HOW WE CARE FOR OUR FISH
Healthy koi don't happen by accident.
A koi farm is only as good as the water it raises fish in, the
way those fish are monitored, and the discipline of the people
running the place. At Waterwheel, we treat fish care as the
foundation of everything else we do. Beautiful koi start with
healthy koi, and healthy koi start with a farm that takes care
seriously.
This page is about how we do that.
OUR MUD PONDS
Mud ponds are the heart of our farm. We have a number of them
across the property, ranging from a smallest of around 50 by 50
feet up to our largest at roughly 250 by 150 feet, and we have
plans to build more as we expand.
Mud ponds aren't just bigger versions of artificial holding
tanks. The natural substrate, the microorganisms in the mud, the
algae, the exposure to sun and seasonal temperature cycles, all
of it works together to grow koi the way nature intended. Fish
raised in mud develop stronger bodies, deeper color, and better
overall health than fish raised in concrete or liner ponds. This
is why Japanese breeders use mud ponds for their grow-out, and
it's why we do too.
Every category of koi on our farm, domestic pond-quality,
homebred F1, and Japanese imports, spends time in mud during
their grow-out years. The only fish not currently in mud are the
ones in our holding tanks for active sale, and even those return
to the ponds for winter once the selling season ends.
RENOVATION AND EXPANSION
We're in the middle of significant farm renovation. Several of
our ponds are still being repaired, refenced, and renetted to
bring them up to the standard we want. Every pond, when
finished, will have full perimeter fencing and protective
netting overhead to keep predators out, herons, raccoons,
otters, and the other wildlife that sees a koi pond as a free
buffet.
This work takes time, but we'd rather do it right than rush it.
HOLDING TANKS
Alongside our mud ponds, we use dedicated holding tanks for
quarantine and for koi that are actively for sale. These tanks
give us clean, controlled water with good lighting and good
viewing angles, perfect for monitoring individual fish closely,
and perfect for letting customers see fish up close before
buying.
Our long-term plan is to build twenty dedicated concrete holding
tanks, each 10 by 10 by 4 feet. As we grow, we plan to add
additional smaller concrete tanks for breeders, spawn-out tanks,
and customer viewing. The principle stays the same: clean water,
easy observation, and the ability to isolate individual fish or
small groups whenever we need to.
QUARANTINE FOR NEW IMPORTS
Every koi that arrives at Waterwheel from Japan or from any
external source goes through a quarantine process before being
introduced to our main system.
New arrivals are held in completely separate water from the rest
of the farm. We watch them, treat them prophylactically against
common parasites and bacteria, monitor their behavior and
appetite, and confirm their health before they move into their
permanent location on the farm. This protects our existing stock
from anything an incoming fish might be carrying, and it gives
the new arrivals time to recover from the stress of shipping in
controlled conditions.
There are no shortcuts on this. Every fish goes through
quarantine. Every time.
WATER QUALITY MONITORING
Water quality is the single biggest determinant of koi health,
and we test ours weekly. Every test covers the parameters that
matter:
- Dissolved oxygen
- pH
- Ammonia
- Nitrite
- Nitrate
- Alkalinity
- Salinity
If something is off, we know about it before it becomes a
problem. Water chemistry shifts gradually most of the time, and
weekly testing catches those shifts while there's still room to
correct them, long before any fish shows symptoms of stress.
Our well water is naturally good, but "good well water" still
needs to be monitored. Temperature changes, biological load
changes, seasonal shifts, even rainfall events can all affect
pond chemistry. The only way to know what's actually in your
water is to test it.
HEALTH MONITORING
Water testing tells us what's in the water. Fish observation
tells us how the fish are doing in it. We do both.
Daily visual checks happen for every fish in our holding tanks.
We watch how they're swimming, how they're feeding, how they're
behaving, and whether anything looks off, clamped fins,
isolation from the group, unusual scratching, color changes,
anything. If something stands out, that fish gets pulled and
examined.
Monthly hands-on health checks happen for every fish in the
holding tanks. We physically inspect each koi, looking at the
gills, the skin, the fins, the body for any sign of parasites,
infection, injury, or anything else that needs attention. This
is the kind of deep look you can't get from across the water.
When we need to go deeper, we have the tools to do it.
Our on-farm equipment includes a microscope and skin scraping kit
for diagnostic work, so if we see something that doesn't look
right, we can identify the cause directly rather than guessing
or relying on outside diagnosis. That speed of response matters.
A parasite issue caught and identified the same day it's noticed
is a problem we can solve. A problem that waits a week for a
diagnosis is a much bigger problem.
Fish in our larger grow-out mud ponds don't get monthly hands-on
checks, draining a 250-by-150 pond every month isn't practical
and would be hugely stressful for the fish living in it. Instead,
those ponds get checked thoroughly during scheduled drainings,
and any concerns spotted from the surface get followed up on
immediately.
SEPARATION BY ORIGIN
One of the most important pieces of our farm setup is keeping
our three origins separated. Domestic pond-quality, homebred F1,
and Japanese imports each have their own dedicated ponds and
holding tanks. They never mix.
This matters for several reasons. First, biosecurity, keeping
populations separate means a problem in one group can't spread
to another. Second, traceability, we always know exactly which
fish came from where, which is critical for both our pricing
structure and our breeding program. Third, and most importantly,
our breeding integrity, there's zero possibility of an
accidental cross between a Japanese broodstock female and a
domestic male, because they're never in the same water in the
first place.
It's a discipline that requires more infrastructure and more
planning than running everything together would. We think it's
worth it.
THE WATERWHEEL APPROACH
The choices we've made about fish care aren't about being better
than anyone else, they're about being the kind of farm we want
Waterwheel to be. Weekly water testing, monthly hands-on health
checks, on-farm diagnostic tools, strict quarantine, and
separation by origin are the practices that let us stand behind
every fish we sell.
When you buy a koi from Waterwheel, you're getting a fish that's
been raised this way from the moment it arrived on the farm.
That's the standard we hold ourselves to, quietly, consistently,
every fish, every day.