Some of our favorites are pictured here. It is not always easy to get a good fish picture. Here, our elders are sunning on a great July day, the water is clear and the fish are happy.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
The story of Geisha
Do you have a favorite Koi color? We tend to try to balance the pond by having lots of different colors. Our large fish are a mixture of yellow, black, red, blue and white. We used to have a pure white fish - we lost her to an unidentified critter. We are currently raising three white baby fish to chose one to replace our lost Geisha. Geisha had been born in the pond and survived the winter. We didn't know she existed until the following spring. She was strong and native and we miss her. (You know, as much as you can miss a fish.) At the time we found Geisha, we were not raising the Koi fry, we were letting nature take its course. And by doing so, we were left with exactly one fish baby. As you can see by other posts, when we intercede on nature's behalf, we can find ourselves with hundreds of babies.
The rambling point is, Geisha was special to us, because she was our first pond-born fish. She was 24 inches long when the critter got her, and the queen of the pond. She led the other fish at feeding time. (They wait for one fish to start before they all come running.) She was the biggest and prettiest fish we had.
She was a survivor. We first found her in a pile of muck (outside the pond) when we were cleaning the lower pond. During Spring Cleaning, we scoop out the old fish waste and throw it into the trees and grass for fertilizer. She was 1 inch long at the time. We put her back in the upper pond and she proceded to grow. Then we had a visit by the dreaded Blue Heron.
That Bast...d proceded to eat most of our fish and gave Geisha a nasty cut/scar across her forhead. She grew some more and started having babies. In the process the Males were a little rough on her and broke her back. She swam crooked for a year but eventually healed.
Now we have three contenders for the job of pure white fish. We'll see how they grow and we'll pick the one that reminds us most of Geisha.
The rambling point is, Geisha was special to us, because she was our first pond-born fish. She was 24 inches long when the critter got her, and the queen of the pond. She led the other fish at feeding time. (They wait for one fish to start before they all come running.) She was the biggest and prettiest fish we had.
She was a survivor. We first found her in a pile of muck (outside the pond) when we were cleaning the lower pond. During Spring Cleaning, we scoop out the old fish waste and throw it into the trees and grass for fertilizer. She was 1 inch long at the time. We put her back in the upper pond and she proceded to grow. Then we had a visit by the dreaded Blue Heron.
That Bast...d proceded to eat most of our fish and gave Geisha a nasty cut/scar across her forhead. She grew some more and started having babies. In the process the Males were a little rough on her and broke her back. She swam crooked for a year but eventually healed.
Now we have three contenders for the job of pure white fish. We'll see how they grow and we'll pick the one that reminds us most of Geisha.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Koi fun
I am convinced we bought this house because of the double pond in the backyard. Since then, we have made many improvements to the filtration system and the surrounding landscape. One of the biggest changes was ridding the ponds of the goldfish and adding koi fish. Koi are a colorful version of Carp that long ago were raised as food for mountain people in Asia - similar to how people raise chickens for food.
Now they are entertainment.Every morning and evening we rely on them to entertain us. In the evening they help wind us down. (The glass of wine doesn't hurt in that capacity either.) We have become somewhat obsessed with breeding and finding the perfect colors. At present we are foster parents to hundreds of koi born in early July in our ponds. Most are approximately 1/2 inch long, but we have spotted a dozen or so that are two inches long and one that is four inches long! We call her Nessie, because you really can't believe she exists, but there are those who swear they've seen her! Come winter, we will bring 20 or 30 into the house to entertain us over the long winter when the bigger, long term residents are sleeping the season away under the ice.We've had the ponds for 11 years and have learned so much that husband has become known in certain circles as "the fish whisperer."In the Spring, we will be here with 1 year old koi for sale or trade, and questions and advice about spring cleaning and keeping the fish healthy.In the meantime, we would love to know if any of our SandyBayDay friends are pond people or fish collectors.
Now they are entertainment.Every morning and evening we rely on them to entertain us. In the evening they help wind us down. (The glass of wine doesn't hurt in that capacity either.) We have become somewhat obsessed with breeding and finding the perfect colors. At present we are foster parents to hundreds of koi born in early July in our ponds. Most are approximately 1/2 inch long, but we have spotted a dozen or so that are two inches long and one that is four inches long! We call her Nessie, because you really can't believe she exists, but there are those who swear they've seen her! Come winter, we will bring 20 or 30 into the house to entertain us over the long winter when the bigger, long term residents are sleeping the season away under the ice.We've had the ponds for 11 years and have learned so much that husband has become known in certain circles as "the fish whisperer."In the Spring, we will be here with 1 year old koi for sale or trade, and questions and advice about spring cleaning and keeping the fish healthy.In the meantime, we would love to know if any of our SandyBayDay friends are pond people or fish collectors.
Can fish be that fascinating?
They are for us. We have been observed sitting for hours simply watching the baby koi eat. They love tiny freeze dried shrimp, flaked fish food and hard boiled eggs. Yes, we have cooked for our fish.... don't laugh, I bet you've given your cat tuna or your dog a bit of beef now and again.
We discovered the other night, in a temporary silly moment, that baby koi really enjoy Wheat Thins. Perhaps it was foolish of us, but we decided to share small parts of our appetizer plate with the babies. They loved the crackers!!
The plan for the fall is as follows: we will cover the ponds with netting near the end of September before the big maple tree starts dropping its leaves creating a maple tea in the ponds which, if permitted to go unchecked, sucks out all the oxygen thus drowning the fish. The netting will also keep out Big Blue (the great blue herron on his migration stopover), beautiful, majestic and relentless fish murderer. Big Blue caused the death of seven very beautiful and quite innocent fish one year. He will be stopped by the netting. But beware - if he is stopped at our pond, he will find another - maybe yours????We plan to bring in 30 or so baby fish to live in aquariums for the winter to provide us with entertainment and companionship - since we don't see our outside fish for the entire season. The 30 or so largest fish will be transferred to the bigger of the two ponds where they will, we hope, have the best chance to survive the winter.
The other 1000 babies will put Darwinism to the test and survive if they are strong enough.See you in the Spring!!
We discovered the other night, in a temporary silly moment, that baby koi really enjoy Wheat Thins. Perhaps it was foolish of us, but we decided to share small parts of our appetizer plate with the babies. They loved the crackers!!
The plan for the fall is as follows: we will cover the ponds with netting near the end of September before the big maple tree starts dropping its leaves creating a maple tea in the ponds which, if permitted to go unchecked, sucks out all the oxygen thus drowning the fish. The netting will also keep out Big Blue (the great blue herron on his migration stopover), beautiful, majestic and relentless fish murderer. Big Blue caused the death of seven very beautiful and quite innocent fish one year. He will be stopped by the netting. But beware - if he is stopped at our pond, he will find another - maybe yours????We plan to bring in 30 or so baby fish to live in aquariums for the winter to provide us with entertainment and companionship - since we don't see our outside fish for the entire season. The 30 or so largest fish will be transferred to the bigger of the two ponds where they will, we hope, have the best chance to survive the winter.
The other 1000 babies will put Darwinism to the test and survive if they are strong enough.See you in the Spring!!
Intro post
Welcome to our blog!! We love to talk Koi Pond with our friends around New England. We've been raising koi in our backyard for 10 years and have made some mistakes and learned some lessons.
The purpose of the blog is to talk koi. How to care for them, how they entertain us, how to share the fun of our backyard pond.
Join us and spread the word. Tell your friends, we look forward to sharing.
Beth and Chris
The purpose of the blog is to talk koi. How to care for them, how they entertain us, how to share the fun of our backyard pond.
Join us and spread the word. Tell your friends, we look forward to sharing.
Beth and Chris
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