NVN Koi app
An easy tool as worthy addition to the hobby?
The Dutch Koi Keepers society, the NVN (Nishikigoi Vereniging Nederland) has made, and is developing an app for Koi.
One of the main targets for the Koi society NVN is to share knowledge about Koi and aim to increase the level of knowledge about Koi for all its (future) members.
But a Koi app, an app for Koi? A Koi doesn’t need an app. In fact when I think of it, a Koi needs very little to survive. When a Koi resides in a volume of water, preferably a bit murky so it feels safe, with a small food source, and temperatures somewhere between having its gills freeze up and frying its brain, a Koi can really handle a lot. When that water is somehow cleared of its waste a Koi could even survive a long time and feel happy wanting little more. What about its owner? Let’s call it a Koi hobbyist. Well these Koi hobbyists want to see their Koi in the preferably crystal clear pond, have them grow, too often large proportions, maintaining a fantastic skin quality in the meantime, have 0 stress because they should eat out of its hand, and do all this in a pond which most of the time contains many more specimen than any carp containing open water per cubic meter. So what about these Koi hobbyist? Do they need an app? Well, in this article I will try to explain why I believe that many could experience many advantages in using the app.
All koi hobbyists and professionals have gone through a learning curve. No one is borne possessing all knowledge about Koi. In fact many of the most experienced Japanese breeders have stated in several interviews that one never stops learning about Koi. There are different experience levels however. I look at the hobby as a pyramid which can be applied both local and worldwide. The top contains the 5% which are the most experienced being breeders, top hobbyists and dealers. Below that are 5% very experienced Koi hobbyists that like the first 5% know a great deal about most facets of the hobby and can be considered to be professionals. Below that is a band of around 20% of experienced hobbyists that know enough of the hobby to take good care of their Koi and pond. They may already know how to even improve their Koi or are in the process of learning this. Many volunteers in the hobby that help in shows, and share their knowledge reside in this category. The rest of the pyramid is the largest part of the hobby. Those that do not have enough knowledge yet but are learning fast or slow but all share their interest in the mysterious Koi. Finally there is a group on the bottom of the pyramid that doesn’t want to learn or knows it all. The largest and most important part I believe is the middle of the pyramid where knowledge on all aspects of the hobby is required, wanted and often sought after. These are the future volunteers, the future owners of Show Koi, the future of the hobby. I believe the top 30% of the pyramid can do a lot and is already trying to help them by sharing there gathered knowledge. This app is our part in that. I got the first idea when I was growing up small Koi in a quarantine tank and decided yet again to walk inside to start up the computer to look up the data on my excel sheet. If I made an app for that I could not only have this myself on my phone with me all the time, but also share it because I got the same questions for years when answering questions on Koi fora. Trying to help others on these fora has been very time consuming and I couldn’t find more time to help them all so why not have them help themselves by using an app.
Now could that work? I figured that a large part of starting hobbyists are in there twenties. And there is at least one thing they will never go anywhere without, a mobile phone. And they are used to find info at there fingertips plus they are used to learn, fast! So why not facilitate that.
To help the most people as fast as I can I decided to start with the basics which are in the app today. One should be aware of how many Koi you have in your pond, and how big they all are. Thus when starting the app you can enter these very fast. You only need to do that once for the length can be adjusted over time. In the next field the app automatically gives an indication of the minimal amount of food your Koi need daily to stay healthy at each water temperature. And yes the Koi need a lot more in the summer when temperatures rise to stock up reserves for the winter to. The user then learns that apparently it is better to weigh your food and change the amount given depending on water temperatures. And not just throw in a few hands when the first spring sunbeams hit the water surface for instance. And it is better to regularly feed the Koi, almost the same every day. Increasing with a maximum of 50 grams per day until the desired amount is reached. That is better for the bacteria in the biological filter which also prefer a steady flow of food (the waste products from our Koi) to thrive and keep up with increases. In the next field one can select the main biological filter material and the app returns the minimal volume needed to have the food given to the Koi processed each day. The user can notice that it does not say x filter suitable for y volumes of water. It is not a database of all forms and sizes of filters, but an attempt has been made to include the most used filter materials in the hobby. Most will know that the bacteria that process the Koi waste need a place to settle and your filter should be an ideal place with enough surface which is well fed with aerated pond water flowing by. And you should have enough of the material to house a sufficient amount of bacteria. When buying (or selling) a filter the third calculation can be easy because when selecting the sizes of the filter media in the filter the app gives the approximate amount of food it can handle per day (based on available surface area for the bacteria to settle on). Off course you should think about the maximum amount of food that you want to feed your future Koi collection per day to know if your purchase now is also ready for the future. Because I also got many questions from all over the world through the Internet fora, I also included both measuring systems. For android, within the settings menu the whole app can be switched from the metric system to imperial and back if required whilst keeping your data. In IOS this is dependent of the settings of your phone.
When all this is no secret to you anymore but you do not know the weight of your Koi the last fields can be helpful. One can enter the desired body weight % you want to use per length category and the app returns based on the average body weight of each of your Koi’s length, how much food that calculates into in total. I have been asked by a friendly Koi breeder if I could also include the option to fill in the weight of the Koi yourself. That is possible but be useful to a handful of the top 5% of the pyramid. I rather include extra functions that all can use in the near future to start with and add that in a later stage.
By working together with the NVN the app got an upgrade and will improve significantly in terms of specific Koi knowledge that will be included.
In addition to previous mentioned functions we added the possibility to add pictures of your Koi, just for fun. Keeping track of all important changes to the pond in a log, like water treatments due to parasites or others is also useful. Especially when help is needed. They will provide an instant overview of the pond history.
Another thing that I believe is very useful also for more experienced hobbyists is keeping track of water values over time in graphs. But not only that, I plan to include advise about what to do when one or more values are not as desired. This we hope to achieve in the next few years.
Recently a Koi encyclopedia and terminology is added but I will talk about those in another article, just like I will explain basics of the hobby in general and the Nitrogen cycle. The app is not even near being finished, but could help starters already a lot with his current status now.
Through this app in multiple languages the NVN tries to help hobbyists worldwide. The basic and well-functioning version of the NVN app is there now, and I believe it has the potential to become a useful tool for all Koi hobbyists, throughout the whole Pyramid. To keep track of important information, as an easy, one click away source of info, share knowledge and have a shorter learning curve, so we can spend more time with- and talking about, our beautiful Koi. Most of you who are reading this will be part of the top of the pyramid and might not need the app as it is now. But if you believe that sharing knowledge is a good thing, and making sure that starting hobbyists can have a faster learning curve to make the hobby stronger, by using the app, as I believe they will? Then please at least make them aware that there is a free app that can help them to not make the basic mistakes that many of us have encountered. And who knows, we can keep improving the app into a tool you yourself would like to use?
Koen Gevers
An easy tool as worthy addition to the hobby?
The Dutch Koi Keepers society, the NVN (Nishikigoi Vereniging Nederland) has made, and is developing an app for Koi.
One of the main targets for the Koi society NVN is to share knowledge about Koi and aim to increase the level of knowledge about Koi for all its (future) members.
But a Koi app, an app for Koi? A Koi doesn’t need an app. In fact when I think of it, a Koi needs very little to survive. When a Koi resides in a volume of water, preferably a bit murky so it feels safe, with a small food source, and temperatures somewhere between having its gills freeze up and frying its brain, a Koi can really handle a lot. When that water is somehow cleared of its waste a Koi could even survive a long time and feel happy wanting little more. What about its owner? Let’s call it a Koi hobbyist. Well these Koi hobbyists want to see their Koi in the preferably crystal clear pond, have them grow, too often large proportions, maintaining a fantastic skin quality in the meantime, have 0 stress because they should eat out of its hand, and do all this in a pond which most of the time contains many more specimen than any carp containing open water per cubic meter. So what about these Koi hobbyist? Do they need an app? Well, in this article I will try to explain why I believe that many could experience many advantages in using the app.
All koi hobbyists and professionals have gone through a learning curve. No one is borne possessing all knowledge about Koi. In fact many of the most experienced Japanese breeders have stated in several interviews that one never stops learning about Koi. There are different experience levels however. I look at the hobby as a pyramid which can be applied both local and worldwide. The top contains the 5% which are the most experienced being breeders, top hobbyists and dealers. Below that are 5% very experienced Koi hobbyists that like the first 5% know a great deal about most facets of the hobby and can be considered to be professionals. Below that is a band of around 20% of experienced hobbyists that know enough of the hobby to take good care of their Koi and pond. They may already know how to even improve their Koi or are in the process of learning this. Many volunteers in the hobby that help in shows, and share their knowledge reside in this category. The rest of the pyramid is the largest part of the hobby. Those that do not have enough knowledge yet but are learning fast or slow but all share their interest in the mysterious Koi. Finally there is a group on the bottom of the pyramid that doesn’t want to learn or knows it all. The largest and most important part I believe is the middle of the pyramid where knowledge on all aspects of the hobby is required, wanted and often sought after. These are the future volunteers, the future owners of Show Koi, the future of the hobby. I believe the top 30% of the pyramid can do a lot and is already trying to help them by sharing there gathered knowledge. This app is our part in that. I got the first idea when I was growing up small Koi in a quarantine tank and decided yet again to walk inside to start up the computer to look up the data on my excel sheet. If I made an app for that I could not only have this myself on my phone with me all the time, but also share it because I got the same questions for years when answering questions on Koi fora. Trying to help others on these fora has been very time consuming and I couldn’t find more time to help them all so why not have them help themselves by using an app.
Now could that work? I figured that a large part of starting hobbyists are in there twenties. And there is at least one thing they will never go anywhere without, a mobile phone. And they are used to find info at there fingertips plus they are used to learn, fast! So why not facilitate that.
To help the most people as fast as I can I decided to start with the basics which are in the app today. One should be aware of how many Koi you have in your pond, and how big they all are. Thus when starting the app you can enter these very fast. You only need to do that once for the length can be adjusted over time. In the next field the app automatically gives an indication of the minimal amount of food your Koi need daily to stay healthy at each water temperature. And yes the Koi need a lot more in the summer when temperatures rise to stock up reserves for the winter to. The user then learns that apparently it is better to weigh your food and change the amount given depending on water temperatures. And not just throw in a few hands when the first spring sunbeams hit the water surface for instance. And it is better to regularly feed the Koi, almost the same every day. Increasing with a maximum of 50 grams per day until the desired amount is reached. That is better for the bacteria in the biological filter which also prefer a steady flow of food (the waste products from our Koi) to thrive and keep up with increases. In the next field one can select the main biological filter material and the app returns the minimal volume needed to have the food given to the Koi processed each day. The user can notice that it does not say x filter suitable for y volumes of water. It is not a database of all forms and sizes of filters, but an attempt has been made to include the most used filter materials in the hobby. Most will know that the bacteria that process the Koi waste need a place to settle and your filter should be an ideal place with enough surface which is well fed with aerated pond water flowing by. And you should have enough of the material to house a sufficient amount of bacteria. When buying (or selling) a filter the third calculation can be easy because when selecting the sizes of the filter media in the filter the app gives the approximate amount of food it can handle per day (based on available surface area for the bacteria to settle on). Off course you should think about the maximum amount of food that you want to feed your future Koi collection per day to know if your purchase now is also ready for the future. Because I also got many questions from all over the world through the Internet fora, I also included both measuring systems. For android, within the settings menu the whole app can be switched from the metric system to imperial and back if required whilst keeping your data. In IOS this is dependent of the settings of your phone.
When all this is no secret to you anymore but you do not know the weight of your Koi the last fields can be helpful. One can enter the desired body weight % you want to use per length category and the app returns based on the average body weight of each of your Koi’s length, how much food that calculates into in total. I have been asked by a friendly Koi breeder if I could also include the option to fill in the weight of the Koi yourself. That is possible but be useful to a handful of the top 5% of the pyramid. I rather include extra functions that all can use in the near future to start with and add that in a later stage.
By working together with the NVN the app got an upgrade and will improve significantly in terms of specific Koi knowledge that will be included.
In addition to previous mentioned functions we added the possibility to add pictures of your Koi, just for fun. Keeping track of all important changes to the pond in a log, like water treatments due to parasites or others is also useful. Especially when help is needed. They will provide an instant overview of the pond history.
Another thing that I believe is very useful also for more experienced hobbyists is keeping track of water values over time in graphs. But not only that, I plan to include advise about what to do when one or more values are not as desired. This we hope to achieve in the next few years.
Recently a Koi encyclopedia and terminology is added but I will talk about those in another article, just like I will explain basics of the hobby in general and the Nitrogen cycle. The app is not even near being finished, but could help starters already a lot with his current status now.
Through this app in multiple languages the NVN tries to help hobbyists worldwide. The basic and well-functioning version of the NVN app is there now, and I believe it has the potential to become a useful tool for all Koi hobbyists, throughout the whole Pyramid. To keep track of important information, as an easy, one click away source of info, share knowledge and have a shorter learning curve, so we can spend more time with- and talking about, our beautiful Koi. Most of you who are reading this will be part of the top of the pyramid and might not need the app as it is now. But if you believe that sharing knowledge is a good thing, and making sure that starting hobbyists can have a faster learning curve to make the hobby stronger, by using the app, as I believe they will? Then please at least make them aware that there is a free app that can help them to not make the basic mistakes that many of us have encountered. And who knows, we can keep improving the app into a tool you yourself would like to use?
Koen Gevers
