fishcare.com.au

Private venue · By reservation only

Is Your Pond Ready for the Big Heat?

Koi Ponds · Lakes · Water Features

Sydney is forecast for one of its hottest summers on record. Whether you look after a backyard koi pond or a public lake, the chemistry is the same — and so is the failure chain: heat drives algae, algae crashes oxygen, oxygen kills fish and closes waterways. Spend a day with five specialists and leave with a plan you can act on before it happens.

Sunday 18 October 2026 10:00 AM – 3:30 PM South-West Sydney

Reserve Your Place

Held at a private koi farm in Sydney’s south-west. The exact address is sent with your booking confirmation.

Algae bloom on a drying pond during an El Niño summer

A hot summer is coming. Is your pond ready?

A strong El Niño is approaching and record temperatures are already here. This summer will bring real pond challenges – but the right proactive measures now can save you stress, fish losses and expensive fixes later.

The physics don’t care whether your water body is 2,000 litres or 2 megalitres: as temperature rises, dissolved oxygen falls, algae accelerates and the nitrogen cycle strains. What changes is the consequence – a dead koi, a resident complaint, a closed lake, or a failed irrigation supply.

Understand why heat triggers algae blooms — and why most of what you read about algae misses the point
Learn how to keep dissolved oxygen stable in warm water
Read the early warning signs before a pond tips out of balance
See live demonstrations, and have your own water sample tested and discussed
Review this season’s equipment and treatment options — what earns its place, what doesn’t

Personal access: Michael and the presenters stay on after the formal programme for one-on-one conversations about your own water. It is the kind of access normally reserved for a private site visit.

What’s included

Full-day programme with five specialist presenters
Your own water sample tested and discussed on the day
Morning tea and a catered lunch, dietary requirements on request
Welcome pack and lucky door draw on arrival
One-on-one time with the presenters after the programme

What’s at stake for you

Same water chemistry, very different consequences

🐟Pond & koi owners

Overnight fish loss in a heatwave — warm water holds less oxygen.

🏢Strata & facility managers

Legionella risk and WHS duty of care — plus the top source of resident complaints.

🏞️Council parks & stormwater

Blue-green algae means a public health advisory, a closure and a media story.

⛳Golf, schools & aged care

Irrigation fails at peak demand; a visible bloom raises duty-of-care questions.

🚜Aquaculture & production ponds

Losses counted in stock, not complaints — and weeks to recover.

📐Landscape architects & consultants

Design it in at the start — circulation, depth, shading — or retrofit in February.

If you are responsible for water that people look at, stock, swim near or rely on — this day is for you.

Bring a sample of your water. A 500 ml jar, or photos on your phone — we test and talk through real water on the day.

Your Speakers

Five specialists, one practical game plan for extreme heat

Michael Regnis

Troubleshooter, System Designer & Pond Rectifier — Fishcare

Michael has spent 45 years designing, troubleshooting and rectifying ponds and water features across greater Sydney — a problem-solver who keeps going until he finds the answer.

Here he is joined by four specialists — a biotech founder, a retail expert, a koi breeder and an environmental scientist — for one practical game plan for extreme heat.

He stays on afterwards for as long as needed to talk through your own water.

Dr Matthew Pang

Founder & Director, BBA PurePond / BBA Biosolution Australia

PhD (University of Sydney), and founder of a biotechnology company working on beneficial bacteria for water and soil. Matthew supplies aquaculture farms, pond professionals and wastewater projects across Australia, and will share how the nitrogen cycle drives stable water and healthier koi.

Paul Talbot

Owner, Majestic Aquariums, Taren Point

Owner of Sydney’s largest aquarium store, and brother of award-winning importer Chris Talbot. Paul brings the retail and equipment view — Dainichi food, Aquael pumps, Seachem treatments — and what is genuinely worth the money.

Ginny Lin

Environmental Scientist & Engineer

Degrees in environmental engineering, science and management — China, Australia, the United States — and more than ten years restoring rivers, wetlands and catchments in the field. She reads a backyard pond and a council lake with the same framework: what to measure, what the numbers mean, and when a bloom is cosmetic versus a public-health event.

Ralf Bohner

Owner / Operator, AusKoi

An experienced koi keeper and breeder, and your host on the day. Ralf will be available throughout the event to answer koi-specific questions – from selection and handling to breeding and health.

Event Details

Everything you need to know

📅

Date

Sunday 18 October 2026

🕙

Time

10:00 AM – 3:30 PM

📍

Location

South-West Sydney
Private venue — full address sent with your confirmation

🚗

Numbers

Strictly limited by on-site parking.
Reservations taken in order.

Programme

Five specialists, one practical day — morning is the science, afternoon is what to do with it

10:00 AM

Arrival, check-in & morning tea

Collect your welcome pack, hand in your water sample and meet the presenters.

10:30 AM

What extreme heat does to small water bodies

Michael Regnis — 45 years of troubleshooting: the failure chain from heat to algae to oxygen crash, and why multi-pronged beats single-product fixes.

11:15 AM

Reading your water: the numbers that matter before they crash

Ginny Lin — dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, ammonia and nitrate: what to measure, what the readings mean, and when a bloom is cosmetic versus a public-health event.

12:00 PM

The nitrogen cycle and beneficial bacteria

Dr Matthew Pang — working with biology instead of against it: where bacteria help, where they don’t, and realistic expectations.

12:30 PM

Lunch

Included with your reservation; dietary requirements on request.

1:15 PM

Equipment and treatments: what’s worth the money

Paul Talbot — pumps, filtration and treatments from the retail side, including what not to buy.

1:45 PM

Koi health, handling and heat stress

Ralf Bohner — selection, handling and keeping stock healthy through summer.

2:15 PM

Live water testing, demos & open Q&A

Bring your sample or photos — we test and problem-solve real water on the floor.

3:00 PM

Lucky door draw, then open floor

Michael and the presenters stay on until 3:30 PM to talk through your own site, one-on-one.

Admission

A single reservation covers one to four guests from the same household, team or site

One Guest

$49

$49 per person

Two Guests

$89

$44.50 per person

Three Guests

$129

$43 per person

Four Guests

$159

$39.75 per person

Group rates apply when guests are booked in one reservation and arrive together. Numbers are limited by on-site parking, so places are confirmed in order of booking.

Professional reservation — add $40 per guest

Attending in a professional capacity? Add the Professional option for a tax invoice with ABN and PO number for reimbursement or your training budget, plus a Certificate of Attendance (5.5 hours) for your training record or self-logged CPD.

This event is not accredited CPD. Attendees are responsible for recording CPD with their own professional body.

Reserve Your Place

Numbers are limited by on-site parking — book early to avoid missing out

Bookings are handled by TryBooking — select one to four guests, add the Professional option if you need an invoice and attendance certificate, then pay by card or PayPal. Your confirmation email includes the venue address. Places are limited by on-site parking and confirmed in order of booking.

Book on TryBooking →

Opens TryBooking in a new tab. Prefer to embed checkout directly on this page? Paste the TryBooking Embedded booking widget code into #trybooking-embed below.

Questions or group bookings? info@fishcare.com.au