Blog 19/06/12

Daily cleanliness, rapid speed of discharge, low running costs, minimal good water wastage and a biological stage that’s almost bombproof were just a few of them.

However, by far the most important reason in my eyes was a very strong belief that these systems, maintained as specified, would also prevent any future occurrence of hikui, shimi and the dreaded ‘sandpaper skin’.

In short, what I term to be ‘The Three Big Downers’ that are directly responsible as to why, over many years, thousands of beautiful Nishikigoi have been completely ruined and this is also the exact same reason as to why droves of owners have given up the hobby of keeping Koi.

Be under no misapprehension about this, the Koi breeders and dealers of Japan, Israel, South East Asia, USA, Europe and the UK are all painfully aware of the consequences that these problems can do to the hobby but only a very tiny few have ever tried to do something about it.

Instead the vast majority made up excuses to pacify the dejected owners by saying things such as –

‘It’s genetics’!

‘It’s the bloodline’!

‘It’s the breeder’!

‘It’s the food you use’!

‘Your water’s too hard’!

‘Your water’s too soft’!

‘Your GH/KH are wrong’!

I could go on forever but all those excuses are simply excuses offered by those who simply just don’t know and really don’t want to know either!

The only ones I know of to date who do not suffer with these problems are the Japanese Koi breeders themselves and reasons for this are detailed on other parts of this website.

Earlier today I received this report from an avid Koi keeper who lives near Gibraltar and if you are interested in furthering your enjoyment of this hobby, it’s well worth a read.

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Dear Peter,

It is June 2012 and it is the third summer or 26 months after changing over to your ERIC filters.

This apparently uninteresting information of “how long are the filters running” is very relevant for me and I believe for you too.

As written in my first report from August 2010, after this period of time my Koi problems with Hikui, sandpaper skin and colour deterioration was already in full swing and the quest started as to why this was the case and what could be done about it.

What you have written and told me back then about the subject has made a lot of sense to me and I’m very happy to report that when I look into the pond and at the Koi today it confirms every single word of yours.

Colours have recovered and skin quality improved within a short period of time and remained stable since then.

Just for having back healthy looking Koi with vibrant and solid looking colours was worth the expense and effort of ripping out the old filters said by many to be the ‘bees knees’ at the time.

These rapid and as I know now, stable improvements made me hope to progress similarly with the curing of Hikui.

Unfortunately you are right here too, Hikui doesn’t cure just like this. I have treated some of the affected Koi a couple of times with Billion Liquid, but then found the whole procedure too stressful for the fish and left it at that.

However, and this is the real good news, the Hikui of old has not become any worse. I can observe this best on a Showa, where the couple of patches are still there but no new ones have developed over the last 26 months.

The real test will be the new Gosanke added to my pond and to our friends Eric filtered pond in January of this year. So far not the slightest sign on any of them.

Fortunately shimi have never been a real issue in my pond. I have one Kohaku who developed 3 spots just before the changeover to Eric and just these 3 spots are still there.

This Kohaku was bought as tosai, I think you call them ‘Sucker’s Koi’, with strong beni which broke apart afterwards. No Hikui on this one, but now at least stable beni and no new shimi to be found on any other Koi.

My experience with Eric has given back the confidence for buying quality Gosanke again, whereas before it felt like wasting money on this category of Koi.

As I wrote already in the first report, the cycling of the brand new Erics with over 200 kg of fish thrown at them was an absolute non-event. This almost ‘immediate strength’ of the filters has continued seemingly up to date.

Adding a few fish, medication or feeding as much as the Koyas need has not even caused a blip in the readings. The only elevated reading, which was Nitrite, was during spawning.

However this was a very temporarily event before normality resumed. In summary, a performance which is miles ahead of my former “system”.

The four Eric Three units are dumped daily as advised and until recently refilled over 24 hours with your constant trickle. This works like a treat and takes me just a few minutes daily.

After cutting the letterbox into the transfer wall a weekly “shaking” of the mat blocks before the dump is sufficient to keep the bottom of the filterbox clean.

However, the best indicators for how easy and safe it is to maintain an Eric are our friends nearby – both around 80 years of age.

Since they have switched over to Eric (from a similar ‘bees knees’ system same as my old one) they maintain their pond all on their own with a daily whoosh and a weekly brush box clean and the pond is now clear, no more sick Koi, no more costly “service contract” and no more costly, associated products previously said to be essential!

Well, basically they just call me if they need more food for ‘Them There Koyas’ or for a change of the U/V bulb.

When I bought into the Eric concept, there weren’t any reports as this one available from real users.

Now there are and I hope these help others to draw the right conclusions from the very beginning.

So in a nutshell, do I feel the need to look for another filtration system and/or would I buy Eric again?

Nope, I’m perfectly happy with Eric and Yes, I have just bought and installed an Eric 4 on the re-done “Boy’s Pond” for my males.

I think that says it all!

Peter, congratulations with my sincere thanks for all your help and assistance.

With kind regards,

Marco.

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One old man actually cried after reading that!

I have often mentioned before that I personally have never seen hikui appearing in new ponds that have been running for less than 30 months.

However, Marco’s 14,500-gallon pond has been running for over six years, it is not exactly ‘new’.

The only changes made are that Eric units have replaced the original filters and I really must point out here that no other filter gizmos are being used either before or after my units.

As Marco mentioned his elderly neighbour’s 11,000-gallon pond that has been running now for over four years is also producing identical results.

And the only changes made here are that Eric units have replaced the original filters and again no other filter gizmos are being used either before or after my units.

I shouldn’t really have to explain again why I’ve always stated that I consider Eric Filters and the ‘Koi Water’ they produce, to be the finest pond filters that money can possibly buy.

Now just how much longer do I have to wait before Koi enthusiasts and Koi dealers the world over finally realise that shimi, hikui and ‘sandpaper skin’ CAN now realistically all become a thing of the past?

Waddy.