Fish today

They are pretty fish. I would be happy to see any offspring but it hasn't happened yet and some are 7 years old. Oh well, as long as they are healthy I'm happy.

Bonnie D.

I agree Bonnie, healthy fish is the best way. And there is something to be said for them NOT spawning. The pond gets smelly and the water foams up - very unattractive. Plus the fish get banged up and exhausted. Last spring the whole bunch of mine went berserk for several days and were basically catatonic on the bottom of the pond for days afterward. They didn't eat and several hardly stirred. It was worrisome. But I didn't see any of them smoking afterward.... ha ha - sorry about the old joke.
Celibate fish aren't all that bad. ;-)

Several days--Never heard of it lasting that long. No wonder they were warn out. Well did it result in any babies that survived the ordeal?

Broke 1 bow off of my glasses today. Can you picture me with my head hanging sideways trying to read. Mon. morning first thing I'll find me an eyeglass store. I wear bifocals-this experience is really a trip. LOL

Maybe my fish are celibate too. LOL

Bonnie,

TJ maxx has nice reading glasses.

The very first time my fish spawned was an experience. They tore most of the plants , i thought something was very wrong. They were so wild that i had to go to the koi store for consultation !!!!

Now I know what to do.

Belle

Ordered 2 pair of glasses yesterday. I'll never just have 1 again.

I had to take 1 small fish out of small pond a while ago cause everybody was smacking into it.
Poor fish. I gave it a tank of it's own for a whole day until all calmed down. Hopefully next time it happens I'll have a tank set up for it and put just 1 male in with her and mop heads so babies have place to hid.

Boy what we don't do for our fish. LOL

I get my reading glasses at the dollar store. Ten dollars worth at a time! Some go in my purse, some go in my car, some go in my husbands car, and when we eventually run out of them 6 months later, I go spend another $10.
All the time and money I put into my fish! Sheesh! But I wouldnt have it any other way. It's "my thing". Hobby, interest, whatever you want to call it, it still remains enjoyable, even when something goes wrong I still love the learning process from it. Keeps the mind young!

I have to have special sized bifocals but this time I went to Walmart and made out a lot cheaper. 1 pair is red and 1 my fav. color purple. I'm having a harder time sewing for very long so they are worth it to me. I go one with bifocal all across the bottom so I'm hoping that will help with the sewing. The industrial machs. go very fast so I have to try and keep up with them and seeing straight. Getting old stinks.

Fish are all well right now. No brag just fact. MM would you shut off aerator now that weather is getting cooler. Thermometer in pond dropped much lower yesterday. I'm so thrilled to see winter coming. I've had enough heat to last for a while.

We have both been sick with bad colds. Keeping drs. busy. Getting better now but Charlie is coming down with the crud so took him to dr. yesterday.

It's about that time of year to clean all filters, drawdown and put it new water and vacuum ponds. All I need is a cart load of energy. It's on the way I know.

I'm loving our beautiful weather and anxious to get outside and caught up on yard chores.

Hope everybody's fish are well.

Bonnie ,

Take it easy and hope you feel better soon.

Belle

I hope you both feel better soon, Bonnie.

Yesterday, I cut down all the bog plants and today the waterlilies will be cut back. We are supposed to have a hard frost this weekend, so trying to get ready for that. We will vacuum the pond before shutting down.

Thanks all for good wishes.

Energy is coming back but taking time. This was respiratory infection but I'm sure it will pass.

I'm anxious to clean up pond filters, vac. and put in salt to protect fish for winter.

Geez Carolyn, seems early for frost but guess it's that time already. I can't keep up with time much anymore. Don't understand how anyone could be bored. I always have a list waiting to be done. Boredom isn't for me. Happier staying busy.

I have a small patch of green beans growing and now they are getting ready to blossom. Love fresh vegies.

Happy to hear things are getting back to normal for you Bonnie. I had a few days to bring things over to you and ended up sick myself. I apologize. I'm stockpiling a pile for you. I have a fish that I thought was all black, but ended up being a gold crown, so has the shadowing over it's head. It's all yours if you or Jeff want it. I think it's going to grow into a very large fish, it's only a year old and all of it's siblings are around 6 inches, but he's closer to 8 or 9.
I was shocked to see the snow in the northern states! My Ohio relatives had snow this morning, but it will be 77 in a day or 2. EL Nino will be a pain in the behind this year. More snow in the northeast than last year! Tons of rain for the west coast, and tornados for Florida. Yippeee. I better find a new generator before everyone realizes they'll need one. We took ours in to be fixed (it just needed new seals) and went back to pick it up and the entire business was gone! So was our generator! Empty building. Grrr.....

Good morning,
It was in the 40's when we left and hired someone to bring the big tropicals into the garage . I brought in some smaller pots in dining room and more to go to the sun room. DH very upset because he wants to invite a couple of friends for dinner.

Baby sitting in Alabama our 6 year old G-son will keep us busy. high maintenance!!!

I ordered butterflies 4 months ago and they are growing much faster. It might be the food or breed.

Happy Ponding!!

belle

MM I'm sorry u got sick also. Took Charlie to his pulmonary dr. today and he said his breathing test was very good. Just reminded me he was 80 and to slack off on pushing him to keep working around home. I said tough I have to work so he can too. LOL
Am looking forward to a new fish and other stuff. Makes it just like Christmas. Boy that's a dirty deal loosing your generator. We have a new one we bought years ago during hurricane and have never even started it up. Had to end up buying it in Ga. and they didn't have many cause they were shipping them to Fl.

New England is getting snow also. Seems so early.
Belle,
Glad you get to visit with your G. son. That's what helps keep us young.
Wonderful you have butterflies growing. Never tried that. My crop of them was low this year.
Last year was loaded with zebra long wings. They are beautiful and Fl. state butterfly.

MM we are slowly but surely getting rid of these colds. Meds are all gone but dr. said just be patient and it will pass. Sure hope so. I need to get ponds cleaned thoroughly before it gets too cold here to do it.

Got some new plants from garden club auction a couple of weeks ago and put 3 in pond. Still haven't got my round floating planter built and have everything to do it. It's the one Corsettiere put the plans on here for and its beautiful. Some day.

Do come over when you get the chance and hope you are getting better now.

Bonnie

Sad news. One of my 12 inch goldfish turned up dead yesterday. Unknown cause. No lesions. The other goldfish are hunkered down at the bottom, listless and not eating. Not sure what is going on there. I don't see an lesions or signs of disease on any of them. I will keep an eye on them.
The koi are fine. They are all active and eating. The water remains crystal clear. I keep leaves and debris cleaned out regularly.
All the fish share the same circulating water so I doubt its a disease. The goldfish that swim with the koi seem fine as well.
Another mystery. Could the goldfish be more sensitive to the cooling water temperature? If so I guess that wouldn't explain the other goldfish acting fine.
I'll keep you posted.
I did have to put the netting over the whole pond this week. The migrating herons have showed up again. I got the net up in time so no casualties.

It's very hard to figure out what goes on with fish sometimes. Maybe some medicated food would help. I tried that once when fish were acting listless and they pepped up.

So glad you didn't have any heron casualties.

BonnieGardens that is a good suggestion of medicated food except they won't eat. :- I tried again this morning, no change. Koi and accompanying goldfish are snappy and hungry.
Just perplexed here. Maybe some counseling? Just kidding.

Sure sorry they won't eat anything.

Call the Fish Whisperer. Must be one someplace.

I have been thinking that maybe taking out the two big water lilies from the goldfish pond has thrown them for a loop and they are suffering from major anxiety not having the cover of the plants! I left one small lily but not much cover.

This message was edited Oct 25, 2015 2:58 PM

Actually you may be on to something! Fish get nervous and stressed when something changes and they feel exposed.

MM I think moving fish from one location to another is also very harmful and scales can be pulled off too.
That's why I won't exhibit at the koi show ever again.

M Mary been trying to think of name of fish that is supposed to be very friendly. Is it a chargoy? can't remember the spelling. Jeff would like to have one and koi show is in March again this year. Probably same place.

My ponds are clear and fish seem happy and sure are eating well. Wonderful while it lasts. I'm going to keep the filtration medium cleaner and just salted larger pond. Need more for smaller pond.


Bonnie

Bonnie, the friendly koi is Chagoi. The are also suppose to be large and 'thick'. I got mine this past spring from a local seller. He/she was around 5-6 inches. He is now pushed 12 inches. He is a good eater and has some personality. I don't really try and teach my fish to hand feed though the Chagoi is supposed to be by far the most friendly and easiest to tame. Mine is what they call the green color with reticulating pattern - I would say light chocolate brown with a 'pine cone' pattern. Anyway its my favorite and think I will look for a lighter colored one next spring.
Bonnie I'm glad to hear your pond is clear and fish are doing well. I recommend regular inoculations of beneficial bacteria and not disturbing your filter media too often. Those two changes made a world of difference in my water clarity.
Also my poor traumatized goldfish seem to be recovering somewhat. I do think they would prefer to have the covering of lily pads.

Sorry for not responding, I was blocked out of DG with a glitch, but they fixed it and I'm back on.
Yes, Chagoi get large and are usually the ones that are super friendly and eat out of your hand. None of them look alike and go from yellowish to dark brown. They should be thick bodied and have rounded paddle fins. Of course with me, I like pretty fish that are unique, so I never care if they meet show quality.
I finally got the skimmer semi-installed yesterday, not an easy task when it's in an already established pond. I need to connect the remainder of the plumbing to get it going. Just in time for the leaves that have been endlessly falling!
I'm constantly amzed at the different growth rate of fish. From this spring spawning, I still have some that are just over an inch, and some that are 5 inches. Same spawning, same day, same flock parents, same pond, same food, etc. I don't have that many left, I tend to make the same mistakes every 2 months or so, leaving a hose on, etc. I'm eliminating any goldfish if they are plain orange. I'll keep the shubunkins and red and white sarassas, but don't need the rest of them. Fish overload has always been my weakness.

Thank you both for all the info. I figure there is always more to learn about fish. I'm with you MM I don't care about show quality. I'm just happy if they have good health.

I have a couple of shubunkins which I bought last March for 2 of great grand dts. birthdays as their mom did have an aquarium set up in the house. Now they have their own home and I think she is going to set it up again so I can finally give them to them. The kids love fish. They are 5 and 6 girls. Of course cute as can be.

Helen I hope your goldfish do recover.

Bonnie

Oh for the love of Pete....so I worked all day on the skimmer again. Started filling the pond back up and realize it sank in our lovely Florida sand over the past few days, and will now sit under water. Holy cow. I'm depressed. I certainly can't purchase another liner (can't afford it!) I'll figure something out, I can lift the skimmer and put more sand under it, that's not the probelm, but we've already punctured the holes through the liner for the face plate. Because we measured and leveled several days ago and everything was good, I never even gave it a thought to do it again because it would settle and sink! Sheeeeeesh.....

Sorry about your misfortunes on getting the skimmer set up. Some tasks just never go right! I hope you get it figured out one way or another.

Thanks Helen! I can't believe it. Take a deep breath and start again...that's my motto.

MM
There was a thread on how to fix punctured liners. Perhaps you can start another thread.

Belle

MM don't give up. With your tenacity I'm sure you will figure out a solution.

Bicycle repair kits are good for mending. They come with rubber patch material, glue and a scratching tool that lets you rough up the patch needed surface for good adhesion. Not terribly costly either.

Good morning,
It's been in the 60's so I continue to feed my kois once a day. They are eating with gusto!! Is it good or should I stop?

Thanks -- Belle

If water temp is 50 or above it's ok to feed them. Here the water temp is over 70 still. If this is fall I can't tell it.

Bonnie

My fish are still getting fed too. Its not cold enough yet to stop completely. On colder days I'll skip giving them food but when then come up to the top and swim around I'll give them a small amount of pellets. They eat it up but not with so much enthusiasm as in the summer.

Its cold here now 40's so I placed tarp over my pond. Its quite dark with the tarp!!
Does any of you cover your pond with tarp?

Thanks

Belle

Never have covered pond with tarp but probably should have the day power co. sent subs to cut my oak tree in middle of ponds. What a mess and wood shavings all went into small pond. Good thing I have a pond vacuum
Belle hope your fish are all well.

Bonnie D.

I've never used a tarp, just the netting. I picked up somewhere recently to use beach balls to keep the net from touching the water. I got some small solid green beach balls and they are working well at keeping the net and fallen leaves from sinking down into the water.
My goldfish I mentioned above slowly came round to more normal activity expect one. It was a big one - 12-14 inches. Never perked up, hung at the bottom, never ate another bite that I noticed. Finally several weeks ago I noticed some white growths on its side - not fuzzy but more like short white tendrils coming out from between its scales. ?? Along with the severe change in behavior and appetite I decided the fish was probably suffering.. I euthanized it. Too bad. I really didn't want to have it continue to deteriorate and since I had no way to isolate or medicate the fish I decided it was time to say good bye. I feel bad but its also the way of having pets.

This message was edited Jan 14, 2016 9:19 AM

Helenchild,
How sad about your koi.

Its colder here and i did not want them to be too cold LOL!!!
I visit them twice a day and they seem akay.

Belle

Been having healthy issues. Seeing heart dr. this Thursday. Hopping to get corroded arteries checked thoroughly. Also, putting workroom equip. back in place as sale fell thru as buyer had stroke. Getting old sure isn't fun.

Hope all have a healthy, happy new year.
Bonnie D.

Oh goodness! Sending well wishes to everyone!
Helen....Did your fish maybe have anchor worms?
Bonnie....sorry the sale fell through! But more sorry to hear that you're not feeling well. Fingers crossed and prayers sent!
I added a 40lb bag of salt to my pond, just because I know things will begin going wrong now that the water is colder.
We decided to use pavers where our larger deck was. What a huge job it is trying to work between the house and pond tearing that thing up. This bottom level is 16 x 25 so the tear down is not easy to remove. It has to be done by hand and carried out front, but it was going to be $800.00 more for the paving guys to do it. We'll do the smaller deck on the other side of the pond as soon as our old bodies stop aching!

Hey, where have all the ponders gone.

Soon will be time for spring clean out. Ug!!!

I just got my garden planted out back. Hope the rabbits stay away this year.
Bonnie