Duncan wrote “Advanced Koi Diagnosis and Treatments” which is a highly recommended addition to the library of any hobbyist who is interested in koi health. He also started the Koi Quest forum where he has gained a reputation for passing on his accumulated knowledge on koi health and giving reliable and comprehensive advice to hobbyists whose koi have health issues. He now teaches an advanced koi health course for the online teaching organisation Koi Organisation International.
Dean has been keeping koi for fifteen years as a hobbyist and has been involved in the industry professionally for eight years, working for Hikari and, more recently, as UK Sales Manager for Evolution Aqua. He now heads a new Aquatics Company, Aqua Source Products Ltd, supplying dry goods to the aquatic trade. Dean has been giving talks to koi clubs for the past seven years, with the main topic being Koi Nutrition, which is his specialist subject. His talks are done with his hobbyist hat on, and with much humour! He is widely respected in the trade for his extensive knowledge of all aspects of feeding koi. He is also happy talking about other subjects, such as filtration and pond treatments etc.
David has been involved in fish-keeping for over 45 years and turned a hobby into a career. He studied Zoology at the University of Liverpool, specialising in Freshwater Fisheries Biology, then three years studying for a PhD on diseases of carp and other freshwater fish. David spent 25 years working for Tetra, initially running their Information Centre then marketing before becoming the UK Managing Director for 10 years. Author of three books plus over 250 articles on koi and fishkeeping and has promoted fishkeeping on radio, television and in talks throughout the world. David is Chairman of the AQUA trade show and a Director of OATA. In 2013 he founded FishScience which develops and distributes aquarium, pond and koi foods, based on natural ingredients.
Mark attended Sparsholt College from 1983 to 1985 where he studied fish farming, water chemistry, geology, fish farm construction techniques, fish health and disease diagnosis. During his time at Sparsholt, he worked on several fish farms in the UK and also on carp farms in France and Hungary. When Mark set up Cuttlebrook Koi Farm it had ponds but no electricity, mains water or sewage facilities. By dogged persistence and support from his wife, Lisa, he has turned it into the successful koi farm that it is today.
The Fish Health Inspectorate (FHI) is the official service for the control of serious diseases in aquatic animals in England and Wales. We act on behalf of Defra and the Welsh Government and are based at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas). We are responsible for preventing the introduction and spread of serious diseases in fish, shellfish and crustacea. We aim to send the inspector responsible for the area the club is in so they have the most relevant person delivering talks. We don’t charge and just try to arrange evening talks alongside an inspector’s regular work in the area. It is difficult to give these talks at weekends as we have limited resources. Please make bookings early to allow us time to schedule them along with our normal work in that area.
Over thirty years of designing and installing filtration and water quality control equipment for the leisure industry followed by studying koi physiology and health since 2006 has given Syd a lot to talk about. He has both OATA Advanced Diplomas. Hanna Instruments asked him to specify the koi kit for their new electronic tester and write the koi keeping booklet that accompanies it. He has written over 100 magazine articles and, consequently, was recruited by the online teaching organisation Koi Organisation International to teach courses in Water Quality and Advanced Filtration and to write new courses plus technical papers and books for their website store.