Koi Valley Aquatic Consultants

20/12/2023

Wishing our clients, friends and suppliers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you to everyone for your support throughout 2023. We are now closed for business, reopening 2nd January 2024.

19/12/2023

Wet morning, EZ Ponds did a great job, now ready for the filter system and heater to be installed. 👌

16/12/2023

From this to now. I visited a new client in September , most of the koi had serious bacterial issues, in a new pond, 10 months built. An aquascape style pond, natural. It was built to an outstandingly poor quality and not fit to keep any fish in, 3 tonnes of gravel, just to start with, endless pipes that did nothing, no mechanical filtration, a rotting cesspit of bacteria, the system was a complete mess and the client had been duped sorry to say. The whole system ripped out and rebuilt so it would work and can have an eco system that works. These natural aquascape ponds are not fit for koi and when built by a novice and with a small volume of water, no eco system will work. I have worked on this project with Robert Lee from Perfect Ponds and is truly a legend when it comes to building ponds, we have delivered a truly amazing pond for what the client wanted in the first place and will work to home the Koi in a workable eco system. Just shocking to see how some pond builders just act and behave, take and promise.

17/11/2023

A few recent winter pond health checks. Koi Valley is extremely proud of what we accomplish for our clients, we however are seeing more and more people with a water test kit, call themselves koi doctors and koi vets with no experience and no qualifications attend ponds and cause more harm than good. It’s illegal to use the word doctor or vet unless have qualified. I’ve seen these so called people offer the worst advice possible, YouTube channels, throw treatments in ponds from a clear plastic bags and inject water into fish claiming they are antibiotics to make a fast buck. I post this to you all as a warning, ask questions from anyone who charges to visit your pond. What are your qualifications? What is your experience? Provide your public liability insurance documents and professional indemnity insurance documents… do you have references. Ask just a few questions and see the proof, then you will release there are a handful of professionals in the country that won’t waste your money or kill your fish, too much of this is happening now. Good luck, ask and ask again, don’t believe everything said and if they can’t answer, don’t employ them. Hope this helps!

27/10/2023

An incredibly busy week visiting ponds all over the country for pre winter pond checks. The main culprits out there , gill & body flukes, Trichodina and still plenty of costia. Concerning to see such an increase in systemic bacterial infections. Some cases have been left too late with mortalities. Keep observing your pond and koi, deal with any concerns quickly, temperatures are dropping as we move into winter, the healing process takes much longer.

30/09/2023

Been very busy on pond health visits. There is just so much costia out there, haven’t had so many cases for years and been going on since the start of the year. Many ponds with quick and high numbers of mortalities, so sad to see. Please, observe and act quickly, don’t put off investigations or blind treat.

21/09/2023

Another busy day problem solving and diving in ponds. A new pond build with some extremely poor pipework, just shocking, and they’re poor attempt to repair the shoddy work, so the client needed replacing with someone they were confident with and contacted me. Had to b**g the bottom drain and replace the pipework and decided to add a purge to waste which should have been fitted in the first place, so many new pond builds don’t have purges to waste which causes so many issues. All done and pleased with the result.

19/09/2023

A busy day installing a ThermoTec inverter heater to a clients pond. We are now an authorised supplier and installer of the ThermoTec range of pond heaters. With the UK climate so changeable, lower temperatures and particularly the large temperature swings during our winters, a good economical option for your pond.

09/09/2023

Koi Valley Aquatic Consultants will NOW only except payments for Pond health visits either by cash or card payment at the visit, we have a card payment terminal. This is an unfortunate situation, we can no longer facilitate credit terms that are not agreed and being put in the awkward position to chase payments or except payments at your leisure by bank transfer. We are sure you will understand and respect this decision. Thank You.

08/08/2023

Been busy with various issues over the past weeks. The usual parasitic activity, many cases of Dactylogyrus (Gill Flukes) and Bacterial infections on the increase. Today, dealing with some nasty lesions, sedation and thoroughly cleaning and treating wounds. Keep observing your pond and fish.

26/07/2023

A great read from Dr Paula Reynolds at Lincolnshire Fish Health. We work closely with LFH for pathology and more complex issues, what Paula and her team do for the Koi industry is second to none.

In koi there are various forms of bacterial disease that require a different approach to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. This article focuses on the ulcerative form of bacterial disease currently concerning koi keepers.

24/07/2023

Back to a clients pond today in simply beautiful gardens for rechecks after a visit a few weeks ago when a treatment plan was put in place. A very heavy infestation of Trichodina which was clearly causing serious distress to many of the Koi and unfortunately some mortalities. All clear today and Trichodina has been irradiated. The Koi looking improved and active, now time to recover.

13/07/2023

A change from pond health calls today, investigating and resolving issues with two aerated bottom drains in this deep pond. Scuba gear all been serviced now, so have a few jobs booked in for similar issues.

11/07/2023

On our client pond visits, microscopy is a major part of diagnosis. Here for a first time I caught the moment when a Gyrodactylus was giving live birth. Great to see this event, just not so good for the pond inhabitants.

30/06/2023

The 43rd BKKS koi show this weekend, we will be there Saturday mingling, meeting with some of our suppliers, catching up with friends and clients. Hope to see you there! 😎

24/06/2023

Been busy with pond health visits, maintenance and repairs, resolving issues with blocked bottom drains and some pond cleans, visited some beautiful ponds in the lovely sunshine. Still lots of parasites out there, plenty of flukes, Trichodina and Costa.

03/05/2023

Always enjoy the visit to Birmingham Botanical Gardens for the pond health check. Stunning tropical houses, outside grounds and the Japanese gardens with an amazing collection of Bonsai. One of my Happy places.

30/03/2023

Very happy to be moving into spring now, after a tough winter for Koi keeping with some ponds dropping to hypothermic temperatures and subsequent losses. We have started spring pond health checks and have been keeping busy, a few ponds pictured with recent visits. Frequently finding high numbers of Costia in ponds and the normal flukes and Trichodina. Should you have any concerns wish to discuss further or book a visit, please drop us a line and we will be pleased to advise what’s involved. www.koivalley.co.uk.

01/03/2023

Keeping busy, many issues with Koi health, from the problems colder temperatures have caused and plenty parasitic activity. Apart from the regular Flukes and Trichodina, costia seems to be increasing in frequency on ponds visited recently.

20/12/2022

Wishing all of our friends, clients and Facebook friends a very Merry Christmas, happy, safe and prosperous 2023. Many of you have made 2022 a wonderful year for me, clients become close friends and the continued support and custom is so greatly appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Best wishes, Kevin.

29/11/2022

A pond health visit over the weekend, with a difference. I seem to be spending a fair bit of time refitting bottom drain lids, this one was cold though, 8.5c 🥶🥶

24/11/2022

On a winter health visit this week, the client had only one small slight issue with a Koi, there certainly wasn’t the indicators for such a heavy infestation of body flukes. I was pond-side for almost 3 hours whilst running all the comprehensive tests, so I was really surprised by the numbers of flukes. Pre winter health checks really do pay off as this would have been a different story if left undiagnosed and untreated as the temperatures are dropping quickly, so does the koi immune system and ability to deal with issues.

22/11/2022

A visit to one of my favourite places for a Koi health check, beautiful surroundings at Birmingham botanical gardens.

14/11/2022

The office for the morning 👌

24/10/2022

We have been busy visiting ponds for pre-winter health checks last week and over the coming weeks. Pre-winter checks are important as the temperature drops and the fish are healthy heading into winter. Koi are becoming less active and their immune systems are reduced so dealing with issues early. Should you wish to discuss a visit, please don’t hesitate to contact us for a full winter health check. www.koivalley.co.uk

20/09/2022

A few ponds we have visited over recent weeks, all with there own issues. High numbers of parasites and pathogens in many ponds. Some Koi sedated and wounds treated for nasty infections. Some ponds with filtration issues and rectified with future plans to upgrade some filtration systems. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for a friendly chat and should require any advise.

27/07/2022

The things we do for clients, including getting very wet. A fair few issues going on, new UV’s fitted, re levelling the gravity filters, re pipework to a blade and going for a swim to sort out both bottom drains which had issues. 30K litre pond with 11 koi but hard to see, all will be visible soon. All in a days work 👍

24/07/2022

A few ponds visited last week. From parasites, low O2 and water quality issues. A week of heat 40c + and 1200 miles driven, I highly recommend Aircon!

21/06/2022

Working with Koi daily, on rest in the evening love to enjoy mine, it’s a Koi life ❤️

20/03/2022

Moving into spring as temperatures warm up, plenty of pond health calls over recent weeks with projects underway, supplying and fitting filter systems with servicing and replacing parts on filtration systems. Its now the time to check the pond systems and fish health. We will be contacting our clients over the coming weeks for spring pond health checks. Should you have any concerns and issues, please don't hesitate to contact us to discuss a visit. www.koivalley.co.uk