Bacteria pressure measurement for koi hobbyists
A fun promotion from the Koi Academy and Koicave together for every hobbyist. As many as 70 bacteria pressure measurements will be given away. Such a test usually costs between €15 and €25 per test.
What is a bacteria pressure measurement?
A bacteria pressure measurement is a test where you estimate the amount of bacteria ‘swimming’ in your pond. Mainly in the filter are the nitrifying bacteria. These are hardly included in the test. These are in fact contained in an EPS-layer. Without getting too deep into it, it is fair to say that these bacteria are not swimming around freely.
Free-swimming are largely heterotrophic bacteria
Free-swimming are largely heterotrophic bacteria. These live off organic substances. So organic dirt too. If there is a lot of dirt and thus enough nutrition, you will have a lot of this kind of bacteria. These bacteria can be or become pathogenic, or pathogenic, but 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 low bacterial pressure, then such remedies 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 stew, making them countable. After 24 hours, all pink spots are counted. There is then a total count. So you then know how many free-swimming bacteria there are in 1ml 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 fouled pond does not have to be an immediate problem, but we often see that once a problem arises. Increased bacteria pressure is better solved by ensuring less dirt than using chlorine-containing agents. This is because these bacteria killers also kill your bacteria in your filter and you desperately need them!
You will get less dirt in your pond by changing or cleaning your filter more often. Or should you have a contaminated soil, you can use a hydrogen hoover. Feeding less is also possible, of course. So options galore.
From all the results, we make a kind of poster. That we can compare all 70 ponds. This poster will not feature 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 20 May and has pre-registered. The test is even free!
