A few pics:
Fish in larger pond near floating island
2nd is cumquart and zip
3rd is cumquart largest 1 and a ham for pics
4 is peaches and prince who is white w/black spots w/a little red inside
5 is Prince
Fish today
Fish pics:
Goldie & Blondie my first fish ever. Now about 6 yrs. old.
2. Same color as Prince but straight sided
3. Is peaches-a lot of gold on top side
4. Matt the matsuba
5. Zip, blondie & prince
Last ones:
1. peaches
2. coming up to feed
3. " " " "
4. waterfall house on larger pond
5. Their relaxing time and mine
Beautiful Bonnie. I always enjoy your photos so much.
Oh what gorgeous fish. I am happy to have my little mutts but they don't compare to yours. I love the longtails. I may give in and try to find one. They rarely come to Walmart and I have confined my buying to them after several years of losing expensive fish bought elsewhere. My biggest three are about 12" and very girthy. One has apparently spawned a 'herd' of black fish that are now around 1" to 3" long and slowly changing color somewhat. Mostly lighter on the bellies and one or two show flashes of an orange in spots on the lower halves. There must be about 15-20 in the pond of them along with about 10 or so plain gold fish babies. They survived the winter. First time to have them do so. They are hard to see due to their color but I am curious to see how they develop next spring. Don't want a pond full of black fish though and the black koi seems rather prolific and must have good genes to have so many survivors. I am sure it isn't predation that causes loss though. Just a long winter.
Your ponds provide such lovely homes for them. They are so lucky to have you for a 'mum.'
Hi all,
I do love and enjoy my fish above all the work to keep them healthy & happy.
Quite a few were freebies except the larger ones. Unfortunately I have never had a crop of babies but maybe someday as I'm sure they spawned this summer. I don't mind getting small ones cause I love to watch them grow up.
Oberon, I hope your fish stay living through next winter. I know you enjoy them too.
Bonnie D.
I took a bunch of pictures this morning and will post them. Perhaps someone can give me a clue as to the dark ones. They have to be babies from the koi but I don't see barbels on them. Too dark and too small. And the ones on the supposed momma aren't all that big either. Some interesting colors developing though.
Looking forward to pictures, Mary.
Okay. Here, in no special order, and sans names for fish
Next
LOVE everyone's pictures! Makes us all feel like we're there visiting you!
Injected some of my fish this morning to make them spawn, and they already are. Not sure if there will be any eggs left in the morning to salvage, but I'm not overly concerned about that.
I have to be honest, I really do love being outside, around my ponds...it's like staring into a campfire when I look into my ponds. Very calming and serene. The weather has been a bugger, mid to high 90's almost every day, but the hour or 2 each morning and evening, are wonderful (even if I have to use mosquito spray!) :)
Oberon, those are some really pretty fish. I'd keep all of them. If I'm seeing right do the black ones have some gray on their belly? That's real different and I like different.
M. Mary is enduring the same weather of course that I have. The heat is really oppressive. I will be glad to see winter come.
Thanks. I love my fish regardless of whether they are 'mutts' or not. As long as they are able to handle our winters and summers I am all for them. Yes, some have a sort of grayish belly, some a tiny touch of orange. I am fairly certain all the black ones are from the large black koi. It should be interesting to see what color they are next spring.
I have to admit that I am ready for winter also, sort of. Not due to heat, just due to being tired and not being able to care for my yard. Kind of a down day. Once it is all covered in snow I won't fret about all the stuff I should be doing. And it will all be there next spring waiting for me.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/live-Koi-fish-10-sky-blue-Asagi-butterfly-fin-pond-garden-imperial-koi-/131261166898?pt=Live_Fish&hash=item1e8fc67532
Bonnie, saw this blue fish and thought of you.....
They had one fish for $0.01. What is up with that?? Wonder if this company is at all reputable. Tempted to order the mixed lot but getting late in the year. Would like them to have a full summer to acclimate before going under the ice.
Beautiful blue fish M. Mary but right now I'm helping our dgt. as she has a new teaching job after being out of work for 3 years and today (her first day) her old car blew up so I'm trying to figure that out. I'm praying for a miracle at this point.
Happy ponding all.
Bonnie
Gosh Bonnie! Prayers being sent your way! My daughter is just starting back at school getting her room ready for students, and her car died! Like died, no fixing available. I've been watching her babies and lent her a car. Sounds like we're in the same boat! Thinking about you!
Have only about 6 cubic yards of dirt left to dig for the main pond, but just can't get it done with a wee one at my house...and this heat...ugh, this heat....
Yes we are in the same boat. I'm thinking short term car rental. Tomorrow Charlie will go and look at her car and try to figure something out.
I often wonder where our kids would be without their mom.
I'll pray for both of our dgts. Mary.
Well, I think that's why God invented moms in the first place! :) Hope Charlie can figure something out, maybe it's an easy fix? Let's hope! Prayers back at ya!
On a side note, I bought a pink water lily 6 years ago, in a dehydrated little box at Lowes, for 25cents. Plunked it in a tubbie, and nothing ever happened. Last month I saw a leaf, and yesterday there was a beautiful pink bloom! I don't know where it's been all these years, sheesh, but it was a pleasant little surprise after all this time!
Wow, that water lily is really a late bloomer but glad its finally made it. Nice surprise.
May be scrawny and have only 3 leaves, but I love the color~
We have a 8 X10 small rubber lined pond that's at least ten years old with a filtered roof above and have been fighting a black scum that covers our all rocks those in water and on the waterfall. We have used the microblift but rocks remain black. The brushes in the skimmer are cleaned one to two times a week at this time of the year. Bio- balls in waterfall filter are cleaned one to two times a year.
Is there any way to get rid of the discoloration.
Bommie, I read that you use barley. What is that for.
I used a Microbelift gunge remover. It went into the water a dark color and discolored all my rocks, falls as well as pond The only way I got rid of most of it was to all but empty the pond then pressure wash the rock. I couldn't scrub it away.
Hi Peg, I used to use barley bales often as it is a good water clarifier.
Now I use whatever is on sale usually Microblift PL which I'm using right now in both ponds and they are clear right to the bottom.
I hate to say it but I'm with Oberon on the cleaning. I empty both my ponds which are EPDM lined at least every 2 years and pressure wash after pouring straight bleach down the sides and all over. I do a lot of rinsing before refilling. Of course I remove all the fish first. Now that I have 10 large fish it will be difficult to put them here and there but for me a pond has to be clean so I can readily see the fish. I do bleach all the rocks also and rinse them well. The waterfall rock looks great after for a while. The bio balls in waterfalls get cleaned every month just like all the filtration material. I also pressure wash all that stuff.
BTW barley bales or pellets won't clean the kind of stuff you are fighting. If you have fish like me you will have to put them someplace else until it is all cleaned and water tested to make sure it's safe for the fish. Usually takes me 2 days all day to clean the way I do on each pond as refilling is slow cause I don't have good water pressure. Also, I clean out all crud in skimmers and waterfalls basins. I get down on my stomach and reach in skimmers and get all out. Now that I have the Oase vacuum I go down in with that. A thorough cleaning makes a world of difference to water quality. As I'm refilling I put in Proform-C which is great at killing any disease. I've lost a lot of fish in the past so learned my lesson the hard way.
I know it's a lot of work but it's well worth it. Good luck!!
Bonnie D.
Almost done! I know it's hard to see, but most of my pond has been dug, except the far right upper corner, which will be much deeper. It will be under the falls. See the lovely red flag smack dab in the middle?? Yep, that's a power cable flag, riiiiight through the center of my yard. Therefore, most of the pond will remain at the 2 1/2 foot depth. Under the fall will be about 3 1/2 feet. My arms are sore, but I'm so happy I'm beginning to see an end somewhere down the line!
MM
Yayyy!!! Can't wait to see it filled with fish and plants!
I think they're whispering to each other that the old girl is getting things done!
We definitely need to drain and clean the pond but the fear is we may loose some of our fish. We are not set up with a secondary place to keep the fish for a day or two.
My next issue is one fish has sores on it.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this forum and have been making notes for future use.
What temp do you keep the water in the winter.
The rocks should be white or pinkish.
Woo hoo good for you M. Mary. You will be finished before you know it. Your fish are talking it over who gets moved into new digs first.
Peg, Can you beg or borrow any ones large tub? I ended up buying a 150 gal. rubbermade
tub cause I use it also to isolate sick fish in. Comes is hand quite often. You just need a small aerator to keep them going a couple of days. I also have 2 of them on hand. Can you tell I have treated sick fish often. Over time I have gotten more of what I should have had in the beginning but didn't know it. A horse waterer is usable for a short period of time cause I know some people keep their fish in one for a long time. If you take fish out and put them in small tubbys you could treat sick one with Melafix or Pemafix while in one.
One couple asked me to take their fish for a week while they cleaned their pond cause it's a mess. I'll have to move my smaller ones into larger pond with big ones cause I sure won't put somebody elses fish in with mine. Also would use preform-C after they go. If you were closer I would help you with clean out.
When I have to clean larger pond again I will be putting fish everywhere around here cause they are big and a small tubby won't do for them. BTW I have pressure washed pond with fish still in it but you have to leave enough water in for them to swim but that's not much water. They loved all the waves the pressure washer caused and didn't effect them in any way. Filled it back up immediately and they all kept on going their merry way. Of course there was no bleach put in it that time. The pressure washer took all the gunk off sides quite well. I loosened up what was on the bottom and scooped it out pretty clean by hand.
Oh what we do for our fish.
Good luck with your cleaning.
As far as water temp during winter. Here God controls that. When it gets below 50 I just stop feeding and they do fine.
Bonnie D.
Bonnie's right about the lesser approach being the most intense approach when dealing with fish in tropical climates...
I don't worry about the color of rocks, as long as the water is healthy, which makes for healthy fish.
PlantsForPeg.....You probably have very warm water, like Bonnie and I do....as opposed to our northern ponding friends. If you haven't chugged in the good bacteria products, it sounds like it's time to! Drop your water, add fresh water, make sure you clean your filters....and then add in a healthy bacteria/enzyme product after you refill and and dechlorinate. A few days later add more healthy bacteria/enzyme. Additional pond salt after that.
The smaller semi-inflatable pools from WalMart or BigLots are the ones I use to hold fish while I do something to their pond. They're cheap, durable, and can be used for the kids later on if needed! :)
M. Mary will you be able to put your pool back in use after you move the fish to new home? In the weather we are having sure would be nice. This week we are in for some really hot days and the rain is not predicted to keep on which I wish it would. I am using irrigation system now and hand watering potted up plants near front door.
Need to start cleaning up backyard spot for winter garden but I'm stalling due to heat. I'm so thankful for my little Kubota. Kuby by name and one of my best investments over the years. Charlie bought an remodeled a cultivator for the back and that sure helps.
Keep on keeping on digging your pond and you will really enjoy it when you are finished and all the plants put into place. Hope I get invited over to see it.
Bonnie D.
Not sure about the pool, it's an above ground one 17 foot, 4 feet deep. I may put a combo food/tropical garden there, with a pondless waterfall, and take the pool down all together. Love the water, but the large pond, small pond, plus pool is a lot of energy consumption. Not sure just yet what I'll do. :)
Hooray! Last corner dug! Time to work on the water fall so I can put the liner in. I need to find some cement blocks on Craigslist (I'll pay if I HAVE TO, but I like bargains!)
And my little blessing in disguise! I thought my mosaic plant was dead, and haven't been able to locate another, but the little dickens fought back! Yay!
I have several females that are still eggy, but not worrying about it at this point.
Like the mosaic plant and saw them on a web site but will the fish eat them too?
Only thing I've got in the pond is umbrella plants and only reason they don't eat them is they are too high. You'd think I starved them.
Bonnie
Yes, they'll eat them so I have them in my smaller guppy pond. Now that I know it's showing signs of life again, I think I'll move it to a water bowl garden.
When I bring you the purple stemmed taro and lotus, I'd try to stick them in a corner with the root/tubers under several heavy rocks. They get tall, so the leaves won't be bothered, so it's just a matter of protecting the main root ball. A few escaping roots here and there can be nibbled off with no ill results to the plant.
I have an abundance of red wags for you to put in your koi tiled fountain bowl. I'll add some guppies too, but the red wags breed like crazy, and will pick off some of the guppy babies. But you'll be able to see the tile work on the bottom and they're pretty red.
Cleaning out the smallest of ponds to get to the point of shutting it down (it will be part of the new larger pond) Found 7 baby goldfish, about 4 inches big. Each one looks completely different than it's siblings!
This first one is the coolest! It's black and white.
