Genesyz and Koizyme

With the latest KHV outbreaks causing growing concern amongst koi keepers there's now great interest in products to help with bio-security. This is the latest buzz word that should encompass a whole set of procedures not to be reliant on the use of products alone. To the average koi owner though they are looking for the most effective way they can safeguard their koi. Virkon S and the new Virasure for koi have been proved to be very effective as disinfectants but the continued reliance on chemicals is being questioned by some.

This is where Genesyz or Koizyme as it's known in the US comes in, as it's part of a group of chemical free pond additives that's gaining popularity. The old mantra of 'look after the water and the koi will look after themselves' may soon have to be changed or at least how we look after the water. Koi pond filtration is given lots of attention and so it should do as it's vital to keeping healthy koi but when many people test their water parameters they rarely test for bacterial levels. The usual tests may show you have perfect water quality but a koi pond could be thought of as a increasingly concentrated soup of chemicals and organisms unless something is done. All koi keepers know the nitrogen cycle off by heart and that the immune systems of their koi can at times be less effective but knowing how to improve this is less talked about.

Genesyz (Koizyme) has been around a while but many people myself included failed to appreciate how useful it can be. I tended to think it was for ponds that have a problem and not as a preventative to help keep koi stay on top of pathogenic bacteria. Genesyz (Koizyme) works by a process called Competitive Exclusion which basically means using harmless bacteria to out-compete the bad bacteria by consuming all their nutrients and literally starving them to death. This has been used in all walks of life and now an expanding list of koi products from probiotics in food like Saki-Hikari through to clearing green water of algae.

Many koi keepers have been put off for ever after following all the right instructions, building a superb pond with the latest super dooper filter only to lose all their fish to bacterial diseases in the spring or autumn. The aeromonas alley is a well known phenomenon that catches the kois' immune system off guard and there are a number of things that can be done to swing the balance in your kois' favor such as UV's, heating and ozonizers but Genesyz (Koizyme) particularly targets the problem bacteria. All koi naturally carry Aeromonas and Pseudomonas and their presence keeps the immune system in check but left uncontrolled can overwhelm the koi producing the commonly seen diseases such as ulcers.

I think this is the future for koi treatments and additives as they are totally safe and have no harmful side effects. It is not a cure all for all diseases and it will not kill viruses where the right chemicals are then needed, but it should give some peace of mind that the biggest killers are less likely.