Questions, answered plainly
Frequently asked.
The things a serious keeper wants to know before trusting an instrument with an irreplaceable collection.
Accuracy & maintenance
Is it accurate enough to trust?+
Trust it the way you trust a good gauge — as a continuous reading you can spot-verify, not a lab result. What matters most is a stable trend and a fast alert when it moves. The per-parameter figures are in the accuracy table above (pH ±0.1, dissolved oxygen ±0.3 mg/L, conductivity ±1%, ammonium and nitrate ±5%). Ranges are typical guidance that varies by system.
Is it really maintenance-free?+
For cleaning, yes. An automatic wiper sweeps every sensor clean on a schedule — no reagents, no slides, nothing to wipe by hand. The single recurring task is one guided calibration a year on the electrode sensors.
Does it replace my test kit?+
No, and we would not tell an experienced keeper otherwise. It replaces the daily habit of reagent testing with continuous measurement, so you see a problem forming hours before a once-a-day test would catch it. Keep your reference kit for the occasional cross-check.
What needs calibrating, and how often?+
The electrode sensors — pH, ammonium, nitrate, and the reference — drift slowly, as all electrodes do. One guided one-step calibration once a year keeps them honest. Do it yourself in minutes, or we handle it on a service visit.
How long do the sensors last?+
Optical sensors and conductivity run four to five years; the electrode sensors twelve to eighteen months. This is normal wear, replaced when due — not a fault.
Won’t the sensors foul in a pond?+
Fouling is exactly what the wiper prevents. It clears biofilm and debris from every sensor before it can bias a reading, automatically, with no hand-cleaning step.
What it can — and can’t — do
Does it detect disease — KHV, flukes, parasites?+
No. It reports water chemistry, equipment status, level and temperature. Disease passes fish-to-fish and is often invisible in the water — a carrier can clear every water test. That stays your eye, and your vet’s.
Does it stop predators?+
No. It watches the water, not the pond’s surroundings. A heron at first light is yours to catch.
So what does it actually watch?+
A full panel of live water-chemistry readings, dissolved oxygen and temperature, equipment status, and water level — continuously, with an alert the moment any of it leaves its band.
Is a reading a diagnosis?+
No. It is continuous measurement and early warning. The ranges we show are typical husbandry guidance, not a veterinary prescription.
The automatic water change — is it safe?
What stops it draining the pond dry or overflowing?+
Every change is bounded by independent low- and high-water level marks, so the pond is never drained past the low mark or filled past the high mark. Beneath that, a continuous depth sensor is the ultimate safety net — it reads the true water level at all times, independently of the marks, so even if a point sensor were ever misread, the real depth still stops the cycle. Two independent ways of knowing the level, never one.
What if a valve sticks or a reading looks wrong?+
The cycle halts and alerts you. It calls you — it does not force its way through a fault.
What triggers a change?+
The pond’s real-time water chemistry — for example a rising ammonia or nitrite reading — or a schedule you set. Either way, the level marks bound how far it goes.
Could it refill with untreated tap water?+
No. Fresh water enters through a dechlorinated supply prepared upstream on the fill line; the change draws only from that.
Am I ever locked out of control?+
Never. Semi-Auto keeps a manual switch on every output — skimmer pump, drain pump, drain valve, water valve — and the same level-mark and halt-and-alert protections still apply even when you drive it by hand.
Install & onboarding
Can you retrofit my existing pond?+
Yes. The system is built to fit established koi systems, not only new builds. The design step confirms exactly how it integrates.
Who installs it?+
Usually our own team, on-site. Depending on the location it may be a certified local installer or a guided owner install — we scope that with you.
What does my pond need to provide?+
Power, a drain, a dechlorinated fill line for the automation, and coverage for the sonde’s link. We confirm every prerequisite during the design step, before you commit.
How long does an install take?+
Monitoring: about a day to install, plus a day of observation. Full automation: about two days to install, plus two days of observation — we don’t just fit it and leave; we watch it run first.
Where do you install?+
Worldwide. We travel to, or arrange installation for, wherever your collection is.
Connectivity, power & data
What if my power goes out?+
This is where H2Koi is different. The sonde and its gateway both carry battery backup — around 48 hours — and the gateway reaches out over an independent connection. So when your home power and Wi-Fi are both down, the alert still reaches your phone: the exact moment you most need to know.
What if my internet drops?+
The sonde buffers its readings locally and backfills the trend log when the connection returns, so there is no gap in your history.
Does it depend on my home Wi-Fi?+
No. The alert path does not rely on your household router. A Wi-Fi option exists, but it is not the outage-proof path.
Who owns my data?+
You do. Your pond data is never sold. We keep one year of history.
Pricing, warranty & support
How much does it cost?+
Every system is engineered to your pond and your collection, so there is no shelf price. We scope it precisely in a consultation and quote a fixed price against a written design — measured against the collection, never against a pump.
Is there an ongoing cost?+
The first year includes full warranty. After that you can continue with an extended-warranty plan or a lighter monitoring-only plan — we set the specifics with you. Nothing is hidden; you will know before you commit.
What is the warranty, and can I return it?+
A full one-year warranty is included, extendable year by year. Because each system is designed and fitted to your pond, we do not take change-of-mind returns — but if there is a technical fault we exchange or repair it, and the consultation and design confirm the fit before you order.
Who answers when I need help?+
The people who built it — fast, direct response, not a call-centre queue. If a sensor develops a hard fault it raises an alert on its own and we replace it under warranty.
The company
Who is behind H2Koi?+
H2Koi is built by IQTEK LLC — at its heart one engineer who designs the hardware, writes the firmware, runs the servers and supports the systems, watching high-value koi ponds since 2017 from the United States and Hong Kong. Your alerts and trend data run on hosted servers that stay up independently of any one person.
Why does that matter?+
The person who answers your call is the person who built the instrument. Industrial-grade sensors, our own firmware, and a track record measured in years — not launches.
Still have a question? Talk to us
