is put into them, and hence only give about 15% of good water. There are three problems with this. Firstly, it isn’t feasible to obtain a large quantity of good water. Secondly, they waste large amounts of water, which is simply put down the drain. Fi-nally, even in the event of an R/O plant being able to produce a reasonable

amount of good water, It will require so much import water, that most domestic water supplies simply won’t supply water fast enough. This is to my mind unacceptable ecol-ogically, and not cost effective. So, after months of research, and negotiating with a local water softener supplier, we man-aged to come up with a solution in the form of a unique plant that actually recycled its wastewa-

ter by passing it through a second mem-brane, and then by also re-circulating a proportion of it all over again. high running costs The result is an R/O plant that gives 70% good water, with only 30% rejected - far more environmentally friendly! The only downside is the booster pump, which consumes around 750W of electricity. Despite such running costs, I feel that this is all more than justified, even given the original £2,500 outlay for the plant, and softener. This plant is intended to give 600 gallons per day, but in reality, gives 800 gallons. When mixed with my desired quantity of mains water, a total of about 1,100 gallons of water is available if needed.

Reprinted from the September 2003 issue of Koi Carp magazine.

reversing a trend In this final part of the gH series, Mike Snaden extols the virtues of reverse osmosis.

Standard R/O plants waste about 85% of the water put into them

I consider hard water to be the ‘bottleneck’ of koi growth, or limiting factor

Please note that Reverse Osmosis water contains no minerals, and hence is very unstable. It is dangerous to use R/O water without mixing it with mains water.

This Kohaku measured 33cm in May at the time of taking this pic. It is now 41.5cm, as of July 11th

cheaper alternative Don’t despair however, as there is now a cheaper way, in the form of the Kent RO650 plant. This unit is designed to give 650US gallons per day. In reality (given varied mains water pressures, and temperatures), this unit would probably give somewhere in the region of 300 to 400UK gallons per day, but for a mere £1,000. The down-side of this unit is it’s waste water level,

which is relatively low by single mem-brane standards, but still much higher than mine. On the positive side, this unit doesn’t need feeding with softened wa-ter, and doesn’t use a pump, hence no high running costs. growth spurt Let’s take a look at my 4,400 gallon pond, and the results I have had with it up until the end of May 2003. Water TDS is approx 100ppm, KH is just over 2dH, temperature is 23.7°C. In late December 2002, 110 koi arrived at sizes of 15cm to 27cm. They are fed six times daily with an auto feeder, and bottom drains are flushed daily. The koi of 15cm averaged a growth to 25cm, and the koi of 26 to 27cm, generally grew to around 40cm. I am very happy with the growth rates

of the above koi, but the only downside of running such soft water is that one or two koi have developed secondary hi. Since April this year and the addition of show-ered filtration, the koi have generally grown at a rate of one centimetre per week.

water – reverse osmosis MIKE SNADEN

Soft water is one of the contributing factors in this Kohaku growing to 79cm at just four years of age at Momotaro Koi Farm In my mind, it is

possible to win Baby Champion, Young Champion, Adult Champion, and perhaps even Grand Champion with the same koi over a number of years!

Everyone dreams of growing koi like they do in Japan, yet for some reason, people resign themselves to thinking that such growth can never be achieved in the UK. Make your dreams become reality!

Soft water isn’t the answer to every-thing, so here is a brief summary of factors that I feel play an important role (in addition to basic koi keeping prac-tice) in growing koi to Jumbo sizes, with optimum improvement in beauty. Temperature Soft water with as low as possible TDS levels Many small feeds as opposed to a few big feeds Koi from big parent stock and with good history of growth Plenty of aeration, and high oxygen levels, Low nitrates Good water circulation to keep the koi active Good pond depth

I consider most of the above factors to have an effect a bit like credit scoring. Each will give a percentage of the maxi-mum benefit in relation to growth and development. But, with hard water, each of the others listed above will have a much lower effect. I consider hard water to be the ‘bottleneck’ of koi growth, or limiting factor. case study Ian Graham of Bristol, has a Bakki Show-ered pond, and now runs the same kind of R/O as I do. His pond is 6,500 gallons, and runs a TDS of 80ppm, and KH of just over 2dH. The pH runs at just over 7.4, with a temperature of between 24 and 25°C. Ian’s pond is extremely heavily stocked, and yet despite this, he is

obtaining incredible growth rates. It has been just seven weeks since Ian added four new tosai to his pond. In these seven weeks, his Momotaro Kohaku has grown from 33 to 41.5 cm, his Momotaro Showa (arrived here in December 2002 at 18cm), has grown from 26cm to 37cm, and his two Takeda Sanke have grown from 29 and 31cm, to 37 and 40 cm re-spectively. That’s a growth rate of over one centimeter per week, whilst retaining superb colour quality! Ian found the whole R/O idea ex-tremely daunting at first, but now says: “It’s much easier than I thought it would be.” I must also add, that these koi have grown at this incredible rate without be-coming a single ounce overweight!

low TDS means leaner koi One interesting observation I have made with this whole ‘water hardness’ practice, is that in two identical ponds, run in ex-actly the same manner, except for differ-ent TDS readings, in a pond with high TDS readings, the koi become obese very quickly, whereas koi in a low TDS pond grow much faster, without becoming obese. It is also interesting to note that if you place an ‘overweight’ koi that has been kept in a high TDS pond, into a low TDS pond, it will very quickly shed some weight, and stretch out in length. Hence, by carefully controlling the water in your pond, you can control every aspect of your koi’s growth, body shape, and colour development. This basically means that with an R/O plant, you can condition your koi for a show, and once the show is out of the way, you can then lower your TDS and grow your koi bigger and then compete with the same koi, but in the larger size groups next year! In my mind, it is possible to win Baby Cham-pion, Young Champion, Adult Champion,

water – reverse osmosis MIKE SNADEN

Since April this year and the addition of showered filtration, the koi have generally grown at a rate of one centimeter per week.

convincing argument I have a customer who came here a month ago and announced that last summer he had bought an R/O plant. The interesting thing is, he has two ponds. Both are heated and maintained in the same manner. The ponds have been run in the same way with the exception of one factor - the R/O plant has been used on only one of the ponds. When he came here, here said that he had noticed the following:- i) The koi in the R/O pond became more energetic. ii) They started to grow noticeably after about a month. He also said that he has now been running the system for about eight months, and the koi in the R/O pond have grown significantly, whereas the koi in the other pond do not appear to have grown at all. His final verdict was: “I am absolutely convinced!”

Despite very heavy stocking, Ian’s 6,500 gallon pond in Bristol is running a TDS level of just 80ppm. The growth rates are staggering, and this is without any weakening of the colour quality.

and perhaps even Grand Champion with the same koi over a number of years! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful achieve-ment? growth potential You may wonder why I feel so strongly about the subject of soft water, but my reasons are simple. People in England generally accept that they can’t grow koi like they do in Japan. Some people even go as far as saying that they don’t care whether they can grow big koi or not. But, if you knew you were capable of growing koi beyond 80cm, would you try? One of my customers visited Momotaro Koi Farm with me in April, and bought an expensive Jumbo tosai Sanke. Mr Maeda said to him: “If you leave this koi here, and grow it big, it will become a cheap koi. But, if you take it home and don’t succeed in growing it, then it will be an expensive koi!” I must agree, in that it is pointless buying expensive koi with huge potential for size, if you don’t try to make the koi achieve its potential. the future’s big Let’s look back to Colin’s pond in Swansea, which contains 7,500 gallons (mentioned in the April 2003 article). Colin is running his pond on the ‘low TDS theory’, and adds absolutely no form of

water additives, or clays. Lasts year’s Tosai are now up to 55cm. All of his koi are growing alarmingly fast, and he has achieved his own personal goal in grow-ing a koi to over 70cm. This koi was bought at three years old at 50cm, and is a male Wakabayashi Kohaku. It is now five years old. I am absolutely confident that Colin will easily grow some of last year’s tosai to over 80cm within the next three years. But, he is now facing stiff competition from this side of the border!

water – reverse osmosis MIKE SNADEN

Japanese hobbyist, Mr Mori, can grow Tosai in his own ponds, to over 70cm by the time they are three years old

I purchased this Kohaku in November 2002, and it arrived in December at 27cm. By the end of April, I had grown it to 39cm (at the time of photo) for the customer that bought it. This Koi was actually sold at 31cm for £350. It is fair to say that now that it is over 40cm, it has become a ‘cheap’ koi. But, had it not grown, it would have remained relatively ‘expensive’

In Japan, breeders generally expect koi to grow. In many cases the breeder doesn’t really understand why. They just know that if they put them out in the mud pond, they will simply come out in the autumn as bigger koi! You see, in Japan, they take their water chemistry for granted. In the same manner, Westerners take it for granted that they can’t grow koi. But if you look closely you will see that Japan’s water chemistry (and indeed most of Asia) is incredibly soft, and I mean ‘incredibly’ soft! I know that one or two people will disagree with me on this and claim that the secret to the mud pond lies in the ‘mineral rich

soil’, but it is in fact the complete opposite. water in Japan Japan in its entirety has very soft water, with Niigata having the softest. As much as this water is wonderful for koi, it is also the reason that farming in Niigata is almost impossible. The soil is so devoid of minerals that the only thing that can be successfully grown is rice. If you spend a lot of time in Japan, you will frequently see Niigata on the news and in the papers, expressing the hard times they are having in that region because of the soil being so mineral depleted.

However, on the bright side, this is also the reason that Niigata’s rice is known throughout Japan to be the best and why the water is so good for koi! Water hardness is made up by whatever kind of rock or soil the water passes through before being collected in reservoirs or lakes.

KOI DEVELOPMENT MIKE SNADEN

This is where the magic takes place and if we want results, we have to try to emulate the benefits of the mud pond

The Mystique of the Mud Pond - Water Hardness

Carrying on with his series on the benefits of mud ponds, Mike Snaden focuses on water chemistry…

About the author:

Mike Snaden is the proprietor of Yume Koi in Bristol, specialising solely in very high end koi. He has supplied three out of the last four BKKS Grand Champions. Mike’s specialised field is water and growing koi to their maximum poten-tial, as a Japanese breeder would. This approach has given him considerable insight into koi.

Reprinted from the July 2008 issue of Koi Carp magazine.

…many mud ponds will run with a pH often going down to around the 6.5 region, with 6.8 to 7 being quite commonplace and 7.5 being the general upper end of the scale This water falls as rain, with a TDS (total dissolved solids) typically of just 3 parts per million in Japan (indicating extreme purity as H²O). As it falls down over mountains it per-meates through the soil and rock, picking up and dissolving minerals on the way. Japan’s rock is not limestone based, unlike much of the UK, and this is the reason that very few mineral ions, affecting hardness, are taken into solution. In the West, there is a lot of misconception about water that is good for koi. People gen-erally feel that because common carp thrive in our relatively hard water lakes, then this water is the kind best suited for koi. How-ever, koi are a far removed species from com-mon carp and since many of generations of koi have been raised in Japan in soft water, we should strive to replicate the same condi-tions that these fish are genetically suited to.

However, before we can do this we need to take a look at water chemistry in Japan. mains water Mains water GH (hardness) in Japan is very low, usually below 50ppm (2.8dh). KH (alkalinity or bicarbonate hardness) levels are generally similar, running below the 50ppm level. TDS levels are typically around 70ppm in most areas. This may sound like it doesn’t add up, but remember that GH is the measure of calcium and magnesium (positive) cations, whereas KH is the level of carbonate and bicarbonate (negative) anions. The assump-tion with the test kit of both parameters is that either ions are assumed to exist, as if present as part of CaCO³ (calcium carbon-ate), as an anion will always be connected with a cation, until its bond is broken by chemical reactions. The measurement is given in this manner as it merely needs a unit of measurement as a reference benchmark, as both Ca ions or CO³ ions will always be attached to something. However, since we don’t know which, we make the assumption of CaCO³ for either parameter. mud pond water Mud pond water in Japan is usually softer than mains water. Water in the mud pond may look dirty but this is caused by algae and suspended solids (turbidity). This is reflected in the TDS, hardness (GH) and KH levels. TDS levels in mud ponds typically range from around 35ppm to 90ppm. This reading includes GH, KH, dissolved fish waste/ organics and all gases such as oxygen, car-bon dioxide etc. When you look at TDS figures near the 35ppm end, it is obvious that the water simply cannot contain any significant level of KH or GH. Of course, in a mud pond it does-n’t really matter too much as the stocking level is very low, so fish’s acidic by-products aren’t too much of an issue. That said, many mud ponds will run with a pH often going down to around the 6.5 region, with 6.8 to 7 being quite commonplace and 7.5 being the general upper end of the scale. Such water and pH levels offer great benefits in terms of both growth and colour condition. You see, colour pigment cells are very much a living thing in their own right, much like fauna in your garden. Theory has it that in soft water the pigment cells stand up, giving a thick, soft, healthy appearance to the beni (red).

However, when the koi are pulled up and put into harder water, the pigment cells are said to try to lie flat, as if attempting to make a protective barrier. This makes the colour redder in the short term but causes pigment cells to die, resulting in a hard red that is much thinner. As such, if a breeder has high hopes for a koi, he will try to prevent its beni from finishing until it becomes big, as a koi that is finished later in life will have a much more youthful and longer lasting beauty. why oyster shells? There is a big misconception that Japanese breeders use an abundance of oyster shells as they want to make their water harder. This is a somewhat ridiculous notion for several rea-sons. Firstly, oyster shells won’t harden water at all, as their use simply buffers pH. Sec-ondly, shells only really dissolve on demand, as the water starts to become acidic. The rea-son vast quantities are used is to provide more surface area of shells, so that they can buffer the pH more speedily if needed. If you only had a handful of shells in a pond that was turning acidic, it is unlikely that they would be able to dissolve quickly enough to stop the pH from crashing. You should also bear in mind that breeders use these shells for their indoor holding ponds when they bring the koi in for the winter. The stocking levels of these ponds are so high that without masses of shells the pH would just plummet, as the breeder’s fresh water has a virtually negligible KH level. water in the UK… Our water is generally very hard. Some northern areas have slightly softer water with only Wales and parts of Devon and Cornwall having what I would call soft water. Many people believe that water in these areas should be buffered up with copious amounts of sodium bicarbonate. In some cases, even attempting to raise the hardness (GH) levels!

MIKE SNADEN

Living proof that you can have great fun raising £90.00 tosai to become six years old (82cm) in a 6,500 gallon pond in the UK that is overloaded with koi.

Japa- nese ex- perts on the other hand be- lieve that if GH lev- els are

higher than

50ppm, you should make efforts to lower it! Mineral contents within pelleted foods are generally plentiful enough that if you don’t change enough water, your GH levels will rise in the pond over a period of time and, as such, need to be kept in check. As for KH, this parameter has a some-what sliding scale effect against pH. If the KH level is too high, you will generally find your pH becoming too high. For raising koi, a pH of be-tween 7 and 7.5 is most desirable. In my experi-ence, KH of even as low as 1dH (17.8ppm) will prevent a pH falling below 7, with a KH of 2 to 3 giving a pH of around 7.3 to 7.5. Once you start running KH levels of above 5 (89ppm), you will most likely find your pH running somewhere be-tween 8 and 8.4. At a pH of 8 or over, however, koi will lose their appetite and no feeding means no growing! balancing act On our main growing pond here, I try to run

KH lev-els be-tween 1

and 2dH. The reason I say ‘try’ is that over a long period of time you will find that your KH will slowly rise or fall, until it finds a level where it is in equilibrium with the feeding, stocking and maintenance levels of the pond. Getting it right means a fine balance, with very slow fluctuations that will sometimes see the KH running up to 3dH perhaps every couple of months or so. TDS This has to be what I consider, the single most useful parameter within keeping koi, as it can tell you so much about both your water and your pond maintenance. If I were stranded on a desert island with a koi pond and just one item for water test-ing, this would be it! The reading that a TDS me-ter gives you is basically the sum of everything dissolved in the water. We first advocated the use of TDS meters back in 2000 and over the last few years they have slowly caught on. The reason they are so incredibly useful is that used in the simplest man-ner, they tell you whether your wa

ter changes are adequate. It is so often the case that when someone first buys a TDS meter, they will proudly state, “Of course, my TDS levels should be good as I flush my drains and filters three times a week and my water is crystal clear!” A short while later, I receive a phone call saying, “I can’t believe it, my mains water measures 250ppm but my pond is 900ppm, what should I do about it?”

There is a big misconception that Japanese breeders use an abundance of oyster shells as they want to make their water harder

27cm 53cm

KOI DEVELOPMENT

Tosai like this 27cm Takeda Kohaku are not produced in abundance. So, if the breeder trusts you enough to sell you such a koi, it is important not just to admire it but to try to get a result that would make them proud.

This is the same koi at nisai and is 53cm, with this being last summer’s growth. Reaching sansai this coming autumn she should measure around 65cm

The TDS meter clearly indicates that this murky, dirty looking Japanese mud pond has a TDS of just 36ppm. These ponds run with barely any KH or GH level at all and are an environment in which koi simply thrive in an unparalleled man-ner.

If you find yourself having to buffer your KH, then it is most likely because you aren’t changing enough water The whole package of KH, GH and TDS all kind of go hand in hand to some degree. What I mean by this is that in the instance of the above koi keeper, his mains TDS of 250ppm is a rough indication that his water is generally pretty hard. This water will probably

have a GH level of 7dH and KH of 7dH. However, the pond TDS of 900 is a clear indication that the pond has been lacking water changes or is simply overloaded with koi/waste. Such a pond will often run low KH levels, as whilst the TDS levels would have risen over time to this ridiculous level, the KH would have also fallen. Due to mineral contents within the food, the GH level in the pond is almost certain to be higher than the fresh water being introduced. It is likely that the keeper in question has to add some so-dium bicarbonate from time to time to stop his pH falling too low. Generally speaking, if a pond has been running perhaps ten years, but only been very slightly under-maintained, the TDS levels will slowly rise over the years to astronomical levels, often with slowly depleted KH levels. In the instance of the above koi keeper, if he checked his pond TDS from the first day the pond was filled and then tried to maintain a TDS differ-ential (difference between fresh mains water and pond water) of perhaps 50ppm, then ten years down the track, his pond would still be running a TDS of 300ppm (differential still at 50ppm), with his KH levels being very close to the levels in his fresh water. KH Now that we have covered TDS, let’s take a look again at KH. Some people advocate maintaining crazy levels of KH within the pond. I have never managed to fathom out why? KH (otherwise known as alkalinity or carbonate hard-ness) is simply the level of ions present in the water that are capable of ‘mopping up’ acids. There is a myth that biological filters need KH to survive. This is completely incorrect! Filter bacteria feeds on fish waste and organic matter. In the process of breaking down this matter, acids are produced. These acids are neutralised by the bicarbonate

ions, which are alkaline. This keeps the pH from turning acidic. It doesn’t matter whether there is 20mg/l of KH in a pond or 100mg/l, it won’t affect the filter or koi in any way. In fact, if the KH is too high, your pH will ride too high. Remember, KH is purely an acid neutraliser, not a filter food source! What does matter however is whether your KH level is stable from day to day or month to month. If you find yourself having to buffer your KH, then it is most likely because you aren’t changing enough water. As far as running low KH levels are concerned, if your pond is working efficiently and there is no trapped decaying waste in the system, then you will find that even after going away on holiday for a couple of weeks, you would see very little change on your return. It is also important to realise that even with high KH levels, it is still possible to induce a pH crash, particularly if the pond is covered. conclusion Koi are raised in Japan in soft water, with an ideal pH of 7 to 7.5, with very low TDS levels and low KH levels. If your koi collection consists of pets that you have had for years and you aren’t obsessed with jumbo koi, then run your pond with ‘safety’ in mind. If however, you have a high end collection worth astronomical sums of money and you wish to do them justice, at the same time as impressing the breeder, then I would suggest that you re-evaluate your beliefs of how to grow koi. My own obsession is the latter and to make sure that others get the absolute most out of their koi. Champion koi that come back bigger and better can’t be raised any other way.

MIKE SNADEN

Next time you visit Japan, don’t judge your pond by the breeder’s fish house, but instead turn your attention and thoughts to his mud ponds, where the real magic takes place