Jackie's Blog, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Tis the Season!

2011-11-22T08:50:00.003-06:00

Its the end of November already and the weather has been pretty awesome so far. In fact, Thanksgiving day they are calling for lower 60's. Water temps in the outside ponds have been in the mid 40s in the lower pond and staying close to a steady 50 in the covered new pond. I did wake up a couple mornings to find ice on the quiet stream area. But, no measurable snow, which is just fine with me. Fish in the basement seem to be doing fine so far. I know I'm way overstocked down there, but the drip through water seems to be helping so far. Its been over a month now since we brought them inside. This is the mark where I start getting a little nervous about them breaking out with something. I'm feeding them some mandafu soaked in a vitamin water concoction I mix up. They seem to enjoy it, so am hopeful it will help boost their immune systems while being so crowded. The fish in the open lower pond, seem OK so far, too. They are doing their normal fall/winter behavior. Harry has the stream blocked off already so they can't go up into the shallow/colder water. We'll probably put in the heater and after Thanksgiving shut down the water falls and pull the pumps down there, also. We'll turn down the air to just a trickle and pray for the best as winter will surely come with full force shortly. The new above ground pond is totally experimental. I'm hoping that it will not freeze and that I won't have to use a heater in it at all. That's my hopes for the winter covering. We'll see, I'll give updated reports as to how its behaving. Just don't want the pipes to freeze. I feel like I have fish just everywhere! 3 ponds and 1 aquarium, seems like a hand full. Hate the thought of winter coming. I have something going on every weekend till after xmas already! Tis the season.

Getting ready for winter.

2011-10-19T08:10:00.002-05:00

I finally have a cover!! This past weekend my ever so talented husband constructed a cover over the new pond. It's made of 2x6 lumber and covered with a large clear tarp. We placed 4" sheets of insulation around the pond and then even piled bales of hay around the parameter. Using hay as an insulation is an old trick the old timers used to do to keep uninsulated homes warmer in the winter. Harry made me a little door so I can get into the pond area, but I can also see in there through the window in the garage. Since it is a new pond and this is the first winter, we still brought in most of my favorite fish into the basement pond. Its totally packed down there and we may even have to bring some back out. I just want to see how the pond does in 20 below weather. Will the pipes freeze cause they are out of the ground? I don't know. We'll drain all that we can, but it will be interesting to see if the filter, which is above ground will freeze, or if the cover will protect and prevent that. I have about 5 fish out there as my ginny pigs. Meanwhile inside there are 19 fish in less than 1000 gallons of water, which I know is WAY too many. I'm doing a constant drip through of water and testing daily. The ammonia levels are still there, so thus I may have to put some back outside regardless if I want to or not. Even my drip through is not keeping up. Last weekend we completely drained the larger lower pond and removed the 8-10 large Black koi. I gave away 3 at the pond meeting last night. I do not need 10 black koi in my ponds and really wanted them out before winter. They were just taking up space, eating my expensive food, and adding to the water quality waste. So out they came. They were my 2010 leftover baby fish. Not sure what will happen with the rest, but am thinking I'll be putting them to sleep and they'll be fertilizer in my garden. I'll see maybe I can get rid of a couple more at the next pond meeting. I'm not keeping them through the winter, that's for sure. It's cold this am. Temps in the 40's. Suppose to get a killing frost tonight. I haven't seen ice on the pond yet, but know its just around the corner. Boo hoo...

Beautiful Koi with big problems

2011-09-29T09:41:00.003-05:00

Went out last night on a fish call. I've been out to see this fish before. The local vet was present also as we were going to give the koi an injection of antibiotics. We visited this koi several months ago regarding a open spot between its pec fins. At that time, we felt it appeared to have a thin layer of skin growing over it, so we were optimistic that it would heal itself. The koi's owner has some of the best water quality around, which has helped this koi immensely. It has been in a qt tank all summer. Just recently it has developed some sores along its back and tail and just seemed to be stressed in general. The smaller koi in its tank were continually picking at its sores which made the mater worse. The owner has since separated the koi from the pickers and they now share a split tank. Last night we again pulled the koi, put her to sleep to examined the sores, gave it an injection of antibiotics and cleaned and dressed the ulcers. About what we did months ago. Hopefully with the help of the antibiotic, she will return to her beautiful self. The pond owner has done an excellent job of keeping this koi healthy so my hopes are high that she will be just fine by spring again.

I"m sooo depressed.

2011-09-13T09:42:00.002-05:00

It's mid September and I'm so depressed. Worked in the garden a bit last night, cutting out spent flowers and weeds. It was absolutely beautiful out. I ended the rounds through the gardens by netting out fallen leaves from the pond. It was so nice I didn't want to go inside. I wanted to savor every fleeting minute of Summer. Since Harry was wanting dinner, I relented and went inside to do the normal evening duties, cooking, cleaning up, and a little TV before bed. At 10:00 I got up to head to bed but again was drawn outside. It was still warm out and there was a reflection of a full moon dancing off the pond surface. The string lights on the new pond give off a mesmerizing blue light that reflects across the surface of the moving water. I couldn't resist and grabbed my camera to see if I could capture the beauty of it all. I walked about the gardens in the dead of night and found myself sitting in a chair in the dark all alone. The town was quiet. No traffic, no kids yelling; only the sound of crickets chirping in the background and the waterfalls singing it's calming songs. The moon was full above me and it by itself was beautiful. I see the upstairs bedroom light go on, so I know Harry has gone to bed. The light goes out again and is replaced by the soft glow of the small TV in the room. Funny, he must realize I'm not there, but didn't even come to find out where I've gone to. I can smell the tuberosa flowers. Tiny 1" white flowers that are the most fragrant flowers I have ever known. Their Jasmin like smell drifts on the night breeze and I can smell them from clear across the garden. Summer is gone, I'm thinking. The weather man is saying it will 20 degrees cooler by midweek and possibly even a light frost. The elephant ears are in their prime and now I have to be thinking about cutting their 2 and 3 foot leaves off. The whole Fall thing makes me sad. Harry said just tonight that we need to get out the leaf netting as the walnut tree is already dropping leaves into the ponds. I hate Winter. Oh there are a few nice Fall days when the leaves turn all beautiful and the season has a few high points. But, not enough to justify my preference to it over Summer. So, I sit alone in the dark and it only makes me more sad. I finally give up and make my way to bed. Harry has a fan going in the window and again as I lay there in the dark, I swear I can smell the tuberosa flowers. A last smell of Summer. A couple times a year one has a few times when something strikes them as somber or too beautiful for words. For me, last night was one of those times... I'm sad....Fall is coming...

Summer's End

2011-08-31T16:03:00.003-05:00

August, and signs of Fall are already upon us. The walnut trees are beginning to drop both nuts and leaves. An even bigger sign of Fall in our household is the guys all begin to talk about hunting again. We're headed to southern Iowa over the Labor Day Weekend to "hang stands". For the next 4 months all conversations with the boys and Harry will be centered around the hunting seasons. Everyone is working frantically to clean up their "honey do" list so that they can be free to go hunting. In the gardens, the Summer flowers are starting to give way to the Fall bloomers and the pumpkin patch. Tomatoes are beginning to come on strong now as are the cucumbers.
Discussion on how we are going to cover the new raised pond this winter have begun. We've discussed everything from portable buildings to using roof trusses. Nothing seems to be the perfect solution. The water has finally turned perfect as far as clarity. You can see the fish well and the bottom of the pond too. Regardless of it's clarity, I am still getting ammonia and nitrite readings!!! While the pond itself has grown a nice little patina on it, the filter area remains super clean. Nothing growing on the liner or filter mats??? The pond water cleared as soon as I put some clay in it. I then added two floating bags of additional bio balls in an attempt to add more surface area. Still I get readings. I changed the fish food to less protein and more of a fall mix as well as limit the amount of feedings. I feel like I'm starving them at a time when I should be pouring on the food. Plus with all the water changes to help maintain water quality it is keeping the water cooler than normal. I'm adding microlift pl and am now going to change to Microlift nite-out. I've also added a small amount of salt to help with the nitrite uptake. Am doing everything I can think of. Also, am thinking I need to shut off the UV. I figure I have another month perhaps to get it to cycle or I'll have to consider bringing all the fish inside for the winter and not worry about keeping them in there all winter at all. If it's not cycling, I don't see how I can leave them out. I'm already spending a small fortune on Cloramx.
The lower pond is preforming great! Maybe its best year ever. No string algae this year, since we discovered Pond Balance. Water is crystal clear and parameters are all good despite the fish overload and feeding 5-6 times a day. Really happy there. It's the new pond causing me grief.
I've gotten a few fish calls this month. One today even. Pond owner said he had lost several small koi. Water parameters were not so bad as to be loosing fish. Suggested massive water changes as he had not done any all season and a little salt. If they don't' improve, I'll go out and do a scrape and scope on them. Call I got a month ago, described fish as lethargic, clamped fins, dieing fish, and some acting really wild. A scrape on these fish, found a massive fluke breakout. Prazi was suggested to get rid of the flukes and told them to pray they don't break out with ulcers. A third caller told of dieing fish. Pictures looked like the fish were dying from spawning trama. Those male fish can be so hard on the ladies.
Tomorrow is the first day of Sept. and the temps are suppose to be the hottest of the Summer. Nearly 100 degrees! Good thing it's only going to last one day. Fall is coming, which isn't so bad, but man we just got done with Winter, so am not looking forward to that at all.

Lumps on my Fish.

2011-07-29T10:56:00.002-05:00

My fish have lumps. That's the recent phone call I received. A friend of mine was calling to say several of her really large goldfish had these huge lumps on them. What do I do? she asked. She was already buying Melifix to put in the pond and thinking about big parasite treatments. She emailed me these pictures of her dead fish and was worried that what ever they had would be catchy to the other fish in her pond. I asked her to quit throwing her money away on these sort of pond additives. While I couldn't say what caused the fish to die, the lumps were probably not the cause. Possibly a symptom of a poor immune system, but not the cause. I have seen cases like this before, usually always on goldfish. To the best of my research they are actually skin tumors. They are hard pimple like lumps that are often bumpy in texture also. Being tumors they are not life threatening and a fish may live a normal life so long as they don't get too large. Still do not know why they died. The pond owner had not a single water testing kit. (As normal) The rest of the fish in the pond seem to be doing fine. There were no other ulcers, but the fish looked grossly bloated in one picture. So the mystery of their death remains.
On another note, it will soon be August. July was brutally hot. I heard one pond club member's pond was 97 degrees! Surprised he didn't loose all his fish. At home we've been doing water changes to help keep the water cool. I brought the last of the baby fish out of the basement pond and put them outside. Basically, got tired of taking care of them. Put them in the bottom pond where they will find lots of natural algae on the pond walls to munch on. Surprisingly they have joined right in with the rest of the fish. Usually they stay alone and hide in the deep corners of the pond. The outside pond is actually warmer than the inside pond, so they have to be liking that. Bottom pond continues to do fine, actually looking a little crowded again with all the little fish bouncing around now. Upper pond still shows low signs of ammonia and nitrites. Still has a little green cast in the water. Its killing Harry to not be able to feed them several times a day, like he wants to and does the lower pond fish. Took the net off the upper pond for a recent pond meeting at our house and haven't put it back on. So far, so good. No jumpers. I'm loving the new pond and being so close to the fish. Easy to flush the filter, and well...I just like it all around.

Hot, hot, hot...Got to Love July

2011-07-01T13:18:00.002-05:00

July 1st, and the heat index is only 105 degrees out. Both ponds have been doing ok. Still trying to cycle the new pond to get the ammonia and nitrites out. I'm still getting low readings, but with these high temps and my high pH any ammonia is almost twice as toxic. Just because your test kits read say .25 ppm it really depends on water temp and pH. With water temps in the 70's-80's and a pH of 9 or more, I'm really looking at almost twice that reading which is very stressful if not lethal. So, I'm adding Amquil and now that I'm out of that will be adding the cheaper ClorAm-X. I've been adding Microlift PL and gel to try to get the bacteria going faster and even a little salt to help with the low nitrite reading I'm getting. I have nitrites in my well water, which doesn't help. So, its very important to get my bacteria going as soon as possible. It's been a full month now since I put the fish out there and while the levels have held pretty steady, they have not begun to go away. It's hard to get a brand new, never used filter material to start growing bacteria. I keep watching the liner for signs of a growing patina. The water is taking on a slight green tinge, which I don't like, but know it is probably good for the fish. And, while Harry wants to feed about 6 times a day, they get just a small amount once a day. Not good for growing. But a dead fish won't grow at all, so water quality comes first.
The old lower pond is doing great. Maybe our best year in a long time as far as string algae. I got to give "Pond Balance" all the credit. Using it has taken all the string algae out of our pond. Filters have been half as full and pumps are a lot easier to keep clean. I've had no problems with that pond this summer so far. Knock on wood!!! Usually when we leave for the 4th of July weekend, we come home to a creek and pond full of the stuff. Not this year. Yaaa whooo!
Getting ready for the 4-H fish club's debut at the Linn Co. Fair next week. Kind of excited and getting some good press, too. A lot of work. Thank goodness for the help of Carol and Dennis Sindelar and Greg Bickal. They're the best!!!!
Gardens are doing ok, tomatoes and peppers are slow to grow though. We'll be gone for the next 4 days, fishing in southern Iowa, so I suppose I'll come home to shriveled up plants with all this heat and no rain.
Both pond clubs will be holding their pond tours on the same day, July 10th. Unfortunately, I can only work at one, and that will be EIPS. It is also during fair week, so I'll be busy, busy.

jumping fish!!!

2011-06-15T09:21:00.002-05:00

Well, the new pond has been going good so far! I'm fighting ammonia and nitrite levels, though. I had added some aged bio balls to the filter to help seed it, but I can tell the pond has not begun to cycle at all. Harry is doing small water changes and adding Amquil to help bind the ammonia and salt to help with the nitrite up take which can cause brown blood disease. The water has a green cast, but I'm ok with that for now. I think the UV has been helping with that but have recently shut it off too in an effort to get the bacteria established. Started adding a little Microlift PL hoping that will help get the bacteria going, also. We've been keeping the pond netted, just because I'm nervous about the fish jumping out. We took it off Sunday while we were home all day and it's so much nicer viewing the fish, but put it back on Sunday night.

We've been watching one particular doitsu kohaku we recently purchased at Koi Acres. His mucus seemed to be taking on a milky cast. Possible ammonia burn??? Stress??? Salt I was adding bothering it???So, Harry was concerned and didn't want to just "watch" it any longer. We decided to net it out and put it in a QT tank for awhile to see if it would improve. So about 5:00 pm we put it in a tank in the basement, added a little anti bacterial medicine to the water, covered the whole tank with a double layer tarp to keep him in and left him to rest and adjust. Went to check on him around 8:00 that evening and you guessed it, he had jumped out of the tank and laid dead on the basement floor!!! d**m d**m dang!!!! There was no movement at all, but I still worked with it to try to revive it for at least an hour. Moving it through the water in figure 8's and holding it directly in the bubbler with it's gill plates propped open. No luck. So another favorite fish gone. Just like that. Try to do something proactive and it ends in tragedy. Just the opposite of what we were trying to do. Lesson learned...cover on tank must be weighted down all around!!!He jumped up hard enough to lift the tarp and slip under it and over the top, which was a good 12 inches above the top of the water! This is not the first time we've lost fish in QT tanks from jumping so you would think we'd know better, but I actually thought it would be enough. In other cases it was because of no cover or a particular hole at one end or something. Sad, just very sad!! So the 15 inch fish is now flower food in the garden. Just so frustrating. Harry just shook his head at me. I wanted to cry. So now we are both worried about the netted pond outside. Do we need to always keep it on? It should be no different than a pond at ground level, right? The water level on the new pond is only 4 inches from the top. An easy jump for any of them. Got my favorites in there. It would be just devastating to loose one of those.. oh, what to do.....

Finally the fish are out!

2011-06-02T13:17:00.004-05:00

Finally the fish are outside! Harry has worked so hard to get them out. With just a little more touch up paint and some primping with flowers and all around the edges to soften things up, and the new pond will be finally done. The fish seem to enjoy the current. With the addition of the eductors which can triple the water flow coming out of a pipe, the water becomes a river of current in the pond. You can watch the fish swim to it, relax, and just get kind of thrown back from the current. The water swirls around the pond edge while the bottom drain aerator creates a upward current in the middle. I'm totally happy with that. The only problem we are having is the floating skimmer is not working. Seems we don't have enough pull through it. The single 4" bottom drain is supplying enough water for the pump so that there is no pull through the skimmer. If we taper the drain down in the filter or put a stand pipe in it, then the filter begins to go down as the 1 1/2" pipe from the skimmer is not enough to stay ahead of the pump. So, we need to play with that. But, I'm just so happy to have the fish out. I purchased a small hoola hoop to use as a feeding ring. But, it doesn't work. It either floats too high in the water, or the before mentioned current is so strong that it pushes the food right underneath the ring and out into the pond. So, one more thing I need to figure out. Any suggestions are welcomed!
I've covered the pond with a net at least for the first few days. I don't want any of my larger fish jumping out. Am hoping after a while they'll get used to their new home and not even try to escape like the 2 little fish we put in earlier did. By the way, one of those tiny guys did die, while the other chagoi one is still swimming around. I should post a picture of this chag. This is a 6" koi from my basement pond that has had a unhealing sore on it's shoulder for months. It starts to heal, then stops and then starts again. He's just been a mess since way last fall. But, he's hung on and I haven't had the heart to pitch him. Thus, he became one of the sacrificial koi. Then after he jumped out of the new pond and I picked him out of the dirt and put him back in, he kind of got this fin rot and white spots starting to grow on him, but I couldn't catch him, so he again got to stay in the new pond. Now, I see him, and can not believe how he hangs in there. Almost feel like he deserves to stay alive and grow big. Hopefully he will. He certainly is a survivor! If he had been a 100.00 beautiful fish that I bought, he'd of been dead a long time ago, I guaranty that! Funny how the fishy world works.
Am loving the window we put in the pond! I can now see every little imperfection on the fish, though. Kind of scary. Koi are definitely meant to be viewed from above. They are no where as pretty from their sides. The fish seem to like the window too. It was designed to be seen from my kitchen table. I can sit and eat and watch the fish go buy. Harry is already wishing he had put a second one in, viewable from the deck were we sit outside.
Here's a few pics of the filter set up, the fish and my view from the kitchen table. We finished it to look like the filter house in the yard that we use for the other pond. I'm just so happy it's done!!! Can't stop smiling.

It's getting there!

2011-05-25T13:33:00.002-05:00

Gee, it's a month later and the new pond still is not finished. At first it was competing with Turkey hunting season, then mushroom season... but now, Harry has been working all day on this for me. It's near finished but now comes a 3 day Memorial weekend and another halt in work. Can't really figure out why this is taking so long. Perhaps because there is no real plans. Everything is figure out as you go, so that means fifty trips to the store for materials. It has rained all day today, forcing Harry back into the garage, which is ok, cause now he'll spend a day putting together the filter pad cubes. An indoor job that we've been putting off for a rain day. Monday we put in 3 small sacrificial koi to check the water quality, as much of the water in the pond is the original water put in after the new liner was installed. I have not done a full water change on it. Anyway, Tuesday morning as I went out to work, I found 2 of the koi in the dirt along side of the pond! Both were still breathing! I quickly picked them up and washed them off a little and put them back into the pond. The only thing I can think of is in a black pond, maybe with the first daylight they wanted to swim towards the light. Fortunately for them, I was up going to work and they must of just tried their get away or they would be dried up toast on the ground. Today, they are still alive and haven't tried that trick again. But, I did buy a net, which I will be putting over the pond after I add the rest of the fish. With the water level a mere 3 inches below the edge it's a subject that has come up before in conversation. I'm hopeful they will stay put in the pond and we don't have any trapeze artist in the group.

The temps have still been pretty cool. Water temps were an all time high of 68 degrees last weekend. Fish have shown no sign of spawning. There were done, this time last year. Toads have been procreating, though. Hundreds of them! I netted out at least 30 pair a couple weeks ago, simply because I didn't want that many eggs in the pond. I have a lot of hostas and plants, though, so I like the toads. I welcome their kinship, just not in my pond.

We've been so busy trying to finish the pond that I haven't even taken the time to enjoy the other flowers in my gardens. The weeds have. They are enjoying themselves everywhere I look. Just finally got my tomatoes and peppers in. I still have flowers I bought sitting on the deck waiting to be planted. Still have tropicals in the basement with the fish that need brought out and planted. And, it's almost June!!! Going to be a short Summer. Feeling overwhelmed just writing this. I need a week off work, just to get caught up with my normal gardening. Got a long weekend coming, but are we going to stay home and get caught up? Nooo way! We're headed to southern Iowa to go fishing and camping all weekend. It's a family tradition. So, again, everything is on hold. Fish will wait till after the weekend to go into the pond as I want to be around to keep an eye on them when we do. In the mean time, we'll keep picking at it. We are close, so very, very close.

Rain, rain, go away

2011-04-28T13:58:00.003-05:00

Man the weather has just sucked this month. We're trying to get this pond thing done, but it wants to rain every other day if not every day. And when it's not raining, its freezing out. I feel so sorry for the fish in the basement. I want so badly to get them outside. The water temps in the big pond were only 54 degrees last night. I have to have another 10-15 degrees yet before I can get the fish outside. As I look at my records, I've had the basement fish outside on May 1st for the last 2 years. Not going to happen this year. I really wanted the tank empty by the time we went to the Koi Acres open house, just in case we bought a fish there that would need qt'd. But, the new pond will certainly not be done by then and at the rate we're going the other outside pond will still be too cold! So we wait for mother nature. Hopefully the April showers that bring May flowers will also leave with the month of April.

Despite their crowded conditions in the basement, the fish seem to be doing a lot better. The single fish I brought in earlier from the outside pond because it was starting to pine cone, seems to be all better. Thank goodness. All the fin and mouth rot is gone also. So, think we're on the mend. (Knock on Wood)The fish outside are already eating daily and seem to love the new Madafu. Between turkey hunting and pond construction Harry is keeping super busy.

Sat/Sun work on new pond

2011-04-05T09:53:00.003-05:00

Oh, I'm so sore! Spent all Saturday and Sunday constructing the walls of the new pond. It looks huge for now. This is a picture from inside my kitchen window. It's made from 2x6 treated lumber that weighs a ton. Throw in the fact that most of it is below grade or near ground level and you are constantly bending and crawling around on the ground. This old body doesn't move like it used to. Up and down, up and down. And tiny rocks from the nearby walking path everywhere. On the upside, it was beautiful out. Temps in the 70s to near 80 degrees on Sunday. I actually fed my outdoor fish for the first time this season. They quickly gobbled up the Mandfu and Tomigoi I fed them. Easy does it, though. Their tummy's have been basically empty for 4 months. My largest Bekko was showing some severe signs of pineconning. So first thing Friday night we netted him out and set up a hospital tank in the basement for him. I'm slowly trying to warm him up in a little salted water. The temps in my outside pond still only read 48 degrees. I'm hoping with this weeks temps getting up to 60 every day, that maybe the pond will pickup a few degrees. The Bekko is the largest female I have, and I'd sure hate to loose her. QT is hard on them too, so am hoping the heat and salt will help her feel better. Debating on antibiotics, but need to get her temps up before that can even do her any good. The pineconning doesn't seem as bad today, but she's still very red, which is not good. You should see my basement. I've got one tub full of 20 shubunkins I'm holding for my 4-H fish club members, one 100 gallon tub for the Bekko, and the big pond for wintering over some of my koi. So,it's a regular maze down there. There is barely room to move between all the tanks. Without proper filtration, I'm doing manual water change outs every night to help maintain water quality. It's quite the operation. Just trying to keep everyone alive and well. Sure will be nice when everybody goes outside. Am so looking forward to the new pond. I'm excited. It's not coming along as planned though. After putting up the walls, I've realized there is so much fall between the house and garage, that my gravity fed filtration now has to be elevated. Not good. I'm going to have to have steps to get on top of it. Well, you'll see as it progresses. I thought it would be like maybe 2 foot high, but it's more like 3 foot. Not good at all! I'll keep you posted.

3 stitches already

2011-04-01T11:22:00.003-05:00

The work continues. Today I came home and Harry had the rubber pulled out and had begun to shape the new pond by first taking out all the existing plant shelves. Last night we staked out the new dimensions and over the weekend we'll probably finish shaping out the pond edges to square it off. It will be 10 x 16 feet, I think and we're still debating on the depth. It will be at least 4 foot. My head wants to double that, but my good sense says, "no way can you handle that." Harry sustained his first injury, which he basically has shrugged off. 3 stitches he's not very proud of. He actually was using the saw to cut points on some stakes and the saw kicked back and caught him. He said he was just glad he still had a finger. Could have been worse, a lot worse! Looking forward to the weekend and getting a lot done.

2011 Pond Redo

2011-03-29T09:02:00.004-05:00

What have I done? This picture reminded me of how good the pond could look. Well this is the year. We are finally going to redo the upper pond. This pond was built 16 years ago. It has no rock shelves and plant shelves that were too narrow and over time tilted down. Only 20 inches deep, it was designed to be more of a water garden. That was all before I got addicted to Koi. So, we're not getting any younger. We decided to raise the edges so I could sit on the short wall and hand feed the koi. This will increase the depth by 2 foot at least. We're trying to think through this so that it is easy to clean and maintain. We don't ever want to have to redo it. Someday, if we find we can't handle crawling down into the filter pit of the other lower koi pond and we have to fill it all in, then at least maybe we can still maintain this smaller pond. And so, the hard labor part begins... I thank God I have Harry. He is going to do all the back breaking work of course. We started last Sunday by moving all the necklace rock out. In a mere 3 hours we had most of it out, had relocated it in other various parts of the yard and were both suffering from lower back strain! After only 3 hours, we were both ready for the couch and we still felt like we had got a lot done. There was no turning back now. The pond was in shambles. Harry had to take a ax to the now large bush that was planted next to the pond, while I began to dig up and move other plants that were also planted next to it. Over the past 16 years there was actually almost 6 inches of dirt that had filled in the area around the pond. The rubber that originally ran under the necklace and was only covered with a few inches of gravel is now buried under 6 inches of rock and dirt. Looks like a mess now. There are no real building plans drawn up or anything. This will be a design and build as we go project. Stay tuned for more pics and pains!

Basement mystery solved

2011-03-08T15:36:00.005-06:00

Look at this nasty little critter! I've been fighting with my basement fish having mouth and fin rot since I brought them into the inside pond in the fall. When I brought them in, I used Terminex and Prazi on them to prophylactically de=bug them. But, despite that, while many got better and most of the ulcers healed on the big fish, many of the smaller fish still have been fighting something. I've fed medicated food to try to help them. I have one small chag that has had a sore on his back for at least 3 months! Not getting any better, not getting too much worse. Danged if I could catch him though. Then just last week a second chag started to develop a sore. Over the weekend I was lucky enough to net him during feeding. I did a scape on him, and much to my surprise here was this guy, a fluke! I was blaming all my problems on bacteria, cause the fish never displayed any fluke signs like flashing or hiding in the corner or anything. While I could see problems with them, they always acted quite normal. And, mouth rot is not really a sign of flukes. Regardless, there he was under my scope, big as day and doing his familiar fluke dance. So, apparently my previously de-bugging didn't take care of them all. So, I re dosed with Prazi again and am hoping for the best. Knowing this, and knowing they were having problems before they ever came inside, I know I have flukes in the main ponds. So, now the trick is to get them out before they take over and kill my outside koi before their immune systems wake up from their winter nap. Which may be a trick. I will need to dose as quickly as the temps will allow. I swear, I have no idea where these things come from. It's a mystery.....

February Thaw

2011-02-17T15:35:00.002-06:00

Here's a couple pictures I took this morning. Which in themselves is not too interesting. But, these pictures are of my "THAWED" pond. I can not ever remember seeing my pond open up in February! Now, I don't believe for one moment that it will stay that way. My notes say my pond was open last year on March 12th. And that was with the help of a running hose we used to preform a water change. So this is a full month earlier. Today's temps are in the 50's! The water itself was a little murky, but I could see most the fish. At least, I didn't see any on their sides. So, I'm sighing a little relief. Perhaps it will end up being a good year me. I mean them.

2011-02-14T16:11:00.002-06:00

Wow, finally, it's above freezing! We're getting our February thaw since we didn't get one in January. With over 2 foot of snow on the ground, there hasn't been a whole lot to talk about outside. Sunday, the temps finally started to go up so we did another water change on the pond. Dropped the sump in and took out about 8-12 inches of water and replaced. When we did that, the ice cap all collapsed in on the pond. I only got a glimpse of a couple fish swimming around, so am crossing my fingers that the rest all all ok too. Actually, March and April are my worse times. As the water begins to warm it has not been unusual for me to loose a couple fish. Usually the larger older favorites. It has been sooo cold for sooo long this winter, I certainly hope the fish have been able to survive. The temps will be in the 40's all week so I expect the pond to clear enough that I'll be able to see the fish by Friday. Cross you fingers for me....

Went to the Waterloo Home and Landscape show on Saturday. Harry wasn't going to take me, but for some reason changed his mind. Of course, I droll over all the stone patios and outdoor kitchens. We are planning on redoing the upper pond this Spring, again maybe for the 3rd or 4th time now. This time I want to elevate the sides, so I can sit on them and be closer to the fish. Add a little more filtration of course. While at the show, we talked to a vendor from Quasky actually that has a new product he thought they could blow on our pond to form a seamless liner. A real dream come true, but costly and more than I wanted to spend. Harry likes the idea, though, so we'll see what Spring brings. Can't wait, can't wait......

Got snow?

2010-12-28T16:06:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year, everybody. Temps here in good ole Iowa have been pretty consistently in the teens and twenty's. Christmas eve brought me and additional 11 inches of snow at home. That's on top of the 6-8 that was already on the ground. About as deep as I can recall in a long time. Harry's been out two or three times to dig out the floating light so that the weight of the snow doesn't push it into the water. He also takes the snow off one end of the pond to allow a little sun light in. Otherwise the whole thing would be drifted in with about 3 feet of snow on it!! The aerator does continue to keep a hole open so Harry will not venture even close to that end. The fish had moved to the light. They were holding up close to the filter house (on opposite ends of the pond) but I think when snow covered the pond they swam to the light. It's suppose to rain and even get into the 40's possibly this week. If it gets this warm, we'll probably even try to do a water change out there. Dropping in the pump and running a hose from the water faucet. The fog has been creating the most beautiful frosted white trees and bushes out there. Have you noticed? It's actually quiet gorgeous out there. The snow has completely blanketed the yard, transforming it into this lumpy white foam covered landscape. I can make out forms and know what is causing them, but they are safely cocooned under their coats. A rabbit that I think lives under the deck is making tracks across the yard. They come into the yard and go to a new tree that I wrapped loosely just to keep the winter wind off it. I can only imagine that he has probably eating all the bark off it by now. I didn't wrap the trunk to protect that. His tracks leave the tree and then run across the yard to another lump in the snow. I figured out that was where our little fire pit (sits on legs) is sitting. It was creating a little snow cave for him. So he must be spending some time under it also. The birds are once again finding the feeders. Something we enjoy doing all winter. Hopefully we can keep the squirrels away this year. Fish in the basement are doing about the same. No change there, which is good news to me.

Merry Christmas, everybody!!

2010-12-20T13:25:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmas, everybody. Wow, Christmas is this coming Saturday already. Can you believe that? Where has the year gone? Only have to stop and buy some bird feed for a gift and all my shopping is done. The weather was only in the teens all weekend and we probably had 6 inches of snow on the ground. Harry called me earlier to say we were getting another 4 inches or more today. I was out digging in the snow Saturday, resetting GFIs. The snow was getting into some of my plugs and blowing them out. When I go outside, if I listen carefully I can hear the excess air from my aerator hissing, so I know the pond is still getting air. I only have 1 of the 4 aerated drains going during the winter months, so I have to unhook one of the hoses inside the pump house to let the excess air escape to prevent back pressure on the aerator. Harry had previously dug out the floating inner-tube we use to keep a hole open with. He also shoveled a little snow off the safer end of the pond. There was 3 inches of snow covering the area where the aerator is and no open hole, so I got a rake and standing safely on ground, I reached out and raked some of the snow back. Under it, the ice was wet and all I had to do was change ends and I could easily poke a hole with the rake handle to open it back up. If it warms up a few more degrees (at least into the 30's) we'll actually do a partial water change. This will give the fish some fresh water, plus recharge the Kh value in the water. Last year the fish hung out all winter right under the light of the floating inner tube. This year they must be on the very bottom, next to the filter house.

Inside, the fish are doing alright. I lost a 4th fish last week. Only thing I could see on it was some mouth rot. Others still have sores, but one fish has finally healed, while others are staying about the same. I actually went on line and bought 2 water bed heaters on ebay this past week. I think part of my problems were that my water is just not warm enough to promote healing. Because of my drip through filtration, the water stays about 68 degrees, where as I'd like it to be between 75 and 80. So over the weekend Harry and I lowered the water level and installed the 2 water bed heaters behind the liner. Now, hopefully I can finally get the water warmer. The problem with the sores not healing is the fish will eventually loose enough blood, through the open sore that it will become anemic and/or just not be able to maintain its metabolism. They start to take on water through this open sore too. Just a lot of extra stress on the fish. If you think about how a fishes tissue flakes apart when you eat it, it becomes obvious how easy it is for pathogens to enter into a fish. Its muscle tissue is in layers not bundles like humans. So, despite the fish loss, I'm optimistic that things will get better in the pond. Got my fingers crossed.

I got to thinking that I'm always writing about fish loss instead of all the positive things that are happening in the ponds. I do this so that hopefully you'll learn from mine and others problems. There are a ton of things I'm thankful for, and this whole fish thing is just a hobby after all. I'm learning still. Seems I have more problems that most, so am thinking about sending my well water away for thorough testing. Just to see if I have some hidden silent killer, like too much copper or zinc or some other heavy metal. Just one more avenue to learn every aspect of what exactly I'm putting into my pond.

Anyway, I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and happy New Year. May your fishy friends survive the Winter to see another Spring and most importantly your friends and family be safe. Talk at you after Christmas. Jackie

Merry Christmas, everyone!

2010-12-09T15:38:00.002-06:00

December already, man where does time go? I've been running around trying to do a little Christmas shopping. Even turned on some Christmas music for the first time today. The outside pond is totally froze over, now. Except for my small hole that is. Suppose to get below zero for the first time this weekend also. I hate this time of the year outside in the ponds. Again, the fish are under the ice. Away for their long winter nap. I know its not the most ideal situation to leave fish outside, but until I figure out a way to limit my compulsions for too many fish, the inside pond will only hold so many. We brought in fish in late October, so almost been 2 full months already for the inside fish. I was already having some ulcer issues late last fall, which made me bring in more fish than my inside pond should be holding. Since October, I have treated with Proform C and Prazi on all the inside fish. Trying to make sure they are clean. I've feed medicated food for about a month but now on regular food. I am also presently treating with Nitrofuracin Green. Its an antibacterial, antifungus water treatment. I still have several fish with ulcers that are not healing. A few have minor fin and mouth sores also. Since I use a flow through or constant water drip, I've been pretty much able to maintain water quality. Only low levels of both ammonia and nitrites. But still, probably enough to keep a little stress on the fish. Water temps in the pond are probably my biggest problem. Even being inside, 70 is about as high as I can get the water temp. And, that is probably 5-10 degrees too cold. And, probably why the ulcers won't clear. I have lost 3 fish since bringing them in. Which didn't surprise me, but makes me sad and angry both. I still have at least 4 months to go! It's going to be a long and hard winter. I don't know what else now to do. There is just no where else to put the fish. I know they are overcrowded, but got to work with what I have. So am just praying everything I do is enough. To be continued.... Have a merry Christmas everybody. Hope to see you soon.

Brrr....

2010-11-02T10:41:00.002-05:00

Brrr. All life in the garden has been snuffed out, including the nasturtium, which truly redeemed itself by clinging on to the better end. Apart from a couple of roses and a late blooming black eyed susan, it was the only thing left in the garden with a bloom on it. I have spent the last two weekends cutting, digging and pulling out dead plants. I know you are suppose to let some of them stay for "winter interest", but over the years I've learnt that that only leads to more work in the spring, which I never have time for. So I now cut out as much as weather will permit. I haul it to the roadside and make giant heaps of dead plants. I'm sure I'm the main contributor to our city yard waste pile as Harry hauls dead plants, weeds, and overgrown plants there constantly for me. I've been picking up bulbs again at Menards. Every fall I'll at least throw a few in at the end of the season. The squirrels will dig up all my tulip bulbs, so I tend to stick with daffodils and other spring bloomers.
The outside fish are stacking up like cord wood along the west end of the pond. Not eating and barely moving already. Water temps are at about 47 degrees already. They looked up at me as if to say "What the heck is going on? " "It's COLD down here!!" It just seems too soon to just quit feeding and start to ignore them for the winter. No ice on the water yet as the weather continues be be slightly above normal. The later the better.. I tried to tell them it was hurting me as much as them, but they only looked away in disbelief. I felt like a traitor.

Mid October

2010-10-18T15:41:00.003-05:00

Mid October and no hard frost. The garden is beginning to look a little sad. I spent the entire weekend cutting out spent flowers, picking up some of my garden ornaments, and raking leaves. My aging muscles ached last night before I was done. Pond temps are in the mid 50's. I still haven't dug up any of the bulbs yet and 2 of my elephant ears still seem to be holding on despite the cool nights. Everything else has already been brought inside and put under the lights in the basement. Harry is off bow hunting, so I've begun simply stacking my garden ornaments in one place beside the garage. He hates having to find places for all my "junk" every winter. With only 1 small garage we always have space issues so every fall I have to listen to him "bi**ch" all the while he's up on the ladder and I'm handing him stuff to put up above the cars in the garage. Its a seasonal thing that I endour every year and I just try to keep my mouth shut as I appreciate the help. When he returns on Thursday, we will also drain the upper pond and make the annual fall fish move. Bringing some of the smaller favorites into the house basement pond, while the others will be moved to the lower, larger pond. Again, I'll beg him to leave the water fall running for a little longer and again he'll remind me that I'll be left to try to get the pumps out myself, if we wait too long as he will again leave to go deer hunting. (something I've had to do before during an unexpected deep freeze that almost froze the pumps solid) Not fun.
The walnut tree has finally gave up. All the nuts are down. There are still a few leaves up there along with a million sticks that must fall too. But, the big clean up is done. Thank god!!! What a mess. The gardens, though, are still trying to hang in there. I still have one tomato plant that still has fruit hanging on. The plant looks like a little pathetic Christmas tree. I have 2 zucchinis also. I'm purposely not picking one so I can see how huge it will get before the plant dies. It's already as big as my largest koi. The Virginia Creeper is a brilliant red. They've been sneaky, creeping along, camouflaged in their greenness, but they can't hide now; they've been betrayed in their moment of glory.
Have you noticed how dark it is in the morning? I always feed the fish before I leave for work at 7:00am. This am it was still very dark out. Time to switch to 'one a days" and use the fall blend of food. I also notice that while my water is crystal clear, the string algae is back. It's been gone all summer, but with the cooler water it now has resurfaced covering the whole bottom of my stream area. We also must have 50 or so babies this year. Something we've never had before either. There is no catching them in the big pond, so they'll have to ride out the winter there. Hopefully they'll have enough fat. There's such a big difference in size too. Some are almost 6 inches long already while others are a mere 1 inch! All the problems with the fish in the ponds, seems to have subsided. I continue to use Med-zyme in the water to try to get ahead of the bad bacteria. We'll see. It's not been a good fall for my fish. Seems others are having a few problems too. I've been out on a half dozen fish calls as of late regarding ulcers.
The mums are yelling for attention. The roses are holding on for dear life too. The honking geese fly over every morning as I step out the door. The only thing I haven't seen this year yet is the 2 million Cedar Wax-wings that fly through and eat the berries from my cedar and crap all over every rock and surface in my yard. They come every year, and yet I haven't seen them yet. I got my fingers crossed that maybe they got side tracked or found someone else's pond to crap and bathe in this year. That's a mess I won't miss...just seems odd.... In the mean time I ache all over from the weekend of pruning. More aspirin....wheres my aspirin?

Shushui didn't make it.....

2010-09-09T08:18:00.003-05:00

Wow, again its been awhile since I posted. Unfortunately, the shushui in the last post died :(. I even went to the vet and got antibiotics to inject him with. In the mean time while I was doing all that, I noticed yet another of my "favorites" had a huge sore on its tail!!! OMG what is going on??? So since this fish was a 24" girl, I had to now set up the Qt tank and fast. She was too big for any large plastic tub like I had the shushui in. So I netted her out(by myself since Harry was gone) and brought her inside to. Since I had to fill the qtank, I now moved the shushui into the tank with the yamabuki. Figured the companionship would improve the stress of being pulled out of the ponds. I put the yamabuki to sleep and tried to at least clean the wound and get some iodine on it. At least she was still eating, so I began feeding her some medicated food. After just 2 days in bigger tank and after 4 shots of baytril, the shushui began to bloat and developed large pus pockets under every scale she had! So, I finally just pulled her and put her to sleep for good. I felt so bad. The initial sore really never broke into an open ulcer. Kind of weird. But the infection must of went systemic, cause she definitely was getting worse internally. I felt so bad for her. Meanwhile the yamabuki seems to be developing more red spots all over her. Especially on her fins. She continues to eat, so that is a good sign. Out in the ponds I notice my other blue shushui developing a very small spot behind his gill plate. I pulled him out, hit the sore with some iodine and put him now in with the yamabuki. His red spot seems to be clearing and doing better. So, maybe I got that one in time. I keep looking at the large ulcer on the yamabuki and would like to think it is slowly turning 'white" which would be a good thing. Its large and nasty. I did a complete scrape. fin clip, and gill clip on her and found nothing under the microscope. Never the less, that was three fish now with spots, so I'm treated the ponds with Terminex and will now treat with Superverm for flukes. Something is definitely out there. Even if I can't see it.

The ponds, which were turning brown from the millions of walnut leaves falling has now cleared this week. Possibly the cooler temps. I purchased some smaller food to feed the growing babies. There seems to be quite a few black or chagoi type ones out there. I assume their darker colors helps them from being eaten when they are very small. Will be real interesting this fall, when we try to pull some out of there. Really starting to feel like fall out there.

always the favorite

2010-08-26T14:25:00.003-05:00

How come if you loose a fish or one gets sick, its always your favorite? This past week, I've been trying to nurse my favorite shushui back to health. I have always had trouble keeping shushui. Not sure why, perhaps its because they are scaleless or perhaps they are just a weak breed?? Whatever the reason, I purchased 3 new ones this year. They're not the first I've had. I've owned several and have never been successful at keeping them alive. I figured if I bought 3 of them that are a little bigger, maybe my chances would increase. Well, of the 3, my favorite one has developed an ulcer this past week. Harry noticed a "red spot" on him last Saturday. We were hosting the Northern Iowa Pond and Koi Club that evening for dinner. So, we just left him for Sunday. He's in my smaller upper pond where I have several lilies. That pond of fish has always been spooked. They constantly hide under the lilies, so the fact that we even saw the sore is lucky. Good thing Harry noticed it. So, Sunday we pulled him out to get a closer look and sure enough, he had a raised sore on his side about the size of a silver dollar. Dang it, dang it, dang it!!!! These fish were all treated for parasites earlier in the season, so what's causing this? Of the 3 shushui I bought, he is the one with the nicest zipper. (That row of black scales that run down their back) So, now he's in my basement. I liked this fish so much that I even went to the vet to get some antibiotics. 5 injections of Baytril. I've moved him to the basement where he's in a very small tank of water with an bacterial water conditioner and salt in it. He's not happy, I cleaned the wound and have given him 3 injections to date, unfortunately he's not looking any better. If anything its still growing and getting worse. Looks awful, and the fish looks terribly depressed to be in such a small tank without his buddies. I'm worried for him. Am hoping the antibiotics will kick in soon. If not, I'll be deferring to the vet again for help. Shushui, maybe I'm just not meant to have one????

St. Louis travels...

2010-08-20T14:13:00.004-05:00

A month or so back, good friend and fellow ponder Jamie Beyer called to ask if Harry and I would like to accompany him to St. Louis for a day. He was asked to give a talk there for the St. Louis Water Garden Assoc.'s annual banquet. Well, I jumped at the opportunity, with the stipulation that we got to go to the St.L. Botanical gardens, too. We also had the privilege to stay with some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, Pam and Rick Jogerest. After 15 years of visiting ponds all across the US, I'm always amazed when I walk into yet another jewel box of a garden. Talk about eye candy. Their ponds and entire back yard where just utterly beautiful! Being late summer, it was completely engulfed with plant material. 3 separate ponds encompassed the yard too, along with a swimming pool and large deck area. Party central. Pam is the garden designer and plant specialist, while Rick loves the fish and helps to do the endless watering and care. They have featured their ponds many years on the "Pond O Rama" tour and this year selected to be on the prestigious Botanical Gardens Garden Tour. And she still has more plans for a couple places in the far back yard! They recent redid the smallest of the ponds to include an above ground window. You could look into the pond and see the fish below the surface of the water. Way cool! The newest pond is Rick's Japanese pond. 8' deep and home to some very nice koi.

That evening we went with Jamie to the SLWGA annual appreciation dinner. Their club had about 80 members in attendance. It was held at the Jewel Box, which is a huge glass building at one of St.L city parks. The huge ponds out in front are a club project that they maintain. What a super bunch of people also. The meal was great and Jamie gave an excellent talk as normal. Pam was the club's event planner and I could see why they ask her to do it as it was very well done.

We returned to the house and swam in their beautiful swimming pool , sat in their hot tub, and drank margaritas till almost 3 in the morning. What great host!!! The following day, we were up early, went out for breakfast and Pam escorted us to the Botanical Gardens. What a delight. The gardens there are just beautiful, plus Pam was so knowledgeable about everything there. Was so nice to have a personal guide all weekend. I had a blast. Unfortunately, we also had to drive home the same day. So our 2 day whirlwind vacations ended way too soon. Am so hoping I get an invite back someday, or perhaps our club really needs to plan a trip to their "Pond O Rama" If so, I'm there. It was a great mini vacation and we saw some great gardens and ponds. Flowers to die for....

crocheting in the garden

2010-08-12T08:27:00.005-05:00

Got up this am to temperatures still in the 70's. It was one of those mornings when everything was still covered with dew. I couldn't help but notice that everything was covered with spider webs! Glorious works of carefully crocheted art everywhere. They were even strung clear across my pond stream. Some 5 feet across. I always wonder how they get from one side to the other! Webs draped across power lines, from tree limb to limb, and on every plant in the garden. Territories carefully marked out; plants shared by spiders of every size. Most seemed void of their owners, but I knew they were not too far off. I sure hope they eliminate some of the mosquitoes out there! They have been just relentless. Possibly the worst I've ever seen them. I hate spraying them, but it has been really impossible to comfortably sit outside. They are blood hungry and come in droves. I've been doing a lot of work on the gardens, cutting out spent flowers and pulling the relentless weeds. I don't even attempt this without first spraying down with bug spray. I'm beginning to feel like a deet sponge. So maybe these natural predators will help me out. A food source of mosquitoes is definitely in large supply out there. Any way it was quite beautiful out there this morning. Enough so that I returned to the house for the camera. So what if I'm a minute late for work or so. If you don't pause once in awhile, some worthwhile things will never catch up to you.

Leaves, hot weather, and babies

2010-08-11T15:22:00.002-05:00

Well, it's almost mid August and I can already tell Autumn is just around the corner. It's that "blankety..blank" Walnut tree! It's already loosing leaves by the buckets full. Every morning I come out of the house and the skimmer pump is gravitating for water. The basket is full of leaves and Harry begins to complain that its too labor intensive. I keep reminding him that its doing its job of collecting leaves, so its not like its mal-functioning or anything. And, I'd be happy if it got them all. I'd empty the basket 2 or 3 times a day (which we will be doing in another couple weeks) happily if it got all the leaves. But for every leaf it collects there is one in the bottom of the pond. And, Walnut leaves and the walnuts themselves will turn my water brown. Yuck! No matter what I do I hate this time of the year. Walnut trees are the last to get leaves in the Spring and the first to loose them in the fall. Combine that with a rain storm nearly every other night and you get leaves falling already in August. Harry loves fall, cause it means cooler temps, hunting season, and less bugs. To me it means the flowers are all dieing, the leaves are making a mess of everything, and days are getting shorter. None of which I like.
Everywhere you go people are complaining about the weather. Too much rain..and the heat. Well it has been really hot. Temps in the 80's and 90's for almost 3 weeks now. That is pretty hot for Iowa. The fish don't like it either. My pond temps were only about 76 degrees this morning. I thought they would be worse. I'm sure in lots of full sun ponds the koi are stressed by the hot water. Harry has been doing water changes a couple times a week which helps to cool the water too. This week he actually installed air lines to the bottom of my DIY biofilters. Something I've been hinting for him to do for awhile now. Totally surprised me. Only thing is my air pump will not run both the biofilter and the pond aerators at the same time. So, now I have to shop for an additional air pump. He was really surprised at how much crap it kicks off the bio balls, though. We've also been looking at building a sand/gravel filter to help with removing the fines in the pond. We've decided to put it off till next spring. There is always something bigger or better, and he is getting tired of my suggestions of "add ons" . But, he's the first to like clear water and beautiful fish, so that helps. He won't garden, but he loves the ponds. Don't know what I'd do without him. We're also already planning on installing an additional pond in the basement. Wish I could find a heated, with well water, garage locally. I'd move them all to a rented garage if I could for the winter.
This year for the first time, we're seeing babies in the pond! He called all excited about seeing perhaps a dozen or more 3-4 inch fish in the lower pond. They usually get sucked up in the bottom drains and ran through our pumps. But this year, for some reason we've managed to keep a few with out even trying. We'll see how they survive... I'm not optimistic. 12 out of a million eggs. That's not very good odds. But they must be real survivors.

Upper Midwest Koi Club's Koi Show

2010-08-04T09:50:00.002-05:00

Had a great time this past weekend. Went to the Upper Midwest Koi Club's annual Koi Show in Minneapolis. What a nice event. The seminars we went to were nice. Not many attended them, but they are a great extra touch. My only complaint was I didn't even get a chance to get around to all parts of Bachman's nursery! What a great setting for this event. This is one of the finest nurseries I've ever been in. With a huge home interior store, a restaurant, massive greenhouse, and stone yards...it's just a maze of eye candy for the gardener. I had talked Harry into taking the truck this year on the assumption that we wanted to buy a piece of flat stone to use as a coffee table out beside the pond. We did buy something called Tres Rios which is kind of a black and white slab that looks like water is running through it. And that's it! Believe it or not, I didn't buy a fish or even a plant! Not me at all, but I felt rushed the whole weekend. There was always someplace else to get to or someone else to talk to. I never even got a chance to walk amongst the plants or go into the home interior part. :( I could have spent another day just doing that. Sunday they allowed people to tour the nearby AKCA "Pond of the Year". OMG what a beautiful place. It was actually a small yard with over 600 varieties of Hostas. Planted pots everywhere and evergreens of all sorts. The pond was gorgeous as expected. Koi Aces was the contractor. They do the resin blow in type of pond coating. The bridges and built in floating steps were a great attraction. Very few flowers..the owners wanted a green quiet garden. Following the tour our Iowa group went to Koi Acres to view their facilities. Mike Swanson was so nice to us. His wife actually took us out to his place and gave us a personal tour. What a very nice lady. Their son Devon is the only American to actually get a student visa to "learn how to raise koi" in Japan. Koi Acres does not raise fish, but imports them all in from Japan. And some of the fantastic Showa we saw while there would just blow your socks off! They also had an outside pond with perhaps the largest koi I've ever seen. They weren't particularly beautiful fish as they were chagoi, but their impressive size was awesome. Easily 36 inches in length and their heads where 8-10 inches wide! Huge fish and they'd come right up to you and beg to be touched and fed. Very impressive. But it was the showa that made me depressed. They were drop dead beautiful fish .

A lass it was still a fun weekend. Went out and ate some fantastic oysters on the half shell, enjoyed good wine with friends, and laughed a lot. Not quite as perfect as coming home from Nashville with a truck full of fish and trees, but a close second!

Eeek! What the heck is this?

2010-07-29T14:25:00.002-05:00

This is the latest picture of a fish that I recently received with some serious problems. It's a catfish in a koi pond. The cat fish came out of a private pond and was added to the koi pond. Please,please don't do this without at least quarantining and treating the fish (ANY FISH)!! These are leeches and as you can see they are chewing the heck out of this poor catfsih. The pond owner says they are not on his koi, but just the catfish and he's treating with Prazi. Which may or may not work. Leeches are egg layers and are extremely hard to get rid of. Eggs lay in the bottom or in plant mud for up to months depending on the temperatures. They may not be showing up on the Koi because a scaled fish has a better defense against their blood sucking tendency's. Doitzu koi on the other hand are defenseless like the catfish. And if they attach to a gill, all are defenseless. Leeches are particularly vicious as they not only attach but they also suck out blood leaving their host anemic. Enough blood loss and fish can actually die. Not to mention the secondary infections just waiting to set in after a engorged leech finally releases to return to the bottom of the pond. The holes they leave behind are very susceptible to bacterial infections and saprolegnia a water fugus/mold. Not a pretty picture, so am hoping the Prazi does the trick for him. I'm hoping he'll leave me in the loop as to what happens, so I can learn too. If not it may require a total cleaning of the pond and we all know that's not good.

Never happy?????

2010-07-28T14:05:00.003-05:00

Is it just me, or are you ever happy with your pond water condition? I know we've had a lot of rain, but my once great looking water is now (again) kind of muddy looking. I know the upper pond is probably to blame because it was not built with a berm. It was built before ponds "were cool" and I didn't know anything about it except dig a hole and throw in a liner. It leaves me frustrated never the less. We talk every Spring about re-doing it, but never seem to get it done. We've been doing weekly water changes but still the water remains somewhat murky. I don't have a good way to get out the micro particles in pond. I need a "fines" filter. I recently purchased a large swimming pool filter which I hope to retrofit into doing just that. I need something. What I got, I believe does pretty good with removing the big stuff and does the bio conversion I need for my large family of koi, but the fines elude me. I have 7 air stones total in the ponds that seem to constantly keep things stirred up, so they can't settle out and allow the bottom drains and settling chambers to work. Well at least not fast enough to make me happy. So I have to figure out what to put in the filter. I'm thinking either sand, small pebbles, or beads of some sort. I'm thinking some sort of floating beads would be the easiest to clean or back flush. But, as always, sand and rock are cheaper. Story of my life. I'm always trying to do things as inexpensively as possible and then down the road end up retrofitting things to make them better. Constantly experimenting with material and resources.

Another line of thinking is, it may not be dirt at all but dissolved fish poo.. We've been feeding heavy this past couple months and have changed foods too. So maybe, just maybe it's the food. Perhaps the fish aren't digesting as much and so their waste is up. Maybe its the food that is causing the water to cloud up. Suppose I should either change foods again to see if the water clears or reduce feeding. Either way, if its the food I should see a difference, right? I could turn off the air for a day or two to see if not stirring it all up will help it settle out, but the weather has been so warm, I hate to do that too. About the only think I don't have is algae. Knock on wood.

We're headed to the Upper Midwest Koi Club's Koi Show this weekend in Minneapolis. Always enjoy going into the city and the really really cool nursery that they hold this at. I'm already suggesting we take the truck and Harry is again giving me the eye. Along with nursery stock they also have a nice stone yard. Harry likes rock...so I suggested perhaps picking up a pretty piece of stone to use as a coffee(wink..wink...totty) table out beside the pond where we sit and feed and watch the fish. I could see him roll his eyes, but kind of agreeing too... I know after the trip to Nashville he's thinking I'll fill it up again if we take it. Bachman's nursery also has a restaurant and a home interior store, so it's a really cool place. This year's Koi Show will also feature a tour of the AKCA "Pond of the Year" which is nearby, I guess. So am also looking forward to seeing that also. I'll also be taking up the EIPS 2010 Friendship Award. It's an award the club gives to a koi or our choosing at the show. This year's award is a really cool black marble tile that has a koi engraved on it. Good thing I didn't know Michelle (the lady that made it) when I tiled my bathroom floor with this black marble. I'd of probably had to have koi all over it. Ohhh, wonder how easy it is to "pop" a tile up???

It's more than a pond

2010-07-22T09:11:00.006-05:00

Which came first the pond or the gardens? Well for me it was the ponds. The gardens came as a way to naturalize the ponds to the yard. Now? Well the gardens are out of control. They consume nearly every inch of the yard. They've been in for several years now, so they are becoming overgrown and less formal. And because I like all flowers, they've kind of lost any theme I may have been trying to create. Over the years, I've kind of taken out more and more of the kichy things that I add for interest, statues and the like. My husband hates the storage they require in the all ready too small garage through the winter months, too. I do enjoy the flowers, but I'm out there every available evening trimming out the spent flowers and pulling weeds. The ponds are really the least work compared to the gardens. Water changes and filter flushing are about all it needs this time of the year.(And, Harry will help me with the ponds, not so with the gardens) My walnut tree has already begun to drop leaves and walnuts! The leaves produce tannin in my pond causing it to take on a brown color. I have a love/hate relationship with this tree. I hate what it does to my pond. It drops seedlings in the spring, it's the last to put on leaves too. In the fall its the first to drops leaves, walnuts, and then each leaf stick. So talk about messy! But, this walnut is one of the largest walnut trees in the whole state of Iowa! It shades nearly my whole yard and pond! In the past couple years its shown signs of dying. It is no where near as full as it used to be. I'd cry if we lost it. Would change my entire garden from shade to sun.

Last night I was out taking pictures again in the yard. Flowers, fish, and bugs. All are plentiful this time of the year. Mosquitoes too! I don't even venture out without first spraying down.

The fish are eating like crazy and we're feeding them like crazy too. I think I can actually see them growing. Funny how you think they are small and then one day you go out there and realize they grew a couple inches overnight! And then a panic sets in that you're really going to have to get rid of some! The pond is not big enough for 30 full grown fish! And winter is coming! Dang it, dang it, dang it.

Fish problems...not mine this time

2010-07-15T13:46:00.003-05:00

Thought today I'd post about a few recent fish calls I've received. A few weeks back I went to look at a 6 inch koi that was displaying some fin rot and an ulcer on it's side. The WQ seemed to be ok as well as the remainder of the fish in the 300 gal. tank. We put the guy to sleep and did a scrape to look for parasites. I found a few tricodina, but not a big outbreak or anything. We cleaned and dressed the wound, woke the fish back up, and returned him to the tank. I had some parasitic with me that was donated to the club and asked the PO to dose his ponds. He was about to turn them loose to the larger pond, but I asked him to continue to hold them in the smaller tank till we were sure everything was ok. Also, had a phone call from a local nursery who had a customer (who I had worked with one of his fish before) but, he was wondering at what level of salt his pond should be at? I replied "none" and if he was one of those koi owners who like salt in their ponds, then my suggestion was .01% (very little). While I do use a LOW dose of salt in my ponds in both "late" spring and fall, I always take it back out through water changes during the summer and "especially" through the winter months. Unless you have a nitrite problem or your fish are showing winter stress problems (in the spring) , there really should be no need for salt in your ponds. .03% salt in the early spring, before the bacteria has kicked in to help with the nitrites and to knock back any parasites that also come alive before fish have a chance to recoup their immune systems after being under the ice can be beneficial. These are considered low dose therapeutic levels.
Also, had a phone call for a koi owner who notice a small pimple like thing on a koi's mouth. Now, this could be anchor worm or an injury of sorts. After discussing it for awhile, we decided to just watch. If it's an isolated injury, the fish may very well heal on it's own. If we see more spots on other fish or the affected fish's spot starts to get red or worsen, then we'll pull him out and take a closer look. We don't just want to start treating for something, without trying to verify it.
My fish at home seem to be doing ok again. I thought all my babies had died, but again last night we saw a dozen very small dark fish. Since they are small and dark, they are very hard to see against the black background of the pond. I thought my addition of ProForm C to the ponds had perhaps killed the babies. But there are a few in there, at least till the pumps grind them up and spit them out. Hide little guys, hide...

EIPS pond tour is over..

2010-07-14T14:29:00.003-05:00

Wow, what a great weekend. The annual EIPS pond tour is over. Despite the half day of rain, I had a really good time as usual. I don't understand why the club has so much trouble finding volunteers to help work the tours. I think they are one of the funnest things we do and would truly hate to see them discontinued due to lack of interest. Harry and I sat at the home of Hugh and Kathi Albrecht. They had cookies, and doughnuts, and sandwiches for us to snack on which Harry thoroughly enjoyed.We love talking to the visitors as they come in. We ask them all sorts of questions to force them to talk to us a little. "Do you have a pond?" "Is this your first tour?"
"What do you think about this year's tour?" Everyone is so friendly. Our pond location was pretty dry till about 2:30. When the occasional sprinkle turned into a full blown rain. As we all sat in the protection of Kathi's living room, I was surprised to see people continue to come into the yard to view the pond, umbrellas in tow. Hugh stood in the garage doorway answering questions for the hardy visitors. The dinner afterwords is always fun too. This year we all met at the Olive Garden. I think everybody enjoyed a nice dinner and it gave everyone a chance to talk about the days events. All in all I had so much fun that I'm going to do it all again this weekend. We've volunteered to help at the Northern Iowa Koi and Water Garden Assoc. annual tour in the Waterloo area. They have 5 ponds on this year's tour. Being a member of that club also, we will also volunteer to help out there also. And, I thoroughly expect to have another great time.

Drip through system

2010-06-30T14:33:00.003-05:00

Attached is a picture of a first application of my new drip through water changes. What I did was simply take a gardeners drip kit but instead of running lines to all my pots, I compressed all the emitters to a tree like connection and turned on the water. Please make note that you can only do this if you have well water. You can not do this with city water, unless you have some sort of whole house filter that takes out the chlorine and chloramines. There are a total of 10 emitters putting out a total of 15 gallons of water an hour or 360 gallons a day or 2520 gallons a week which is over 25% water change for my ponds of 10,000 gallons total. So with no pumping out at all I get a good water change out every week. I still have to work out the over flow end. I have to cut off a pipe in my filter house which will allow the pond to overflow into the pit where it can be pumped out by a sump pump. I already use a drip through on my basement ponds during the winter and love it. So, am hoping I'll feel the same about this process also. I bought this small drip kit at Menards for about 20.00 I think. It wasn't much. I do plan on getting a black Shepard's hook to hang it all from to help clean up the look and may even try to find a better way to hide it. Maybe some kind of statuary or spilling leaf or overflowing pot. Hummm what can I come up with????

Over reacting????

2010-06-29T13:33:00.002-05:00

OK, I'm back after a week of koi watching. Maybe I'm over reacting, or maybe I just caught things early enough that the fish healed themselves. Never-the-less, I think they are looking better. I actually ran the whole pond through a series of 3 days in a row, Terminex treatment. Terminex is a product like Proform C only cheaper. I dosed the pond and did partial water treatments every day for 3 days straight. The only side effect was I did see my new catfish come floating to the top. Not sure the cause, but really think they were just too small to be added to the pond. I may retry to add the albino cat, but will put them in the inside aquarium until they have a little age and size on them. I have not seen the hi-fin sharks lately, either. But they are extremely hard to see in the pond. They match the bottom of the pond in color so closely that you really can only spot them in the sunshine. I haven't seen them floating either, so that's a good sign. What I have seen is multiple small babies! I normally have no babies. This year we are trying to at least keep them in the smaller upper pond where they won't get eaten by a pump. Heaven knows I certainly don't need any more fish, but it's always kind of fun to see what colors you come up with from a flock spawn. The other fish, I think are looking better. Most of the little red spots seemed to have disappeared. I have again started re dosing the pond with Med zyme to help cut down those pesky aromonas and psuedomonas bacteria. (the ones that like to chew at the fins and open sores. ) And now that the fish are looking better, I again dosed for anchor worms. If you remember when this all started I said I saw a couple little pimple like things on some of the koi's fins. These are usually anchor worms. After, I get this done, I should be back to normal. I hope! Does this sound like a lot of dosing???? Well, it is! And, I hate it... Just to clear the air of what I usually do to my pond, This is my regime. In early spring, (after ice out and no more winter weather is predicted) I will salt my ponds to 3% just to help the fish get through the every other day temperature changes and to help them slime up a little to help them fight any bugs that may be in the pond and it's too cold to treat for. I only hold the 3% for a month at the most, before I start reducing it back out through water changes. As the water warms, I begin to add Mirco lift and a barley extra with peat to begin adding good bacteria to the pond and help with string algae control. I also begin adding the med zyme and koi clay. My UVs go on as well. In late Spring, I will prophylactically treat for parasites. I do this with a Terminix and Superverm treatment. After, these treatments that's all I do. I generally sit back and enjoy the pond. I do repeat treatments of Microlift, barley extract, koi clay, and med zyme as directed. As the summer drags on, I get lazy and even stop adding some of those things as the pond begins to cycle and the need seems to be less. This is the first year I've used both the Barley extract and Koi clay. And, I must admit, I do think I see a difference. This is the first year we have seen absolutely no green water and even before the water always seemed a little turbid. I think the addition of Koi clay has really made those particles stick together and for the first time in a long time the water is crystal clear. Whether its the combination of these two products or what, I'm not sure, but seems to be a working combo. Harry is happy too. I'm hoping the addition of Koi clay will help the fish colors too. Time will tell. I've been dusting the food with it as well. Suppose to be really good for the fish. So, again, the pond is looking good and more importantly the fish look better to me, too. Just got to work on their colors now. Not that bright beni, I'd like to see. You buy for white, feed for red, and pray for black.
I've also started a new "drip through system" on the outside ponds, which I'll talk about in my next post, maybe.

Just when you think everything is going good....

2010-06-23T09:30:00.002-05:00

Sorry, it's been awhile since I've had a chance to post. Extra busy here at work with all the rain and summer always is so buys for me. And, when everything is going well in the pond, there seems to be not much to talk about. However today, unfortunately I have stuff to say, which means for some reason all He** has broke loose in the ponds. The pond itself has been looking wonderful...water has been crystal clear and parameters have all been good. The fish did a major spawn on May 26th, which left a mess of the water as usual, but through water changes, I think we've got that mess straightened out. It left a lot of the females with missing scales, though. I've been watching these guys for any signs of ulcers developing. After the spawn I added some Superverm for flukes. As my water reaches 70 degrees, I treat for flukes every spring. Also, we've been noticing the fish seem a little lack luster, some of the blacks are fading as well as some of the reds. The fish eat as normal, but not as aggressive as normal and just seemed a little off. Very, very suttle signs. You may not notice if you don't watch your fish a lot. Then, since the spawn, as I watch the fish, I noticed a couple little white pimples on the fins of a the large Becco. So I decided to do a prophylactic dose for anchor worms. Now I'm looking at my fish with eagle eyes and I notice that almost all the fish in the bottom pond have some sort of little issue. Again easily overlooked if you're not careful to take the time and look. Little red spots, a small area of raised scales, a touch of fin rot. All indications of a potential major ulcer breakout. I've seen it happen, and the thought of it scares me to death. In the mean time, my fish chose to spawn again. So again the males are chasing the females, and again they are loosing yet more scales in the process. We already decided, next year, the ponds will be sorted by sex if possible. I'm now lying awake at 4:30 worried about my fish. Isn't that just crazy? So the only bugs I haven't zapped are the micro minis, so now I'm doing a 3 day dose of Proform C. I'm hoping the malichite green will also help the bacteria count in the pond. In the mean time, the skimmer pump decided to quit, so last night, I'm out there switching that out because Harry is out of town all week. So, the pond is again going crazy, despite the water quality. I've also started using some Med-xzyme in the water to help control the bacteria count. So, now I'm just plain worrying. I feel like I'm just dumping stuff in the water. I hate acting "after the fact" . I hate not doing anything, too. The fish are all still eating and I watch carefully for anyone to start isolating themselves. I watch carefully and hope nothing breaks out into full blown sores. But, a couple don't look so good. Fortunately the water is clear so I can see them and unlike the upper pond fish, that you can't even get a "one second' look at, these fish generally will swim around you long enough to look at them. I'm not sure what shape the fish in the upper pond are in. With water lilies covering half the pond and them being so flighty, you bearly get a glance at them to know they are still in there. Oh and in the whole mess are the new fish, which were added last Saturday, before I notice all this going on and finally decided that I did have a problem. That's a whole nether post. So I'll keep you informed on the condition of my koi and what I'm doing, for better or worse. We'll all learn from my mistakes.... again

A 4 State Koi Odyssey: Nashville and Beyond....

2010-06-11T14:43:00.004-05:00

Harry and I recently went to the annual AKCA seminars. Every year they are held at a different hosting city, so we have begun to make these seminars our annual vacations as well. This year's seminars where held in Nashville, TN. And despite the recent flooding there, we saw very little signs of the destruction that we all know happens with such events. But then, we didn't even try to adventure into the Opryland Resort area, which was totally devastated by the flooding. We instead concentrated our sightseeing on historical places nearby. Oh, we made it down town to the historical Honky Tonks and even took in a show at the Reiman Auditorium, but the real reason for going was, of course, the koi tradeshow and seminars themselves. The vendors are always fun to visit with and since this year I conned Harry into taking the truck instead of the teeny car we have (and usually take), I even got to buy things!!! There were several koi vendors, with beautiful koi totally out of my pocketbook range but so much fun to look at and drool over. The seminars are full of so many experts and so much knowledge, they can be overwhelming. However, I kind of found them a little repetitive this year. The AKCA judges and officers are so informative, all's you have to do is show interest and they start pouring out years of experiences and information. You can tell they truly love their hobby. The final day is the area pond tour. Never disappointing, we again saw some really beautiful ponds, fish to die for, and gardens that were out of this world. The 4 days we were there went quickly. The only fish purchase we made there was not koi at all! But instead, something called "High fin Sharks". Which are not sharks at all but a bottom feeder from China that because of its dorsal fin makes it look a lot like a shark. I had recently read about them while researching alternative fish for your ponds. And, so we decided we needed a new topic to talk about while pond side, thus the purchase. (I'll report back on their progress.)

Leaving Nashville, we decide to take the "scenic route" home, via my sisters house in Arkansas. While there Harry picked up a Box Turtle for the grandkids. Our menagerie was growing... We also stopped at a huge nursery and spent about 4 hours deciding what to buy. While there the owner said, "Hey you have koi, you want to go look at a nice garden?" Well since it was closing time, we said SURE! So off we go to a local gardener with the most fantastic koi ponds and gardens. Specializing in azaleas and maple trees, it again was beautiful. After the tour, we returned to the nursery, after hours, and bought 4 trees to bring home! (The truck is starting to get full) The nursery owner was so nice.
Waking up on Tuesday morning and knowing I had to be back to work on Wed. and wanting to stop at 2 koi farms, we knew it was going to be a long day and a long drive ahead. First stop was in Berryville, MO, a 3 hour drive away. Berryville is the home of Razorback Koi Farms. The owner, Dennis ___ had been at the AKCA show with fish and we told him we were planning on stopping on our way home. Razorback Koi Farm normally doesn't do a retail business for the public to walk in on. Since we had talked with him at the seminars and called ahead, he let us in. He keeps his fish at a farm out in the country. No ponds were to be seen anywhere. Multiple tanks are actually held in an old cattle shed. It wasn't pretty, and the truth be known, most koi farms are home based businesses. Business is done over the internet or by selling wholesale to area businesses for resale. What the farm didn't have for attractiveness, Dennis made up for in friendliness and true Missouri hospitality. His southern accent made me smile and after we bought 3 or 4 fish, he threw in 2 for free. He had exceptionally blue Shushui and a nice Sanke I picked out. He too, had fish I couldn't afford, but seemed just as happy to sell me his little guys. Again, we picked up 2 small non-koi fish. 2 albino catfish for the ponds also went into the oxygen filled bags.
"We're having fun now!" I declared, as we put the huge bag in the truck. Now, it was off to Neosha and the McBride's Koi Farm or MOKOI on the internet. Another few hours on the road and we again arrived at a great koi farm. This one at least had ponds we could see as we turned into the drive way. There must of been 10 or so plastic covered hoop greenhouses. Some had a couple huge tanks, while others had multiple blue tanks. Again, the owner, Mr. McBride told us he normally does not do retail sales, but deals both off the internet or wholesale, but since we were there, he'd be happy to sell us fish. He normally is not there even, except there was a dealers truck with tanks in his driveway from Oklahoma. So, we lucked out again. He had thousands of fish and were basically sorted by size in the tanks. Some of his larger tanks had huge and really gorgeous fish in them. Nice to look at, but again out of my price range. My wish list of koi types was pretty short. I was really only looking for Goshiki and Goromo. Both, of which he said he may or may not have one or two out of the thousands of fish he had. I had already spotted a Goromo in his "big fish" tank, but walked away. The two types are usually a little harder to find, so it didn't surprise me. Regardless, we strolled among the tanks of smaller fish. If you have ever stood by a tank of hundreds of swarming little fish, you know how difficult it can be to spot that "special one". I may see it and then it's gone again. But, fortunately I spotted both the fish I was looking for in side by side tanks! I was very happy. Then moving to the next hoop house, I spotted a third fish I liked in the 50.00 tanks. ____ was surprised himself, when I pointed out both the Goshiki and Goromo that I was looking for, in the small fish tanks. Then, as we approached the 50.00 tank and saw the Beni Kin Kikukuryu I wanted, he told me the fish was over looked and should of been in the 150.00 tank. But, since he told me they were 50.00 tanks that is what he'd let him go for. Even if he made it up, just to make me feel like I got a great deal, (which I do think I did) I was happy with my choices and the prices. So, we left with 3 fish from McBride's.

So from Nashville and the annual AKCA seminars, to Arkansas, to Missouri, and back home to Iowa, we certainly made the rounds. What a great way to spend a vacation in my opinion. Some people are into antiques, some into cars, while others like the water parks and sightseeing. We had fish, trees, and turtles. I was as happy as a pig in mud. I thoroughly enjoyed our "Koi Odyssey". And, I think Harry did too, but am thinking he's going to insist on taking the car next year!!
Not great pictures, but here are some of my new babies that are, by the way, in the QT tank, not the ponds at home.

2010-05-27T15:22:00.005-05:00

Wow, its been awhile since I had a chance for any updates. Where do I start? Just got back from Nashville and the AKCA annual Koi Seminars. What a great pond tour. Beautiful ponds, mega bucks! Got to visit with a few couples that we have met over the years, too. Attendance was a little down, but we still had a good time. We drove ourselves out and Harry reluctantly agreed to take the truck this time instead of the little car. The little car is great on gas mileage, but has no room to bring anything back, which Harry loves and I of course hate. I had figured it would only take an additional 100.00 or so for gas, but he knew with the things I bought to put in it, that it would be closer to 1000.00 by the time I got home. Well, I don't have that kind of free spending money, but I went with a "secret stash" just in case. The vendors at the trade show were all quite friendly and the talks were, well ...so soo...not sure I really learned anything new, but nice refresher courses anyway. For us, it's just getting to talk to old friends and driving around the area to see the sites. We spent a day at Pres. Jackson's Hermitage House and an afternoon at a nearby town called Franklin; site of one of the most deadliest civil war battles. So lots of history in that area. We ate downtown and bar hopped all the "Honky Tonks", as they are called there. One evening we went to the famous Opryland Radio Show which was held at the Ryman Auditorium, since the new building was flooded in the recent floods. We really didn't see much sign of their flooding damage, but then again didn't go into those areas of town. And, because of the floods we didn't get to see the Opry Land Mills Hotel and its botanical center and shops. Maybe next time. On Sunday, we took the pond tour associated with the seminars. Oh man, there certainly were some beauties. I did feel sorry for the pond owners, because most the ponds were covered with foam from spawning fish. Not the usual superior water quality, but real life happening in their ponds. Stuff most people don't get to see. I'm sure when they set the date for the seminar, spawning never entered their minds. Regardless the ponds were beautiful and the fish were, in general, huge.

My own fish spawned Tuesday night. What a mess. Millions of eggs everywhere. Harry did a huge water change. The fish seemed really tired this morning. They've been gorging on eggs in the pond. No feeding for at least a day or two. Saw lots of scales in the bottom of the pond, so know they have to be pretty beaten up. I'll be watching them closely to make sure I don't get an outbreak of ulcers. Harry keeps doing water changes, so feel like I'm wasting money by putting any water conditioners in there. The string algae is growing like crazy now that the water temps have finally warmed up . We're just pulling it out as best we can.

Still trying to catch up work, but will try to get back tomorrow with pics of my new fishies. Fun, fun...

Nashville is under water

2010-05-10T16:08:00.002-05:00

Just a little over a week left before we leave to go on our vacation to the AKCA annual koi seminars. I was so looking forward to visiting Opryland Mills Hotel and that area. I've been looking at these fabulous pictures of a boat inside, floating down this stream surrounded by plants and this huge botanical garden. Well, if you haven't heard, Nashville is flooded. So everything close to the river is under water. I guess our seminar hotel, the Milinium, is high and dry so the seminars will go on, but there will be no tours of these fabulous areas this year. Just 2 years ago when we went to the seminar, everyone was asking about Cedar Rapids and how the people here were doing. Now, Nashville is going through the same thing. Regardless, I'm still looking forward to going.
The weather has really been cold hasn't it? My pond temps Sunday morning were back down to 50 degrees again. I surely hope my fish don't get sick. They have not spawned yet. My records show it was June 6th in 2009 when they spawned last year. I'm sure it will be that late again this year. It's crazy. Most people's fish have already spawned. People think I'm crazy when I tell them my ponds have not warmed up enough yet. But then, if they had spawned, all the little guys would be dead, because it's now too cold for them. Even the frogs have finally quieted down.
I spent all of mother's day out in the garden planting, and digging, and tilling. Got a new mini rotor tiller for mother's day! What a great gift! It works great and I love it.

Finally the fish are out!

2010-05-03T14:00:00.002-05:00

Finally we got the koi out of the basement and into the ponds! After about 4 consecutive days in the low 70's, I felt like the pond was close enough to the basement pond temps to put the fish out. I began the day by vacuuming the ponds. Harry blew the filters and settling chambers. Millions and millions of toad eggs were everywhere. They have been particularly loud all week. And non-stop too. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and could hear them out there. (Even with the windows closed) I worried that the neighbors would be complaining, but they have always been pretty cool about my ponds and the noise I make. I recently bumped into one of the neighbors that walks her dogs early in the morning. She said she got close to the house and could hear water running someplace. It didn't dawn on her that it was my waterfalls. Said she was embarrassed to say, she was looking all over for the problem area. Looked in the manholes and everywhere listening for the source of the gushing water. She just knew it was a water pipe broke someplace. Finally, her ears traced the noise to my yard. Which, she knows I have the ponds, so she said she felt so stupid. But, they had been off for nearly 4 months; she wasn't used to hearing them again. We laughed together.
So anyway, it's nice to see life in the upper, smaller, pond again. It's the pond I can see from my kitchen table. Of course the GFCI wouldn't work. It showed signs of definitely burning up. So, Harry will have to replace it. I've had several GFCI ( Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters) burn up on me. They don't just trip they turn black and I've even had them melt down. Guess they are doing their job, but I'm always glad they are outside!! And, I never know the cause. Whatever I plug into them seems ok. So the extension cord is strung across the pond to run the aerator till I can get Harry to replace the plug. Which he won't like, cause it's a tight place with plants all around and he knows I'll yell at him for stepping on them. So, he'll loudly cuss them and maybe even me under his breath.

Elephants in the garden? The 4 legged kind!

2010-04-29T14:56:00.003-05:00

Cats....either you love them or you hate them. Many people would go out of their way to run over one. This sums up the attitude of many gardeners towards cats, which is why there are moves to outlaw them (cats). I'll admit to having the same feelings myself, on occasion, especially after too many visits by the same cat to the same flowerbed. But on balance, I don't mind cats. I own one myself-if you can own a cat. Dave is his name and he's ancient at 21 years of age!
The cats that drop by my yard seem particularly free spirited, especially Midnight, and I've concluded, after years of observations, that they come to my place for one or both of two reasons: to find something to eat or drink, or to find a comfortable place to relieve themselves ( I do worry when they show up with a magazine).
No, there are worse things than cats in the garden, and I've had them all - rats, mice, groundhogs, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels - everything but rogue elephants, which are a nasty little problem for gardeners in Africa. Elephants there have been known to clean out the cabbage crop and drain the pond at one sitting, and they make an awful mess of the patio furniture. I count my blessings that I live in a neighborhood that has an effective elephant control by-law. The irony of it is, although cats can be a nuisance, they do a darn good job of keeping down vermin.
I recently read somewhere that the majority of people on earth are never more than ten feet from a rat - scary thought (who makes up all these statistics?) So, I'm all for a few cats running wild if they can increase that distance by a foot or two. We do need a few predators around to keep the neighborhood in a state of ecological balance.

Meet some of the gang.

2010-04-22T15:33:00.002-05:00

This is a picture of most of the fish that wintered over outside. There are 11 out there at the moment and I plan on adding maybe 4 or 5 from the basement pond to these, while the rest of the basement fish will go into the smaller pond. That should divided them up pretty evenly by numbers at least. Every day I look at the outside thermometer hoping the temps are slightly above 60, but just no go. The basement pond read 70 degrees this morning. I'd like them to be at least fairly close. I read where others are turning fish out for spawning already because their temps have moved close together. It was May 3rd last year before I got mine out and at the rate I'm going will be that late again this year. About the time we get a couple warm days to get things moving, then we get a few cold nights again. And so it goes. I'm still in a holding pattern. The fish have had a great stay in the basement pond this winter. Not even once have I did a water change and forgot I was doing it! In years past, I've drained the entire pond before I remembered I had opened the drain. But, actually I've never killed anyone doing that. Mainly because the pond will pool about 1/2 inch of water in one corner. It has saved me a couple times. Why once I began a water change at night after dinner and didn't remember it till I got to work the next day. I left work in a panic and in tears, but they were all ok. Regardless, there have been no terrifying incidents this winter. (Knock on wood)

None of these fish have names except maybe the Showa at the bottom. And don't ask me what it is, cause it's one that the grandkids named and only Harry can remember what it was. Objectively looking at the fish, the Sanke (3 colored) fish clear to the left, may go down the road at the end of this season if it doesn't improve. It's a nice enough fish, but doesn't seem to want to grow. The Showa (3 colored with black on his face) at the bottom of the group may go down the road also. Showa are usually slow to mature in coloration, that's why he has made the watch list.

I pledged to get rid of a fish everytime I add a new one. So, fish that don't change or do change often get put on our "watch list". The big Bekko(White with black spots) while not a great looking fish is exempt cause we've had her for a long time so she's grandfathered in. Also, note that on the Sanke at the bottom of the picture beside the Soigoi (grey fish.) I notice she has a little red spot just behind her gill plate. This is a sore not a spot. I haven't done anything about it yet, but got my eye on it. I'm hoping she'll heal herself. If it gets worse at all, I'll net her out and hit it with some iodine. Looks like she lost a scale there. Harry said there were 2 scales at the bottom of the tank when he cleaned the pond. I'm wondering if that is one of them.

elephant ear bloosoms???

2010-04-14T09:07:00.004-05:00

This morning as I went through my normal routine of feeding the fish and cat, I happened to glance over and notice that my elephant ear actually had a bloom on it. In the fall, I usually simply cut off all the huge leaves and dig up the bulbs, but I had one particularly large plant and didn't have the heart to cut it, so I dug it up, leaves and all, dumped the whole thing in a 5 gallon bucket and put it in my living room for the winter. It has continued to produce a couple large leaves at a time throughout the whole winter. I don't believe I have ever seen my elephant ears bloom. I didn't know they did. I just thought they threw off little baby bulbs at the roots and that's how they multiplied. So I snapped a couple pictures to share. Have you ever seen your elephant ears bloom? This is the type of elephant ear that holds it's leaves upright. I know "elephant ear" is a real general term, I never have been one of those people that knows all the Latin names for things. Sorry.... they are pretty common though.

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-06T08:08:00.004-05:00

Spring certainly has sprung. Daffodils have all bloomed, tulips are right behind them. The longer evenings beckon me to get out into the gardens to rake a little. Easter Sunday was so nice, I went out and trimmed all my bushes and cut off all the ornamental grasses. Got a half inch of rain last night with more to come. The ponds and fish are looking great. Thanks to Harry cleaning out some of the algae. There was little or no sludge on the bottom, but his efforts have left the water crystal clear now. Because our ponds are nearly under a huge walnut tree, Spring cleaning is essential for us. As much as we work at keeping them clean in the fall, there is always a few stray walnuts or leaves that get in usually turning the water a very bad coffee color. Last year there were little or no walnuts on the tree however (seems to always be an every other year cycle) so the ponds came out of winter looking pretty good. Regardless, every Spring Harry completely drains the pond, sweeps down the sides and refills it. The fish are netted out and put in a tank. This year Harry said he only had them out for about 4 hours while he cleaned, flushed the lines and got enough water back in the pond to cover the fish. So, Spring cleaning is complete, the pond waterfalls are up and running, filters are all working, and life is good if you're a fish. Water temps still only hover in the upper 50's, but the fish are already eating the Spring blend of fish food. Hopefully I can get the fish in the basement out by the end of the month. The pictures above shows the empty stream and one of the two submersed jets that help to move water down and out of the stream. The second pic shows Harry vacuuming up all the leftover rinse water. You can also see my 4 bottom drains and attached aerators. Good job, done. Now all that's left is enjoying the fish. At least till Spring Spawn ruins all my good water quality!

koi jumped out a 6" hole!!!****

2010-04-01T13:48:00.005-05:00

OK, lost an additional outside koi this week. That's 2 for the winter. This 3 year old 15" Sanke came out of the winter looking pretty good. He's been a little sluggish, but seemed to be doing OK. Saturday the pond's temps were 45 degrees and fluctuating every day with the changing temps. I happened to walk out to look at the fish and there he was all pine coned! Not good! I was on my way to town, but put everything down to go get a net and tub. He was still pretty active but I got him netted when he thought he was hiding in a mass of string algae. I took him to the basement and put him in a tub of cold tap water. I figured it had to be around the same temp as the outside pond, only cleaner. Put an air stone on him and added a little salt and Elbagin (an antibacterial water treatment), covered the tank and shut down the lights to help make him comfortable with his new surroundings. Everyday for 4 days I did partial water changes on him twice a day (as there was no filtration) Each day the water naturally warmed to just over 60 degrees. I replaced the salt and Elbagin daily also. He didn't get worse, but he didn't get better either. All the while he acted pretty good actually. He seemed pretty calm without being too lethargic or anything. Almost like he knew I was trying to help. Well, last night we had the grand kids over to color Easter eggs, so the checkup was prolong from the normal 5:30 to about 9:30 in the evening. And, when I went to the basement...there he was laying on the basement floor!!! Da** Da** Da***!! I left about a 6" hole open on one end of the tub so he could get a little light and dang if he didn't jump out it. He appeared dead, but was still kind of wet, so I returned him to the aerated tub and messaged him a little to try to make him breath. After several minutes, I just let him float in the aeration, said a little prayer, and called it a night. But, upon returning this morning, it was obvious that he was indeed dead. I had planned to get some antibiotics for him today. But, guess I don't have to bother with that, do I? Always upsets me to loose a fish, but when its something I've done, it makes me so mad. I just never thought he had enough space to get the speed to jump out the hole! But he obviously did a tail stand or something.
So above is a couple pictures of what he looked like. He's flower fertilizer now. Dang, dang, dang!!!!

Frogs....More Ugly....

2010-03-23T08:09:00.002-05:00

Well the ponds are now completely thawed. Water temps were at 46 last night. The weather man is promising 50's all week. I can smell the barbecue grills firing up at night again as I walk around surveying the yard and it's usual spring mess. The robins and red-wing black birds have been back for a couple weeks and every conversation between the guys in my family is all about the coming of the Spring turkey hunt. I'll be a pond widow for the month of April as Harry migrates to the southern cottage to partake in the Spring rituals of early bass fishing, turkey hunting and even later in the month there will be mushrooms and asparagus to collect.
Harry has already cleaned the upper, smaller pond which sits empty till it warms up enough to move the inside fish back out. He has all the waterfalls up and running. In cleaning out and flushing the filters in the bottom pond we discovered more "ugliness" in the pond. Our bottom pond has 4 bottom drains that feed the settling tanks previous to the filters. All winter long "crap" can settle in these lines and they must be flushed before turning on the pumps. I had previously netted out one large frog that was completely covered with fungus from the pond, but to my dismay while purging the bottom drain pipes, out came an additional 17 fungus covered frogs!!! 17!!!! I assume they may have entered the pipes looking for a place to hibernate for the winter. But that is 17 fungus carrying frogs that were polluting my pond. To visually look at the pond, you'd say it was clean, but little did we realize the danger that lurked below and out of sight.
The larger pond will still need drained down and cleaned. We're just waiting for it to warm up a little yet before we put the fish through the stress of being netted out while we clean it out. There is a ton of string algae already growing everywhere. I know this time of the year, it is probably my friend, helping to control the ammonia and nitrites that will now begin to develop and even giving the fish some natural food to get their systems up and going. I've been trying to add a little salt to the ponds, but Harry keeps doing water changes and by getting the smaller pond on line yesterday, he added another couple thousand gallons to the system lowering my salt percentage again. I'll have to check it tonight again and probably add another bag. I have a salinity meter so I can take a before and after reading and knowing the amount of salt I've added, I can tell exactly how many gallons are in my pond. This is an easy way to figure the volume of a pond. I've also been adding some Medzyme and continue to add my Artic bug juice. I still have a couple fish that are just a little sluggish acting compared to the others. So, I have a watchful eye on them. Hopefully I can begin feeding soon. I'm hopeful and anxious to get in the gardens. Tulips and daffodils are up, birds are singing, and best of all the sound of water running is back in the gardens....

Spring feeding??

2010-03-17T14:16:00.004-05:00

It's St. Patrick's Day and the temps are to reach the high 50's!! (Suppose to get 3-6 inches of new snow on Saturday) but we're not going to talk about it. The weathermen never know anyhow. My outside pond temps are finally 50 also. The fish are already much more active. The single dead fish still has me gun shy, so I've been adding Medzyme to my ponds. Medzyme is like Koizyme which is just a bacterial additive that is suppose to compete with aeromonas and pseudomonas (the bad bacteria that make our koi sick)I've also began adding a little salt. Salt is very controversial, but after all I've read and learned, I make the choice to add salt to my ponds in early Spring and in Fall. Removing all of it during the Summer and Winter months through water change outs. I only have it in there during the months when water temps are flip flopping back and forth. Like today, temps are in the 50's, but by Saturday they are suppose to be back below freezing (thus the snow) so I expect the water temps will fall again also. These changes are really hard on already compromised fish immune systems. Costia is also a cold water parasite that can wipe out a fish pond in early Spring. Salt helps to keep all parasites at bay. It also helps reduce algae. So, I add salt. Over a period of a few days, I bring the salt levels up to a therapeutic .3%. Again, this is basically only for the months of March/April. We continue to do water changes. I've had several club members call to report winter koi kill. This is always so sad. My heart goes out to them.
Harry said he took down the plastic fence we erected at the mouth of the stream (to keep the fish out of the shallow area during the winter) He called to say before he could walk to the other end of the stream, the koi had all dashed up the stream to beat him. They do enjoy the stream for some reason. It was like they were all just waiting for him to open the gate. The filters in the pump house are almost thawed. We will still empty the ponds and completely clean them before we turn all the filters and pumps back on. Hopefully only a couple of weeks away before we do that.
Heard one of the members at the pond meeting last night mention he was already feeding his koi Cheerios. I kind of cringed. It's still pretty early for that. If you can't resist feeding, at least feed early in the day, so they have time to get it digested before the cooler night sets in. Also, watch the weather. If a cold front is moving in, then refrain from feeding. A cold front can shut the koi back down again, and we don't want that food sitting in their guts undigested. So, if you must feed, use a Spring/Fall blend (wheat based) food. Also, remember, just because your koi are anxious to eat, your filter's bacteria is not up to par, so you may be creating ammonia and nitrite spikes. Once you begin feeding, the koi will begin to produce waste and the pond's ecosystem is not ready to handle it yet. Start doing your water testing.

Winter kill..the ugly part of this blog

2010-03-09T08:38:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of my Kohaku. Unfortunately, as you may notice, she is out on a snow drift instead of in my pond. The good news is all the rest of the fish are still alive. She is probably about 18-20 inches big. The pond has been slow to thaw, but Harry has been making the hole larger by recirculating the pond water over the top of the ice. Over the weekend I observed a large dead frog in the bottom and he was just covered with fungus. I don't want any more fungus growing in my pond than I can possibly help it, so I got a net and pulled him out. The pond was still about half covered with ice. I knew the fish were hiding under that ice flow. At least I hoped they were floating!! When I returned to the pond on Sunday, another 4-5 inches of ice had melted on the leading edge of the pack. But, it was just enough that I could see a tail laying on the bottom on the far side of the pond. Once again, the net revealed a dead fish. Da**, I was heart sick...is this going to be a repeat of last year's big fish kill? I truly thought we had done everything right this year. I automatically pulled water for testing. I tested the ph,(still high but normal for my pond, around 8.3) no ammonia and no nitrites. Kh was a little low though for my pond and the hard water that I have. So I dissolved 6 pounds of baking soda and added that for a boost. My CO2 test kit has always been weird. You're suppose to add 5 drops of #1 bottle then count the drops from #2 bottle till the water turns pink. But, my water turns pink immediately from the drops from bottle #1?? I don't know what that means!!! I do suppose it's getting old and I should replace it. Water temps were still at 39 degrees, so its still very cold. The dead kohaku looks pretty typical of a fish experiencing hypothermia. Slightly red around the edges. You can't tell much looking at its gills as they loose their color almost right away after being dead. Other than red and slightly bloated the fish looks pretty good. So, I'm hoping this is strictly an isolated death. Perhaps the fish was a little weak going into winter. I think he's been dead for a while, cause when I fished him out there was like this white footprint of his body left on the floor bottom. Like where all his slime coat fell off. Or perhaps it was fungus moving in on him. Regardless, I hope I got him out before he mucked up the water too much. I still have 2 foot of snow on the stream and in the yard. I'm hoping the rain we get this week will help to get rid of that. Harry plans on recirculating the water in the stream to help clear it of ice. I think helping mother nature remove some of the ice will help get some much needed fresh air into the pond. Water changes and sun will help a lot, too. So, I'm in morning today...She was one of my favorite kohakus..of course...it's a long time till Spring yet. I'm hoping the rest of my fish will be ok, and not succumb to bacterial disease in the mean time. Again, we are talking about another inside pond for wintering over. We got to do something....

2010-03-03T10:45:00.003-06:00

Finally, I'm so excited...the temps will actually get into the 40's. Big whoop, uh? But, it's been so long. The snow is finally melting and Spring is "may be on it's way". Harry took advantage of the warmer day to do a water change on the pond. As he runs the new water in over the ice it actually melts the ice and opens up the hole. It's hard to realize the size of the above hole, but it's about half the surface area of my lower pond. The fish are hiding under the remaining ice pack. The good news is, nothing is floating up in the hole and nothing is sitting on the bottom from what I can see. The water is crystal clear and since its calm, its easy to see straight to the bottom. I can see a lot of string algae growing from the sides and bottom of the pond. I don't mind this at this stage, cause I figure it provides some natural food for the fish that have been sequestered under the ice pack with out food from me for some 4 straight months now and I'm sure it will be another month before temps allow me to feed at all. Not what you would call a thriving environment. I know they are merely surviving. So knowing that they can at least graze on the available algae gives me some relief. This is a very natural habitat behavior for fish. In the picture you can just barely see the bubbles from the aerator. Not much movement, I've cut them way down from last year. I want the air, but not the water movement so much. Such a balancing act. Air for the fish, enough water movement to bring bad gasses off the bottom, but not so much as to disturb the fish. Gentle air. Spring fever is evident everywhere and with everyone you talk to. Seed catalogs are clogging my mailbox and Harry and I are talking about what fish will go into which ponds this season. (I'm waiting for just the right time to try to ask Harry to redo the upper pond, shhhh he doesn't know I'm already planning)

The aquarium looks like egg drop soup!!!

2010-02-22T16:14:00.003-06:00

I'm back! Costa Rica was absolutely wonderful. 90 degrees, fun, and food. What can I say. I needed all weekend just to rest up. Zip lining, white water tubing, river boat touring, deep sea fishing...not much time to rest. I was glad to be home, however. February is a good time to be away from all the ponds and gardens, but still plenty to worry about. My son, Gabe, watches over things for me, but I still worry. Got home late Thursday. I have to tell you about something that did happen over the weekend though. Grand kids...you got to love them don't you? Mine are no exception. The youngest of 3 boys is 2. That should explain a lot. Well, they came over with their parents on Friday night for a fish fry of all things. Something we do quiet often though, because Harry and all the family are avid fishermen. So, we adults are in the kitchen just visiting and dinner is close to being on the table, when Ian (5) came running into the kitchen to say "Grandma! Grandma! Andy just fed the fish way too much food!!!" So, I walk into the living room to see the large aquarium is totally full of flake food!! I looks like egg drop soup!! He has dumped a complete quart container of flake food into the aquarium. I can't see the electric yellow cichlids from the yellow flakes churning everywhere in the tank!!! Yep...it's 8 o'clock at night and the whole thing has to be emptied and replaced. Ian is hiding behind the chair. My other son, Zach ask him what is wrong, he (Ian) didn't do anything wrong so he didn't have to hide. Ian replies that he just doesn't like it! It's just not right! We reassured him that it will be OK, we just have to clean it up. Andy sheepishly tells me "Sorry Grandma", which I accept without a second thought. The aquarium actually needed a good cleaning, I had just been putting it off since its a huge job by yourself. Now I had 2 sons helping me!! So the strategy is to get the wet vac and just suck it all out. Hopefully not sucking up any small fish. So out came the bad water. Zach would haul each tub out to the deck and dump it, then refill and repeat. We netted out the fish and held them in a bucket till we finished. Then we ran a hose up from the basement to rinse and re-vac again several times. Finally, we bucketed up water from the basement pond to actually refill the aquarium. The aquarium has not been this clean for a long time and I believe everyone even survived (the fish I mean, well us too). We may have sucked up a couple baby fish, but that is OK with me, as they multiply rapidly. Hopefully in a week or so they don't all get sick from the stress we put on them. We'll hide and hope for the best. Welcome home, uh?

Happy Valentines Day

2010-02-11T14:24:00.002-06:00

Just wishing everyone a happy Valentines Day. Hate to brag, but I'm spending Valentines day and the whole week for that matter in sunny Costa Rica!!! Courtesy of my boss here at work. So will be back in a week all tired and tan, hopefully. I'll drink a fruity drink for you all.
The picture above is a shirt I made to wear to the AKCA Seminar last year in San Diego, which was over Valentines Day also.
Enjoy your snowy, sub-freezing week.

A koi named Herky

2010-02-08T15:16:00.003-06:00

The above pictures are of an injured koi named Herky. Herky is a 4-5 inch koi that belongs to Michele Hurley. Last fall, she noticed Herky was swimming funny and to her dismay poor Herky was missing the whole lower half of his tail and appeared to even have some of his spine sticking out. Harry and I stopped in to take a look at poor Herky and after much discussion and a poor prognosis, I told Michele I'd take him home and do my best to see if I could get Herky to heal. I didn't feel like he would ever be able to grow his tail back. Michele is a real fish lover, and I think she just didn't want him dying under her watch. Husband, Harry, said on the way home, "you really aren't' going to try to nurse him back to health are you? He's already pineconeing which means he's half dead". (Pineconeing is not a good sign and usually indicates the kidneys are affected and the fish is unable to keep water and or bacteria from flooding into it's body.) Yep, I said, I'm certainly going to experiment with him and do everything I know how to do. I told Michele, I would, and I am! So home we went with Herky in a six-pack cooler to put him in the Allsup fishy hospital. Herky was small, so went in a 3 gallon clear plastic storage box with only an air stone. I set him on a table by the window and actually set a mirror up beside his tank so in seeing himself he wouldn't think he was by himself. With no filtration at all, I did daily water change outs. On the first morning, I sedated him and cleaned and dressed his wound. I slowly began raising the salt in his tank to a whopping .06%!!! This is high, but with his pineconing, he needed lots of help to keep the water from flooding into his body. Every morning, I did water changes and replaced the salts to maintain this level. I'd had good results on another fish using an antibiotic water treatment called Elbegin. It only takes a pinch for this small tank. Turns the water yellow. Then it was a waiting game. Every morning I got up expecting to find Herky dead. I feed him 3 pellets of medicated food a day, which I never seen him eat. At night I netted out any wasted in the bottom of the tub. The pellets were always gone, but I didn't know whether he ate them or they dissolved. Day after day, I changed water, added salt and Elbegin and everyday Herky still greeted me. And, to my amazement, he got slowly better. The redness disappeared and was replaced with white skin. (A sign of healing)His bloating came down, too. Michele assumed since I hadn't called her on his condition, that he had passed. After, a couple months, I figured I wasn't doing anything for him that Michele couldn't do. So, I took him back to his original home, where Michele has kept him all winter, now.

Winter water change

2010-02-05T09:27:00.002-06:00

Temps got to a whole 30 yesterday. Don't know about you, but I'm really getting tired of winter. It warmed up just enough for Harry to go out and do a water change out. He cleared the pond of the last 2 inches of snow and dropped a sump pump down the hole created by the air stone. He pumped out 10 inches of water and then ran a hose from the outside faucet to the pond to refill with fresh water. We keep 2 long hoses in the basement just for this purpose. Takes a couple hours at least, but a good job done and you feel good about it after you've drained all the hoses and wrapped them back up to return to the basement. Hopefully the fish appreciate it too. A water change helps replace the KH which slowly deteriorates during the winter months. A high Kh is essential to Ph stability during the winter months. All looks good out there as of now. Fish seem to be doing ok, but it's early. It's usually March/April when all he** can break loose and fish deteriorate fast.
Fish in the basement still seem to be thriving ok. Had company over last weekend and actually took them to the basement to see the fish. The basement with the fish tank is small and chalk full of my seasonal house decorations, canned foods, and tons of misc. garbage to valuable to throw away, making it tight quarters and too embarrassing to take company to view. (of course, Harry thinks it all can be thrown away.)So these folks were some of the privileged few who get to see my basement pond set up. It isn't pretty, just functional. Keeps the fish safe and happy for the winter. I tell myself that's all that matters. Even then, as they usually do they all swam to hide in the back corner under the safety of the air stone that disturbs the surface of the water enough that they think they are hiding cause they can't see you standing there. Course you can't see them either. So I exposed my friends to my gross basement for nothing, cause they didn't get to see the fish much. Not sure why the basement fish are so skittish. I suppose I have one fish that sends out danger signals to all the fish and thus they are all that way. One fish can spoil it all you know. I've gotten rid of a fish before for being disruptive while they ate. She'd come up, grab a bite, and then flip her tail sending food and scared fish in every direction. Once I got rid of that fish, they all started eating quietly and gracefully and mealtime was a pleasure to watch and observe the fish. So if I can figure out which fish is the big scardy cat, it may be "outta here" too.

The nose knows...

2010-01-27T13:54:00.002-06:00

Let's see what other little tidbit can I tell you about a koi's anatomy? Smell?? In humans taste is waterborne and smell is airborne. In Koi of course it's all waterborne, so the distinction is blurred. Koi have narels on their heads just forward of their eyes. Some koi will display large almost fluffy, tuffs of skin around their nasal receptors. Taste can occur in the mouth, on barbels, or elsewhere on the body. Less appreciated is the role of chemoreception in behavior and orientation. Detection of pheromones is important in breeding and schooling.
Salmon use acute chemoreception in homing in their birth place. When salmon are small in their home stream, they imprint on the subtle unique odors that the watershed gives that particular stream. After migrating downstream and living for years in the ocean, they are able to "sniff" their way home. If the natural stream odors are overwhelmed by a smelly substance, the salmon will imprint on that and later home to wherever the researchers dispense the odoriferous substance. Another experiment showed that blinded salmon could find their way home, but salmon with their nares plugged could not. ( reference to all this can be found in Fundamentals of Ornamental Fish Health, by Helen Roberts)

Comments from Prof. Richard Strange

2010-01-26T14:56:00.002-06:00

Ok, Professor Strange has already gotten back to me regarding the "air bladder coming out of the mouth" issue. (Read previous post if you have no idea what I'm talking about.) The following are his comments:
"Hi Jackie, actually that is a great question. The gas bladder is not connected to the esophagus, so when you see the "gas bladder" protruding from a fish's mouth what you really see is inverted stomach being pushed out by the huge bladder. The bladder membrane is right behind the stomach membrane. If a fish is returned to the water with an expanded gas bladder, it will take hours to reabsorb the gas and sink making it vulnerable to birds, etc. Piercing the gas bladder carefully (a hypodermic needle is best) going through the stomach membrane and then into the gas bladder behind it, is preferable to letting the fish flounder. The best thing to do is put the fish in a weighted/modified crab pot and lowering the fish back down to bottom, the bladder shrinks and the fish swims out. No doubt there internal damage when the bladder/stomach prolapsed, but many fish survive.
Richard"

The picture above is not a koi and you will never see this in koi, but just a picture so you know what happens to other deep water fish with air bladders.

So there, I won't lay awake wondering about that anymore...now how do I find the origin of "souped up"???

What do you wonder about?

2010-01-26T08:12:00.002-06:00

Do you ever wake up early and lie in bed thinking about really stupid things? Over the weekend I actually woke up thinking about something I recently read in one of my Koi Health books. I was reading the chapter on a Koi's air bladder and how they worked. To clarify, an air bladder is not used as a respiratory organ in fish, but rather a buoyancy organ. It allows the fish to move up in down in the water. And, most of us (me included) think a fish must inflate their air bladder in order to float or move up in the water. And, then deflate them in order to move down. When in fact it's the opposite. Air bladders are actually filled with gas that is pulled/reabsorbed from the blood. It does not change size either. It's not a balloon that gets bigger or smaller as it releases or takes on gas. It only changes pressure within. Water pressure is greatest as it deepens (deepens? is that a word?) Anyway, to maintain the size of an air bladder the fish must actually take on gas (or inflate) as it swims down in order to equalize the pressure of the water pushing in on the fish. The reverse would occur when the fish swims up. If it did not decrease the amount of gas in the bladder, the decreasing hydrostatic pressure would allow the elastic bladder to balloon, making the fish more buoyant, and it would pop up to the surface over-inflated and unable to swim down. So, fish inflate (put more gas into the bladder) as they swim down and deflate (reabsorb gas from the bladder) when they swim up. An example of this occurs in deep water fishing. A fish hooked and brought up rapidly is unable to deflate the gas bladder quickly enough and the fish is bloated with a greatly expanded bladder, sometimes protruding out of it's mouth. Now, since I fish, I have seen this phenomenon in hooked fish. But, what got me wondering is: if the air bladder is not connected to the mouth or esophagus in anyway, how can it come out of the mouth?? Does it rupture some organ to find it's way out? It would be like our heart expanding so much it comes out our mouth?? Now, does that make sense to you? So, that's what I laid awake ponding. Not how the air bladder works, but how the heck it could come out of the mouth??? Is that weird or what? I don't think I questioned it before cause for some weird reason I thought the air bladder was part of a respiratory system, so would have a connection to the mouth like our own lungs do. But it's not...So I'm going to email Richard Strange. The contributing author for this book. I actually took his Koi bacterial course, so ya, I have his email address. I got to get to the bottom of this.
And then, just this morning coming to work I heard this song that had the words "souped up" as in "they souped up their cars to see how fast they would go." "Souped up" wonder where that old saying came from? Anybody know? What do you wonder about? ???

2010-01-25T15:21:00.004-06:00

Geesh, Saturday it was raining and the aeration hole in the pond opened back up again and there was standing water on the thinning ice and today as I look out the window, there's a freakin blizzard out there! I know, we say "welcome to Iowa" in an attempt to smooth it over some, but truth is: This is getting really, really old! A recent article in Koi magazine was really berating us Iowa(northern koi keepers) for keeping koi outside under the ice. He said it shouldn't be done and the fish are not thriving but narrowly surviving. Made me feel bad. I too, have previously lost koi under the ice and it was devastating. As a KHA, part of our mission is to spread the word about koi keeping and encourage the hobby. But from experience and watching many a pond owner kill their favorite finned friends, I too, am beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe, having koi is not for everybody. People say they are tuff and a domesticated carp, but the truth is they've been so inner bred that they are more like the tender orchid in the flower world. I see people putting 100 koi in a 100 gallon tank, or ponds that are not well cared for. Dirty ponds, feeding them cat food, or not feeding them at all. I wish I had a dollar for every time I stood next to a sick pond and they told me they'd been doing the same thing for 5 years and the fish have always been fine. But you know, I've done all those mistakes too. I've killed more koi than anyone I know! So occasionally I need a wake up call, that tells me, "it's OK. Don't be critical. Sure fish died, but,
that's how I learned and that's how they will learn also." Heck, I'm still learning. I learn from other people's sick fish. And, occasionally from my own, still. So while this article in Koi magazine upsets me, (and maybe he's right, maybe we have no business trying to keep Koi under the ice) I still plod out there to check on them and worry about them. January is almost over.So that's at least 2 months under the ice, already. February is still to come and can be as bad as January. I know Mother Nature rules, so am just hoping she'll help me out a little this year and bring an early Spring. The fish inside are oblivious to it all. Let's see how can I possibly make room for another pond down there for the other fish? Maybe if I got rid of the 2 selves of seasonal house decorations. I'm sure Harry wouldn't miss them. Furnace is taking up entirely too much room. Got any ideas how to get rid of that?

Lymphocystis - another viral disease

2010-01-21T14:49:00.002-06:00

Lymphocystis is another viral illness of koi. Often confused with Carp pox, its appearance only differs in that under a microscope it will appear to look like a cluster of grapes. It infects dermal fibroblasts, causing them to swell up to 100,000 times their normal size, resulting in groups of white to gray nodules, similar to a mulberry. Lymphocystis is transmitted when infected skin cells rupture and release viral particles into the water. As with carp pox, specific treatment is typically not required; improvement in environmental conditions and removal of underlying stressors typically result in spontaneous resolution. Again, its viral, so is "catchy" to the other fish. I recently was given a fish to take home and euthanize, as the owner didn't have the chemicals to do it painlessly. This was a 12 inch koi that without any warning broke out with "raised spots" all over its body. It had never before displayed any problems, other than maybe slowed growth. The owner felt the fish may have also been blind. Upon examination, I found his eyes appeared clear but seemed to be covered with a slime of sorts. The "spots" appeared bumpy like a mulberry and under the microscope looked like grapes. Just like the text book (love it when that happens!) I did however keep the fish alive for over 3 days as even with spots it was a beautiful fish and I just didn't have the heart to kill it. What do you do with an infectious fish? I agonized over it. I wouldn't put him in my pond. Couldn't see giving it away for someone else to put in their pond if I wouldn't do it. The owner didn't want him back or in his pond!!! Poor guy. He was a fish with no home. So on day 4, I finally euthanized the fish using a lethal dose of MS222 (used to put fish to sleep)and walking away for a day. It was very sad. And, still bothers me today to think about him. He's buried under a flower in my garden. If you think my flowers look nice, its because its a secret koi burial ground. Only the fish gods know.

Carp pox?

2010-01-21T13:53:00.002-06:00

A recent reader asked about carp pox in koi/goldfish. While there are several viruses that affect fish, 3 are well-known. The most common viral disease is Carp Pox. In koi, it causes epidermal hyperplasia (swelling) and results in papillomatous white to gray plaques on fins and skin that is often described as "candle wax" in appearance. The lumps can be scrapped away, but the removed material is infectious. Carp pox is generally seen in the cooler water temps during the winter and spring when fish are generally stressed. As the water warms, it usually will regress. After regression, the viral genome has been found in spinal nerves, cranial nerves, and subcutaneous tissue. I compare this to humans and shingles or even cold sores. Shingles is a viral disease that comes from chicken pox. The sleeping virus sits in our lower back and under stress can erupt as shingles in humans. Cold sores are a type of herpes virus just like carp pox. It lies harmlessly in our bodies and in our fish until stress causes it to reemerge. In fish it is usually an environmental stimuli. Cold water, overcrowding, poor water quality, etc. There is no known cure for viruses. Specific treatment is typically not required;improvement in environmental conditions and removal of underlying stressors typically results in spontaneous resolution. The condition is generally not life threatening to the fish carrier itself. However, the catch 22 is, if left in the pond with other fish it can be transmitted to them. "Usually", initially you may see one fish with it, then next year 2, and then more. Again, it is not life threatening to the fish, but can be unsightly. If fish are healthy and happy they may never display symptoms, as it is thought to be stress related. Also, keep in mind that if you see one fish with it in your pond, then it is probably too late as all fish have probably been at least exposed to the virus, even if they don't show symptoms. Personally, I have seen it in many ponds and even my own. In my own pond,I pulled the fish and put it to sleep. I have seen no further recurrence in my fish.
There are 2 other common skin conditions in fish, and I'll address them in the next 2 post.
ATTENTION: Please don't handle sick fish with your bare hands, always use gloves. Many fish diseases are infections to people too!!

More thoughts on pumps.....

2010-01-13T15:34:00.002-06:00

Well for the first time since Dec. 25th the temps have reached above 30 degrees. As I stepped out from work I heard the familiar sound of water splashing in the street. As I drove to restaurant row to find some lunch, I was forced to use the wipers and fluid 3 times in the half mile jaunt. While I'm definitely glad the sub zero temps have passed for the mean time; the mud, water, and salt baths my vehicle must take just add to my further disdain of Winter. As a roofing contractor its good for business, don't get me wrong. The ice dams, plugged drains, and leaks are part of our winter bread and butter business. But I hate the dirty looking snow and tracked on floors that also accommodate this seasonal ritual. On the bright side the sun is shining. My outside pond can surely use the additional solar heat. The inside pond remains quiet, with no new occurrences of pumps failing. Speaking of pumps, I've been using a brand of pond pump that can be easily found at Menards. (With the exception of the 2 bigger Sequence pumps in the pump house) But, to run my stream and QT tanks, I've been using these smaller less expensive pumps. I started using them because if they failed I could easily take them back to Menards and get them replaced in the same day. They are inexpensive but come with a 2 year warranty. Which is a good thing because they almost always fail before then. I have learnt to always save the box and receipt. What they lack for quality they surely make up for with service. I guess I could spend more and maybe get a better pump, but all pumps fail (and usually without notice and when you need them the most). So instead of having to call for parts and wait for UPS or have to order a new pump by phone or over the Internet and wait for delivery, I have decided its just easier and more convenient to just get them locally. And even though its an inconvenience to have to continually return pumps, it hasn't cost me a dime for a smaller pump in years. A better pump would outlive its warranty and I'd have to buy a new one every few years. Understand my logic here? The only catch is they are a seasonal item at Menards, meaning you can't get one off the shelf in December. The last pump to fail in my basement pond was due to the notched center hole of the propeller wearing out. Since I couldn't go directly to the store and get a replacement I decided to call the company for a replacement part. To my surprise, instead of a new part, they sent me a whole new pump. All's I had to do was fax a receipt. No bad part or proof or anything. Needless to say, I was very pleased. (If I wanted to be really deceitful, I could box up the bad pump, wait another month till Menards restocked for the new season and get another free pump.) But, I won't. I'm just pleased with the quick and easy service. Still had to wait for UPS, so in the case of an emergency, I would of had to wait for a replacement. But, all in all, I'm pleased and will both recommend the pumps and keep using them myself. Its all about the service.
Weatherman just said its 41 degrees out. Its a heat wave by golly!

Digging out...

2010-01-11T14:09:00.002-06:00

Well, temps are in the teens today and it feels a whole lot better. Not like anything is thawing out or anything but at least the wind is not cutting through you like a knife. Harry was kind enough to go out and shovel off the pond on Saturday. It was only around 0 out, but he claimed it was "nice out." He slipped on his jacket and fingerless gloves and was almost completely done, by the time I got out there with my 20 layers of clothing! I waddled out to the pond through the snow and dropped a dose of my bi-monthly bug juice into one of 3 teeny tiny holes still open in the ice. I also took out a thermometer to drop down to the bottom to get a temperature read. In the time it took me to walk to the pond it already read the ambient air as around 0. I dropped it to the bottom and patiently waited for it to react. I brought it up from a depth of about 2 1/2-3 feet, which was the bottom of the stream were my fish have been sitting under the inner tube light. It read right at 32 degrees. Harry said, "Well we know water freezes at 32 so the thermometer has to be off." I know that is true (unless there is salt present in the water) Salt in a winter pond will actually allow the water to get colder before it freezes. I keep no salt in my winter pond. So, I'm hoping he's right, cause again my KHA teaching say Koi can only tolerate temps to 35 before they begin to be really stressed. The warmest, denses water (39 degrees) should be on the bottom and the heat from the ground should hold it there. Again, I run on kind of a blind faith, hoping all will be OK. The aerator hole is down to a tiny 3 inch hole, but the ice around that area is softer and I broke through as I stepped off the ice just in time. The cord attached to the thermometer instantly froze so I could wave the thermometer out in front of me like some sort of weather vane. It was funny to look at, and made me crack a smile. (It's hard to find something to laugh about in this cold weather, we're all starting to get a little house bugging from staying inside too much.) I checked my plumbing pipes inside the unheated pump house and all was dry. I've had reports of broken pond pipes already with the extended cold. What a night mare that can be.

Comments for my post...

2010-01-11T13:51:00.001-06:00

It was brought to my attention that people have been unable to leave comments following my post. I hope I have that fixed. Please try again, and if again you are unable to access it, will you kindly let me know. I'm only a begginer at these things and have no idea what half these questions mean when you are setting up a blog. So obviously it's something I had marked or not. Let me know if I got it fixed, please.

Do you shovel the snow off your pond?

2010-01-08T08:08:00.003-06:00

Record low temps continue with 25-30 below zero windchill. No doubt its really, really cold out. Looks like the sun is going to shine at least today. Counted at least a dozen vehicles in the ditch this morning as I drove into work. Weather man just promised possibly getting back up to 30 above by next Wed. or Thurs. Never thought 30 degrees would sound good! Harry talked about possibly going out to the pond this weekend and digging it out. The recent high winds have buried it in snow. Its deceptively level out there and someone running across my yard would be really shocked if they fell down into the pond area thinking it was solid ground everywhere. I'll only let Harry shovel off the pond if I'm home. The aerator can produce what we call rotten ice, which is like honeycombed ice. I worry about him falling in and not being able to get out. So even though we do shovel the snow off the pond, we do take precautions. Its not something we get all excited about and think needs to be done "right this minute", but do it as soon as it warms a little. There is a lot of controversy surrounding whether you need to shovel the snow off. Some say no, and that it helps insulate the pond. My KHA training, says it should be removed. Allowing light to penetrate the pond prevents remaining algae and any submersible plants from thinking its night all the time. Plants expire CO2 and take up O2 during the night then, reverse the process during the daylight hours adding O2 back to the water. If they think it's night all the time they can contribute to the CO2 problems that already exist in a winter pond. Excess CO2 can contribute to a falling pH over time. In addition, snow, like rain, is very "soft" (like distilled water) in nature or can be very acidic, in certain regions like big polluted cities. Massive amounts of melting snow entering the pond can contribute to big pH changes. So for these reasons, and the fact we just want the fish to continue to have ordinary light/dark cycles, that we clean the snow off. Our pond has no submersible plants in it at all, but does have a healthy growth of algae on the sides. Technically, it's not the water surface that freezes, but the evaporating water from the surface that freezes. As water evaporates into the air, it becomes less dense as O2 mixes with it. This less dense vapor freezes. That is why there is always a small space of air between the water and the ice covering. Once a pond is covered with ice, freezing slows as the surface is now protected from blowing wind that contributes to the evaporation speed. Ice on the pond does not really "seal" a pond up tight. The ice actually does breath somewhat and there is still a gas exchange happening at the edges, but it is greatly limited and that is why a maintained hole is the common safety precaution advised. The hole produced from my aerator (pictured earlier) is completely froze over. Only the hole created by my floating light bulb is still open. The inner tube that supports it is frozen in the ice too, but the hole in the center of the tube remains open. The fish are still stacked directly under it in the shallow water and have not moved to the deeper warmer pond water. Hopefully the light is keeping the shallow water a tad warmer. I dug out a thermometer I hope to drop in this weekend. So, we'll see. I really just want it to warm up a little. A little solar heat would help both the pond and me a lot!

Dreaming of being a millionaire....

2010-01-06T13:42:00.005-06:00

Bracing for more snow today. Suppose to get an additional 4-7 inches followed by high winds. Its the day following the Orange Bowl game so the office and emails are all about those Hawkeyes. Its a nice diversion from all the talk about the severe cold. Harry got up this morning and was excitedly telling me all about this dream he had. He was driving around with this big truck full of pond supplies. Wasn't sure why, but thought there was some sort of seminar or pond expo in a big field someplace. Anyway, he was hauling around this big plastic container with some sort of big shoot that wrapped around it. He seemed to think it was a filter but it didn't have any media in it just the container. He said he started to wake up but tried to go back to his dream so he could figure out just what it was all about. You know how some people get this million dollar idea that comes to them in their sleep. He thought maybe this was some epiphany of an idea and we'd both be millionaire. Unfortunately, he woke up without ever realizing just what this all meant. So guess I'd better not quit my day job, right? Funny how dreams work isn't it?
Received an email from Monica this morning. She keeps her waterfalls and streams running all winter. She reported that their stream had frozen over and she could only see a little bit of water flowing under the icy covering. They were adding a little water to the pond threw the open skimmer box. I wanted to take advantage of the topic and warn people about ice dams. Streams and waterfalls can easily freeze and divert water out of the pond. So if you are one of those people that like to leave things running all year round, please do daily checks on your pond volume so you don't pump your own ponds dry. It's not just something we read about happening in the books, but has happened to several members. So just be watchful. I, personally, shut everything down and pull the pumps. I've had the water freeze and make my pump begin to cavetate (suck air instead of water). I've also had the electricity go out and then had to pull pumps in the middle of a snow storm so that the pipes could drain and not freeze and burst. Something, Harry will never let me forget, cause it was my idea to leave them running, while he wanted to pull the pumps early. Live and learn, has to be my ponding mantra. Trust me, I've made all the mistakes. I'm not trying to upstage anybody by talking about all the horrible things that could happen, but letting you know experience is the best teacher. And, seems I've had more than my share of experiences. So while everybody must learn and make judgement calls for their own pond, I'm here to make you think about what "could happen" as a result of your choices. Meanwhile, maybe Harry will dream about some sort of super filter that he can invent and I can build a huge pavilion for my fish to winter over in. Never thought I'd be encouraging Harry to nap.

There's a stray cat near the pond.....

2010-01-04T13:42:00.004-06:00

My Lord, its cold out there!!! The new year certainly came in like a lion. Not so much snow but bitter cold. Last week saw temps routinely below zero and this week promises lows double digit below zero and only single digits during the day. About the only consolation is the sun has been shining and the beautiful full "blue moon" has been absolutely gorgeous on the sparkling white snow at night. Both are best enjoyed behind closed windows and standing near fire places inside, though. Its been so cold out that I didn't even leave the house all weekend to simply walk out and peek at the pond. I have a feeling that the ever enclosing aerator hole is even possibly frozen shut. My garage is not attached to the house and I must make the short jaunt outside to get into my vehicle every morning. As a normal ritual,I glance in the direction of the waterfall. This morning I happened to notice a stray cat sitting at the aerator hole. The hole is always surrounded by animal tracks as the birds, squirrels, rabbits, cats, and occasionally coons or dogs are attracted to the last bit of open water. And that pond owners, is how you get dead carcasses in your pond. Many a pond owner has had their pond thaw out in the Spring only to find decayed squirrels or rabbits rotting and deteriorating water quality. One more argument for water change outs even during the winter. While the cold temps certainly slow the process, it is still going on. Animals approach the hole not having a clue how thin the surrounding ice might be. Once in the freezing water and no footing, all animals are doomed to drown. Contrary to this morbid scene is the even more gruesome discovery that the nearby tracks belong to that of a mink. As one of our pond club members discovered last year, mink, who are excellent swimmers and not deterred by the cold water one little bit, can completely wipe out a pond of koi and without you even knowing about it if you don't do regular pond checks. The mink will enter through the conveniently provided open hole, chase your koi till they catch one and carry it back to the safety of their den or eat it pond side just to spite you. The fish they don't catch will be missing tails, fins, scales, and anything else the mink can get his teeth or claws into. Usually they will continue to return till they have depleted the food source, though. If this should ever happen to you, dieing the water jet black might help under emergency situations till you can get the mink trapped. The biggest problem with dieing the water is you can't see the fish either. Hopefully,none of you will ever have to experience this. So, I'll have to be sure to walk out to the pond tonight on the way from the garage to the warmth of the house. I'm thinking the hole will be closed, but I'll check it out anyway and double check the backup floating light too while I'm there. I feel so bad for my fish out there. It just seems so cruel to leave them out there in the near freezing water. Hopefully January will warm up soon. They say the snowfall is actually insulating the ground. So we have that going for us. Where's that January thaw thing, everybody talks about? In the mean time, its cold... its way cold!!!

Shrinking air (gas) hole

2009-12-30T08:43:00.002-06:00

Of course the purpose of the air is two fold. Utmost, it allows bad gases that accumulate on the bottom of the pond (where your fish are sitting all winter)to rise and escape out of the pond and help replace much needed O2 in your dormant water. Water changes even during the winter are still recommended. I look for those warm days and drop a sump pump down that hole. We run a hose I've kept in the basement from the kitchen sink out there to refill. If you were a fish, would you want to live in the same water for 5 months? In our part of the country, water changes help restore Kh levels which help to stabilize the Ph. Even though we've quit feeding and the fish are at rest they are still breathing down there and while the colder water helps to convert the ammonia to lesser dangerous ammonium, as the water warms up it will convert back, so water changes still help maintain good water quality. Living in near freezing water for 4 months is stress enough, lets help them out by keeping their water fresh.

2009-12-30T08:21:00.002-06:00

Well, this year is about done. Thank goodness. While not horrible, I'm kind of glad to see this year pass. Suppose to get a couple more inches of snow today and the temps are suppose to drop back to single digits for the next 7 days. Tromped out to the outside pond last night to check the water level. Many a pond has emptied out under the ice and owners not even know it. I hear pond members say their aerator system keeps a hole open all year, but mine ices over quiet often. I've watched the hole recently shrink from about a 3 foot hole down to a 1 foot hole. The fish continue to hang out directly under my inner tube style heater. I took a picture of them last night and if you look real close you can see my Bekko (White with Black spots) koi sitting there hopefully enjoying the warmer temps. I can see the air stone I dropped right in that area is not working. I suspect the clear air hose I used has frozen. The problem with clear line is the sun shines on it and causes it to condense inside the hose then it freezes and the air gets shut off. My main air lines going into the pond from the large aerator all have weighted black lines. The sun can't penetrate those lines so there is never a problem with condensation inside the lines. Fish inside all seem to be doing OK again. Harry is in southern Iowa ice fishing. Something he's been trying to talk me into doing for a long time. I have to say the ice scares me. I look forward to ringing in the new year with a little get together with other pond club members. Happy New Year everybody.

Merry Xmas...more pump problems..

2009-12-28T11:20:00.005-06:00

Shewww!! The Christmas holiday is finally over. I ate and ate and ate. In fact yesterday I spent the whole day on the couch with either the flu or my stomach simply finally saying " no MORE"! I'm back to work, where at least I'm not in a constant state of grazing. Had a couple incidents happen with the fish pond in the basement over the long weekend. If you recall, the Wed. before Xmas there was an ice storm. Ice covered the trees and electrical wires. I sat at home that evening hoping the power would not go out. No air or filtration on the ponds or aquariums is a real concern for me. Well, the lights only blinked a couple times, sending all the clocks on every appliance and in every room into blinking mode. In an earlier blog, I worried about my filter restarting after being shut off for who knows how long, and sending Co2 into my pond in the basement, which the fish totally did not like. But this time, since it was only a mere blink, I thought there was no way the filter went down long enough to effect anything. Regardless, there they were all huddled in the corner again, clamped and acting like they had been traumatized again. So the only explanation was the submersible pump itself. It would have quickly stopped and restarted. Did it make some sort of noise change that scared the fish? Did it actually send some small amount of electricity into the water? It shouldn't have done that. But those 2 short blinks in the power had definitely effected the fish somehow. Even though it may not have physically hurt the fish, I know these type of things can stress a fish and stressed fish can more easily become sick. They are under a "watch" anyway since the Kojaku incident. Christmas day they still were not out of the corner. Hovering there like so many leaves blown against a fence. Saturday morning I do my routine check first thing in the am, and I'll be dang if the pump and filter are not running!!! The pump is DOA. This time I immediately flip my filter to the "back flushing" mood, so when it does restart it will not go into the pond but to the drain first. Not knowing how long its all been shut down,I immediately do a WQ check. Ammonia and nitrites are OK, so no immediate danger for the fish. Then, I pulled the pump to try to figure out the problem with it. After removing the cover, I tried several times to restart it, by just plugging it in, unplug it, plug it back in, unplug it.. No response. I can see the center of the pump is spinning, so the motor was working, but the pump propeller is not going around with it. So, once again, I call in the troops (husband, Harry) to help me. He tears the pump apart even further to find out the plastic propeller has worn so much that the motor rotor was just spinning inside the propeller. So I need to see if I can get a replacement part. But more importantly, what do we do for now? Got to have something. I have a spare pump, but its way too large for this little filter. Can we get some kind of tee in the line? So for the next hour we scramble around going through boxes of excess plumbing parts to see if we can rig up something. Harry finally gives up and makes the drive to town to buy a new pump. He comes back with a small sump pump and we're back up and running within the next 1/2 hour. A sump pump is not our preferred pump and most are not really rated to work 24/7 and some even have oil in them, but for now the filter is running and I'll attempt to go on line to see if I can get a replacement part. With the replacement of the pump, by this morning (Monday) they were again starting to come out of the corner and eat and swim as normal. Not sure if it's just my fish then or all fish, but mine seem to be super sensitive to anything "out of the normal" going on in the pond. A pump quickly switching on and off, an interrupted water flow, seems the least little thing gets them all upset again. So we're up and running again, fish again seem to be OK. It's only December, I have 5 more months of this to go yet....Bringing fish inside may be warmer for the fish, but definitely more work for the owner.

Just when you think everything is going good...

2009-12-22T09:19:00.002-06:00

Just when you think everything is going well with the fish, something happens to upset the apple cart. This morning I went to the basement to feed the inside fish and check on their well being and was shocked to see my brand new Kujaku lying dead at the bottom of the tank! Gosh dang it anyway! Now what the heck happened? I rush to do a quick water quality check. At least the ammonia and nitrite levels are ok, so what's going on? I pulled him out to get a closer look and can see an obvious ulcer on his tail, but not really something that should have killed him. He was up and eating just last night and swimming around ok as far as I could see. His gills were pale, but that could have happened from him dieing. They weren't chewed up or looking bad otherwise. Coloration was good, no bloating, no obvious signs of trouble other than the ulcer on his tail. So since I had to get going to work, I left it at that and heaved him out into the snowbank by the porch. So, now what? The rest of the fish are definitely on "Watch" now. I have 3 very small fish which I would expect to see problems with first if this was something catchy. Any signs of problems at all and I'll be scraping and scoping for parasites. May do it anyway if I can get one caught. I'll do a big water change tonight, just for the heck of it and help to lower any possibility of bacteria build up in the water. I'm at work and I'll be worried sick for the other fish all day. Hopefully its an isolated thing and everyone else will be fine. Ulcers usually indicate parasites, so I'm anxious. The Kujaku is one of the 5 new fish I recently added to my collection. They were treated in the QT tank for parasites, but you just never know. I'll keep you informed. Dang it, dang it, dang it!!!!!

On angel's wings.....

2009-12-21T15:56:00.002-06:00

It's the 21st of December, the first day of Winter. The days and the amount of daylight will at least begin to get longer. There's a large storm again predicted to come in just before the big Christmas holiday. Glad I don't have to travel anyplace. I sit here listening to a CD of "Relaxing Christmas Songs". Quiet music, almost depressing in nature. Beautiful stuff though. I know its been a tough year for many of my friends. And, although I know I'm OK, I worry about them, the world, and the place where my grand kids will grow up to. Merry Christmas everybody. And hopefully, it will be a prosperous new year for all of us. Peace on Earth, Goodwill to you all.

New koi,,,, Who could resist?

2009-12-18T15:14:00.003-06:00

It's Friday and only one week before Christmas. The weather is cold and work is slow, so not much to do here but read Koi Forums and daydream about next years gardens and fish. I thought I'd mention that I did recently buy some new koi on line. Bid on them from ebay. Something I once told myself I'd never do again. Many moons ago I purchased a box of 50 koi babies on line. I think maybe I liked 1 or 2 from the whole box. Since then, I decided I just wanted to buy fish I could see. They just cost too much to purchase sight unseen. I like to see how the fish behaves as much as its coloration. So out of boredom and because I can be an impulsive koi buyer, I bid and won a small Doitsu Lemon Hariwake. Then, and theres always a catch, since the freight is more than the fish cost, I purchased an additional 4 fish to accompany the original fish. So with the Hariwake came a Kujaku and 3 Shusui. The Shusui where sight unseen and reminded me of why I told myself never to do that again. But, I liked the Kujaku and loved the Hariwake so since the Shusui are very tiny, only 4", maybe they'll improve with growth and age. Time will tell as with all Koi. I took the box of fish home while Harry was away hunting. "He'll never notice" I told myself!!! Sneeking things home, isn't that a sign of a true shopaholic? (Koi-aholic in my case)Into the basement, where Harry seldom goes. I'll just set up this qt tank over here behind the existing tank. He won't see them here. So it's Christmas and they've sat in a smaller Qt tank for over a month and I'm now conserdering adding them to the larger tank in the basement with the rest of my koi on their winter vacation there. The babies all seemed to survive their trasporting in good shape and seemed to adjusted to my water. I did shotgun them for parasites, as I always do. They are eating well, so will add them now with the other fish and keep a close eye on them and my own fish for any changes at all. I did not run them through any KHV protecal and will pay the cercumstances if they are infected. The chance I guess I'm willing to take. Since they are American breed, I feel a little safer for some reason. Anyway, so here's a picture of the Lemon Hariwake. He/She has no scales on it's body, is light yellow with white metalic fins and tail. No butterflies allowed. And oh ya, I did finally tell Harry and he just raised his eyebrows at me and shook his head. When he asked "how much?" I just said, "I got them off ebay, they were cheep!!"

Bickal's new Koi house addition

2009-12-16T11:36:00.003-06:00

In an attempt to make this blog just not all about me, today I just want to mention a recent visit to Greg Bickal's Koi Farm. I stopped there recently to pick up some of his mother-in-law's yummy homemade Tamales. Anyway, the stop included a tour of his newly expanded Koi house. To say I wasn't a whole lot jealous would be an understatement. He has doubled the size of his indoor facilities. It always amazes me how he manages to hold down his ammonia in his heavily stocked tanks. He's now more than doubled his water volumn in his greenhouse style facilities. His fish are continueing to grow and looked very nice in the crystal clear water. It was a cozy 65degrees or so in there. Per normal, I could have sat and watched the fish for hours and would have loved to take more than a dozen home with me. Maybe in the Spring when the QT tank empties out. Belated Christmas present to me. I'm sure I'll be revisiting his site to see what new and unusual fish he's managed to spawn. Wish I had his indoor tanks.

Antifreeze for the pond?

2009-12-14T08:51:00.002-06:00

The weekend was actually pretty nice. Temps have at least held to about freezing. I took advantage of the warmer Sunday to put on my boots and trudge out to the pond in the snow to check things out. The aerator has kept a hole open despite the colder temps and my homemade innertube heater is doing a good job of keeping an additional hole open too. I added some of my new "Artic bacteria" that I'm trying. It's blue and looks like antifreeze to me, so that's what I've been calling it. The fish were still lined up at the gate I put at the creek, so I took the net and gently tried to persuade them to move out of this shallow area and into the depths of the main pond, where I believe it will actually be warmer. I then dropped an additional air stone in this area, just under the innertube in hopes that if they persist in staying in this area, then at least there will be additional air there.
We finished the day by building a snowman to help watch over the ponds and gardens. Kind of like a scarecrow watches over the vegetable gardens in the summer. The snow is really great for packing and it's hard not to feel like a kid again and not prompt a snow ball fight or two. Hard to believe Christmas is only a couple weeks away.

Snow, snow... and 4 below....

2009-12-10T14:22:00.001-06:00

All I want for xmas is a...generator??

2009-12-10T13:23:00.003-06:00

The temperature indicator at the bottom of my computer is "flashing" 4 below today. It never flashes! Harry, the avid sportsman and ice-fisherman would say "We're making ice today", in excited enthusiasm. The fish under the ice, I'm sure are not sharing his exuberance. Guess we all survived the blizzard yesterday. Losing power was my main concern not the snow and missing of work. Kind of got me thinking that maybe I should be asking for a generator for xmas. Not for the same reason most people might want one, like keeping their refrigerators or furnaces running, but to keep the aerators and filter going in the basement pond. My upstairs aquarium accidently got unpluged (maybe for a couple of hours) a month or so ago and by the time I noticed it all the fish were already on the bottom like so many sinking submarines. An awful site. I turned everything back on and muraculously only lost one ciclid. It did prompt me however to give away a dozen or more of the fish. But, the event does make one realize how quickly a body of water can loose all its
O2 if its overstocked. The outdoor pond is completely drifted in. The floating light is no where to be seen, and its a huge tire innertube! I'm hoping its still on, but its entirely too cold to even go out there and dig it out to see. Harry is wonderful about doing pond chores for me, but even I don't have the nerve to ask him to go and dig it out. Yet, anyway. Maybe by the weekend. I'm not worried about it being off, but don't want to go too long either. I know the air is on so that eases the unknown tension. The sun is shining bright this afternoon but is generating little or no heat. The phone is quiet here at work as winter sets in on the roofing business, too. Like my fish under all the snow and ice, our business quiets down this time of the year too. That would be a bad thing other than it gives me more time to surf the net and read all the pond and koi forums. And xmas shopping, there's always that this time of the year.

Waterfall Ice Sculpture

2009-12-08T08:56:00.001-06:00

Blizzard on its way....

2009-12-08T08:15:00.003-06:00

This morning the weather man is calling for 6-12 inches of snow and high winds. I'm not a big winter fan. I have to drive 40 miles one way to work everyday and it gets harder the older I get. Harry is home from hunting and will unhook and pull the last pump we have running in the pond. The waterfall has turned into a giant ice sculpture standing brilliantly at ponds edge. The lights shine on it at night making it appear even more beautiful. Other than the xmas lights, the gardens are pretty much lifeless so the giant ice waterfall at least adds some much needed interest out there. Although, I do think winter with all its pure white snow is actually quite beautiful I hate the cold and having to wear heavy coats and attire. The sloppy mess from snowy boots that deposit ice and snow on my kitchen floor as we enter seems never ending.
The fish outside are lined up gill to gill at the gate I put across the creek area to keep them out of the shallow area where they all went to die last year under the ice. They look like so many starving prisoners standing at the cell doors begging to be saved. The gate is put in at the bridge so they still sit in the shallow part of the pond, I'm hoping once the air is shut down and the pond starts to be still, that they will retreat to the deep end for what little warmth will be available from the grounds natural insulation. We'll be turning down the air to a trickle, adding our homemade inner tube light (which we use to keep a hole open), and start praying for the best as the koi basically go under the ice for the next 3-4 months. Something that pains me greatly. Inside the fish frolic in the 70 degree water, eating and playing like they are vacationing in Margaritaville. What a sharp contrast in the two ponds. The fish outside lay almost dormant while the fish inside dart in and out of the water currents oblivious to the plight of their other fishy friends.

Buying "Bug Juice"....

2009-12-03T14:33:00.004-06:00

Talked to Donovan this morning from Waterloo and he said it was snowing there, while bits of sun keep trying to shine threw the otherwise dreary sky here in C.R. Computer says it's 29 degrees out, 20 degrees colder than Monday. Think the outside fish are a little stressed from that? Even I'm stressed from that! I ordered a new product off the internet this morning to try. It's called Artic Blend, and "suppose" to help "protect fish from poor water quality all winter". Claims to work in temps down to 35 degrees. Another one of those "bug juices",(bactera based products) but after loosing several of my largest and oldest fish after the record long/cold winter last year, I'm looking for a little added piece of mind. Last Spring I said I wouldn't leave fish outside all Winter again, but after a few pond adjustments, here I am again, doing just what I said I wasn't going to do. I checked on them this morning and they were all huddled in a group like so many hobbos gathered around a burn barrel trying to keep warm. At least none were on their sides, like some fish will do in protest to the cold water conditions.
Fish in the basement continue to improve.

Welcome....

2009-12-02T15:23:00.002-06:00

Thank you for stopping to check on my new "ponding" blog. I will try to keep this blog both entertaining and educational. Wednesday's weather marks the end of the 50 degree weather we've all been enjoying. Harry (my husband and avid deer hunter) is cheering, but the fish are definitely not. The outside fish, while not displaying any severe cold stress reactions are moving rather slowly. Pond has been holding at about 49 degrees for about a month now. I'm sure the impending 16-17 degree forecasted lows will send that plunging. I saw ice on my ponds for the first time this past week, but fortunately it melted off quickly with daylight. A couple weeks ago, in preparing for winter, we took the big pond down to within a couple feet and made sure we got all the leaves and walnut sticks out. All but the largest waterfall pump are pulled and stored for the winter. This past Monday, Harry did another water change out and we will continue to do them through the winter as best we can. As some of you know, I hold 13-9 to 12 inch fish in my 1200 gallon tank in the basement. They've been there since the end of October and all has been going well with them until this past weekend. One of the first things I do in the AM is check on my babies in the basement. Friday morning, I got up and as soon as I opened the basement door, I could hear the filter was not on. Air was still on, but the fish seemed a little squeamish and were not their usual friendly selves. I figured it was just because the filter was off. The filter is on a auto-shutoff mercury switch, which for some reason was off. I'm thinking maybe a fish hit it or something, I simply flipped the switch and the filter came right back on. I tested the water and ammonia and nitrites were still OK. I constantly drip water through the tank anyway to help with filtration and that had not stopped either. I check on them later in the day(per usual) and they are all OK, but still not quite right. So Saturday AM I get up and by gosh the filter is off again! But this time the fish are all down and huddled in the bottom corner of the pond. Nobody came out to say "feed me, feed me" or anything. As a side note: the night before a babysitter had babysat for my 3 grand kids at my house as the whole family of adults went to a Whitetail banquet. Well, when we came home the entire house was full of natural gas!! She or one of them had accidentally flipped my stove top burner on and fortunately we got home before the whole place blew up!! Anyway, I left windows open all night to air the place out. It was that bad and very scary. So, back to the fish in the basement. Could my aerators have picked up some of the gas? Or was it just because the filter was off again. The water was already a little hazy, but no ammonia or nitrites. I flipped the filter on again. Now, I know it has to be a water quality issue so I did a half tank water change. I'm wondering if I didn't do it all myself by simple starting the filter without first back flushing it. Shut down filters can quickly turn toxic and produce CO2 or hydrogen sulfide. Did I inject that into my water by simply turning on my filters? I decided to test for CO2. Well it has a 2 drop system and after the first goes in then you count the drops of the second bottle till the water turns pink in order to get the reading. My water turned pink with the first bottle's drops. It isn't suppose to do that! Now what? Does that mean it is really really full of CO2??? I have no idea. Maybe it's just out of date. So, what now? Filter clears the water quickly, so it looks good. For what that's worth. I know something is wrong. I add a little salt, just for good measure. I watch my babies all day hoping they will respond to the water change. Not much change. Sunday, I wake up at 4:00 am and start worrying about the fish. Can't sleep and I know I'm going to go to the basement and find them all dead. (That has actually happened in some long long ago koi experience)so might as well get up and check on them. Hours can make a difference if they are all up sucking for air or something. So at 4 AM I'm up to check on the fish. I open the basement door....well at least I can hear the filter running this morning. And, actually the fish are out of the corner and swimming a little. They still retreat back to it once I get to the tank side, but I'm felling relieved enough to at least go back to sleep. When I get back up at 8, I do another half tank water change. By afternoon, the fish are responding much better. They remain a little skittish for the remainder of the weekend, like they are mad at me for trying to poison them! This morning they were back to their normal selves and feeding again for the first time in 4 days. I feel like I dodged a bullet. I bring them inside to save them from the toxins of winter and almost killed them myself. Moral of the story? Natural gas, maybe, I have no way of knowing. Turning on filters with out back flushing first, probably and I for sure will not ever do that again.