Just Koi Water Gardens, South Carolina

JUST KOI WATER
GARDENS

WE SUPPLY EVERYTHING
BUT THE LABOR

We have been in the Water Garden business for over 15
years. What started off as a hobby has turned into a great
business for us. We enjoy helping people get their ponds
right and avoid making the mistakes we have made. Our
goal is for you to have a clean, healthy pond that you can
relax by and not have to work in all the time trying to keep
it clean. We listen to our customers trials and errors also
and learn from them. We get e-mails and phone calls from
across the country asking for advice. We do not try to push
certain products or certain ways of doing things, we just tell
you our opinion and try to save you money by helping you
do it right the first time. We have truly been blessed to have
met some wonderful people whether in person, through
email or by phone and a few of them were nice enough to
send some kind words back our way. Thought we'd share
them with you. Thanks everyone for allowing us to have fun
and help others.

"We just wanted to say thank
you for your help with ordering
the filter and UV light for our
pond. We have had it up and
running about 6-7 weeks and
cannot believe the difference!
Thanks again for taking the time
to help us select exactly what
we needed." North Carolina

"We love the new filtering system
and it was so worth the money.
Thank you John for all your help
and advice. I love it all, the water
is perfectly clear. So glad we
found you on the Internet. We will
continue to do business with
you. You have been so helpful."
IIlinois

TOP 10 POND PROBLEMS
There are always exceptions to the rule with Koi and Goldfish Ponds, but these are
some of the main problems we see when we go out to look at other people's ponds
and water gardens. We have listed these to help future pond builders not make
these mistakes and to help current pond owners be able to correct any problems
they might have for healthier and happier fish.

1. Green Water - Everyone should have clear water in the winter because of the
cold weather. When the weather warms up and the algae starts to bloom, people
can't see their fish unless they feed them. If your fish start to have a problem, it is
usually to late to treat them because you could not see the problem for the green
water. You can have clear water year round with a U.V. Light, guaranteed. You
should want to see your fish year round even though they may not want to see
you.......=) ( U.V. Light Link )

2. U.V. Bulb Replacement - You can turn your U.V. bulb off in the winter to save the
lamp and get a few more months out of it. The problem is most people just change
the bulb and not the rubber o-rings that seal it and keep the water out. Once water
gets in, it usually shorts out the bulb and power supply which can cost a lot to
replace. The rubber gaskets for most U.V. lights are less than $25.00. ( U.V. Parts
Link )

3. Too shallow - A shallow pond invites birds and other animals to feast on your
fish. The fish do not have anywhere to try to hide and a Heron has a lot of patience.
You can put a net over your pond, but that takes away from the natural beauty. Try
to make your pond at least 3 feet deep and even have a deeper part if you can with
steep sides.

4. Rocks in the bottom of your pond - Not sure why people do this. The algae grows
over the top of the rocks, the fish waste and other stuff gets trapped down in the
rocks and can't be filtered out. I asked a pond installer one time why he put rocks in
the bottom of the pond and he said "The customer has to call us at least once a
year to clean out their pond,....... job security". It is much better to put in a bottom
drain. If you do not have a bottom drain now, you can easily install one without
cutting your liner. A properly installed bottom drain and you will never have to clean
out your pond again. (Other Pond Needs Link)

5. Everyone who installs their first pond wishes they had made it bigger. It only cost
a little bit more to make your pond bigger the first time. It cost a lot more to start
over with a bigger pond. For instance... a U.V. Light for an 1100 gallon pond is
$207.57 and a U.V. Light for a 1600 gallon pond is $230.67, only $23.10 more. If you
put in a 1100 gallon pond and want to upgrade to a bigger pond, your 1100 gallon
U.V. light is now too small and you have to purchase a bigger U.V. light.

6. Pond Owners feed their fish way to much - We would love to sell you lots of
fish food, but the more you feed your fish the more likely problems will develop.
The more the fish eat the more waste they produce. The more wasted food just
floating around the better chance for disease. The fish food should be gone in less
than 5 minutes. If there is still food floating after 5 minutes, cut back on the amount.

7. Dead spots in their pond. You should try to keep all the water in your pond
moving a little bit. If you have a section of your pond where the water is just sitting
there, it is not being filtered. Sometimes a plant will help, but it is better to add
another pump or figure out another way to get the water moving so it can be
filtered.

8. Deep Pond with just a skimmer - This has shown up a lot. Fish die because they
are swimming near the bottom and most of the water is being filtered at the top with
the skimmer. There really is nothing pulling the water off of the bottom to be
filtered. Adding a bottom drain or solids handling pump will help.

9. Buying fish from everywhere - We have to confess that our oldest and largest
fish came from Walmart 15 years ago. It is just that every time you buy a new fish
from somewhere else, you are taking a huge chance of exposing your other fish to
new diseases. It is kind of like sending your child off to day care for the first time
and exposing him or her to the other kids. If you get a new fish, try to have a
quarantine tank set up. I know of one guy who bought a cute little 3 inch Koi from a
pet store and every fish in his pond died except the cute little Koi.

10. Just one pump - It never fails that when you go out of town your pump quits
working and your fish have no oxygen. We highly recommend two pumps. If one
pump goes out, the other will provide oxygen until you can get it replaced.
We have one pump going to our filter and the other running through our U.V. Light
at the other end of the pond. This also helps keep the water circulating better.

We put this together hopefully to help pond owners and their fish be happy. As we
said in the beginning, there are exceptions, these are just our thoughts.

John, just wanted to let you know our system is wonderful. It is on
our "one of our best investment list ever made". Thanks again,
South Carolina

GETTING READY FOR COLDER WEATHER

5 POUND BAGS OF BLACKWATER
COOL SEASON FOOD. As the
weather gets colder, your Koi's
metabolism and digestion slow
down. Blackwater Cool weather
food helps with digestion and
egg bound females.

Pick up
price is
$25.00

This is the big product for fall and winter. It
contains two different technologies. The liquid is
transitional bacteria, a little more hardy than PL,
but not as hardy as the cold weather,
spore-forming bacteria in the packets. Also, the
packets contain cellulase enzymes to start
breaking down any leaves and leaf particles that
get through your pond net. Use the liquid right
now. It needs to be used weekly, and then once a
month for the next four months, according to the
directions on the box. The water-soluble packets
can be used after the leaves begin to fall in your
area (once a month). Use them separately or on
the same day, it's okay. They work beautifully
together, but do different jobs.

Continues to provide sustained biological activity
even in water temperatures under 40°F. (4°C.)
Contains psychrophilic strains (cold weather
bacteria)
If frozen, bacteria will remain effective after
thawing out
Effective in darker conditions (under ice and
snow)
Helps to maintain a healthy immune system for
your fish during the winter months

We also have assorted
netting at great prices
on the other pond
needs link. Keeps the
birds and leaves out
until spring.