Water Gardening: test kits, water quality etc, 1 by fredrump

fredrump wrote:
being new to this hobby I'm naturally curious as to real life experience which is why I ask questions here. So far there have been few answers. Perhaps Water Gardens is not the right place to talk about koi ponds but let me try again.

I'm reading all over the net about koi and their required environment. The instructions range all over the map. What I'm trying to find out is what to do about what the test kits tell you. Everybody sells test kits and advises to check this and that (even two or three times a day) but no one tells you what the readings should be and if not, what to do about fixing it. How hard should the water be? What should the pH level be etc etc. What good is a test kit if you have no idea what the ideal is to shoot for. Nobody seems to tell you that.

Some of my small koi died after being introduced into a new pond. The gold fish seem to be fine. So I test the water and try to read the color matches. No nitrates, no ammonia but very hard water with a very high pH level. I take a bottle of water to a fish store assuming they have more sophisticated measuring tools but they pull out the same little dip sticks I have and get the same readings. Supposedly the water is fine but they still recommend I wait two or three weeks before introducing more fish. What will change during this period? Will the water get softer or the pH level go down? How?

If you read the Tetra Pond instructions having a pond is a full time job with continuous water changes and filter cleanings. Yet I know people who have large koi in a rather small pond who really only take branch debrit out of the pond and feed the fish. They seem quite happy with nothing but a bio filter and a small water fall. They have a rubber liner while I have painted and sealed concrete. I used well water while they have city water. I sort of tried to copy that environment in a larger scope. My fish won't even come up to the surface to eat. Don't they get hungry?

Anyway, can anybody clue me in as to what I should be doing differently or what is happening here?

Fred