sturgeon

Back in Chicago at the Koi Whisperer Sanctuary and decided MaryEllen Needed a bigger koi tank. The holiday season brings a tight budget but we managed and MaryEllen wrote up the article on the build for me. Looking forward to building the next three!!!!

The koi whisperer sanctuary is so proud to have had our UK partner back over to us here for the holidays. With the cold weather set in outside we got to work on the brand new show tank for 2012 which will be home to all our japanese imported nishikigoi ready for new homes this coming spring. Splashtastic Aquatics set to work on this tank and in an incredible 3 days working time it was complete with full paint job and its own filter system. We hope you like the images of progress of the build and how great the show tank really looks here in the sanctuary.

Timber construction planned to be 8 feet X 4 feet

It has been 3 weeks since I arrived back here in the UK and all is very quiet on the koi and sturgeon front. Many koi keepers are already installing the heating systems and winter pond covers, although the temperatures have remained rather mild it is a great opportunity to utilize the weather to get prepared for the onslaught of the ice and the snow we are sure to get soon enough. The most amazing news is Splash is going back to Chicago, yes i know 3 weeks back in England is enough for most people but after a very busy year it is the perfect time to take another vacation to the Koi Whisperer Sanctuary. Splash will be back in the new year and i would like to thank everyone for a brilliant year with the koi and sturgeon.  Please feel free to Email us with any help you may need, the world wide web works over the pond!!! also please do not forget your koi maybe sleeping but your sturgeon still needs its daily food intake. Sturgeon will continue to feed at temperatures down to 4 degrees C. So therefore it is important that you continue to feed over the winter. Most deaths during this time, and in early spring, are due to starvation. During the winter months feed sparingly and try to observe your fish as much as possible with the dark mornings and long dark nights.

We will see you all in the new year. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy new year.

After the most amazing vacation with MaryEllen at the Koi Whisperer Sanctuary, I have eventually landed back here in the UK with the cold dark nights in the later days of October. It truely was an honour to be invited over to America and help at the koi whisperer sanctuary. Learning new techniques with the way their ponds are built and the different equipment is used over the sea, and learning on the different treatments and rules they have compared to the UK. It will be a long winter back here but plans to get back to the sanctuary are already in progress. Splashtastic Aquatics thanks all our visitors and wishes you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year.

Splashtastic Aquatics goes back to Chicago to help M out with the Koi Whisperer Sanctuary. Here is the article MaryEllen wrote up on the work I did for her and the sanctuary.

In June 2010, my indoor koi pond was updated and a waterfall feature was added. For a number of months the system worked well however water conditions and clarity were always a problem and alot of work and effort had to be done daily to maintain the pond for the health and welfare of the koi imported here. I never had water problems before, and even with a high stocking level of imported koi, routine water changes was sufficeint with the external pump filtration I had installed. In March of this year, 2011, many of our KWS Koi Keepers read the devastating news that the pond had collapsed and I woke up to a koi pond full of boulders, stone, muck, and waste.... and my imported Nishikigoi struggling at the bottom in only a few inches of water! The pond was rebuilt with my own specifications which was adhered to by the pond builders. If you missed the article it is available to read by clicking here.

During the winter our pond filters are still working to remove the waste material that builds up in our pond's, the good bacteria that keeps our pond's and fish healthy do slow down however they do not completely die off so the filter should always remain functioning even if only running at half capacity using a ball valve or slide valve to reduce the flow. The good bacteria that remains in our filters are what is needed come spring to kick start the pond back in to life and slowly build up to a fully functioning system. If we turn our filters off completely then every year we would encounter what is known as new pond syndrome which genrally causes problems with water quality and fish health. A popular product in the USA is cold water bacteria which can be added to the pond on a periodical basis however this needs the filter to develop the bacteria to handle the waste material. So the answer is no you should not turn your filter off. Many people have said to us it saves us money to turn the system off, when theoretically it tends to cost more in the long term with treatments and possibly lost fish come spring when new pond syndrome develops.

 When keeping sturgeon splashtastic are often asked about the sex of a persons fish and the answer is really not an option to anyone other than those in the sturgeon industry for the production of caviar, as it requires specialist equipment as there are no external features to indicate the sex of a sturgeon. So an internal examination is necessary, making the process more difficult. The gonad is the organ that makes gametes - reproductive cells. The gonads in males are the testes and the gonads in females are the ovaries. To determine if the sturgeon has ovaries or testes an incision is made in an anesthetized fish and the gonad is visually inspected. This operation is necessary as, to date, ultrasound results, although less invasive, have not been reliable.