Bacteria pressure measurement for koi hobbyists
A fun promotion from the Koi Academy and Koicave together for any hobbyist. As many as 70 bacteria pressure tests are being given away. Such a test usually costs between €15 and €25 per test.
What is a bacterial pressure measurement?
A bacterial pressure measurement is a test in which you estimate the amount of bacteria "swimming" in your pond. Primarily in the filter are the nitrifying bacteria. These are hardly included in the test. These are namely in an EPS layer. Without going into too much detail, you can say that these bacteria do not swim around freely.
Free-swimming are largely heterotrophic bacteria
Free-swimming are largely heterotrophic bacteria. These live off organic matter. So also organic dirt. If there is a lot of dirt and thus enough food you will have a lot of this type of bacteria. These bacteria can be or become pathogenic, or pathogenic, however, they do not have to be. If a fish has a wound, it can cause an infection, or inflammation.
Many hobbyists use agents to reduce bacterial pressure: chloramide-t, virkon, salt, supertab and so on. The question is whether this is necessary. Suppose you have a low bacterial pressure, then such means are not necessary. So it's nice that you can test this!
In bacterial pressure measurement, 1 ml of water is dripped a nutrient medium and placed in a kind of oven (bacterial oven) with the best temperature for these bacteria. Each bacterium becomes a pink spot during the 24 hours in the oven, making them countable. After 24 hours, all the pink spots are counted. There is then a total count. So you then know how many free-swimming bacteria are in 1 ml of pond water.
What could be the outcome?
We have compared so many ponds that we can say which value is too high and which ponds are "clean" enough. A polluted pond does not have to be an immediate problem, but often we see that once there is a problem. An increased bacterial pressure is better solved by ensuring less dirt than working with chlorine-containing agents. These bacteria killers also kill the bacteria in your filter and you really need them!
You can get less dirt in your pond by changing or cleaning your filter more often. Or if you have a dirty bottom you can use a hydrogen vacuum cleaner. You can also feed less. Options enough.
From all the results we make a kind of poster. That we can compare all 70 ponds. On this poster there will be no names of pond owners (possibly the participation numbers).
Who can participate in this bacterial pressure measurement action?
Anyone hobbyist who comes to the Koicave show in Oudenbosch on Saturday, May 20, and has pre-registered. The test is even free!
