KevKoi
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Mar 18, 2002, 7:10 PM
Post #5 of 9
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Hmmm, how do you get rid of the nitrates if not for the plants? I thought the plants were in there to get rid of the nitrates.... Well that's at least my understanding. My nitrate levels are low because we've got to clear out lotsa vegetation every now and then, plus the 2 trickle towers in the pond is supposedly to clear out nitrates too. I clean out the waterways about once every 3 months. Yes there's some mulm build up at the bottom, but not much and manageble.
Yah... there are never more than 3 green leaves on the yam tree at any one time. Constantly have to cut away the yellowing 4th leaf. Strange isn't it?  ... and yes, they do topple especially if you don't let them root tightly in your waterway. I also have 'Pengaga' and Veriegated Amazon Swords in my waterways. They grow really fast too. I like the greenery.... and the koi as well.
I have gold fish residing in my waterways (Ranchus). They seem to be thriving and if any problems with the mulm build up I would expect to see it first affecting the gold fish. So far, the skin, colour and growth of the gold fish are quite spectacular so everything must be ok. (I rotate those gold fish in my house aquarium with the ones in the waterways every 6 months.... R&R time for the goldies) 
cheers!
Kev
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...I'm afraid only one of the original 3 are left in the waterway. The other 2 were not doing well and I had to tranfer them to my small garden. They are "recovering" now. The reason must be the lack of nitrates in the water. The other must be because I clean the waterway regularly. I find alot of debris everytime and I just flush them out. This may have affected the Yam plants growth. I can't stand the sight of debris accumulating in the waterway and I believe this may cause skin problems to the koi. So...
....what to do! Plants or Koi? Answer is obvious! "Money" plant and Pandan causes less debris and I prefer them now. There's another shorter variety of Yam plant that is not doing too bad. Do you have a similar problem with your Yam plants? I find that there are no more than 4 green leaves in each Yam plant at any time. As soon as one new leaf is appearing, one old leaf would start turning yellow. 
These plants are also easily toppled by strong wind. The Shiro is doing ok. Growing steadily and the white has become thicker and whiter. Not much change in Sumi pattern on it's head yet. Will post a picture of it if I can get a good angle for a shot. 
