Darn Shame

[Jimmy Gibson]

It's a darn shame we can't keep all these babies because they know no fear of us..... The big guys are coming along but it's going to be slow..... These guys gotta go most 2" plus, way more than a 3000 gallon pond can handle but I will hate to see them go, and the mother instinct has kicked in with Sarah, she keeps finding ones she wants to keep, sad fact only three are going to stay

 

[sissy]

always hard .I know i have been there

 

[Tula]

I know how you feel, it's hard....especially when they're so pretty and born in your own back yard!

 

[Faebinder]

My culling slowed down since I've stopped feeding as much.

 

[mrsclem]

Just remember, What they look like now will change.

 

[addy1]

I have not needed to cull, the fish herd eats up a lot of the eggs. I do not feed them once spawning starts.

I might toss some food in every 3-4 weeks on a random basis.

 

[Tula]

Well, darn......I saw a little fry swimming yesterday and where there's one.......well

 

[bagsmom]

Mine have had a few batches of babies. I noticed that I don't see any tiny ones, no matter how hard I look. It appears that 4 or 5 have made it to about 2". The rest have disappeared. I think nature has helped me out.

 

[Faebinder]

Another thing that can help is putting hornwort or parrots feather under water in a meshed bag full of pea gravel. The fish will lay eggs in it. Cut the hornwort and toss them away with the eggs on them. Hornwort grows fast and the fish will lay eggs on them.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Well today was the day..... Had all the plans in place on how I was going to catch these "Friendly..... Tame.... Not scared of Sarah and I baby Koi..... Even took pictures of Sarah's fish spa treatment early this morning..... Had it all figured out catching these guys was going to be a peice of cake....."NOT" ......... it is a instinct " When Koi sees net Koi disappear". So had to drain the pond but I have not done any kind of water change in over two months and got to do a little maintenance while the water was down. Eighteen babies gone to two different....good ponds , just gotta find some more homes

 

[Lisak1]

Well I was looking for a picture of Sarah in the pond... deeply disappointed now!

There's not much harder to catch than a small fish in a big pond. My big koi will swim right in the net, but my little guys are like lightning bolts. My patented method is to get in the pond with an empty plant pot (like you'd get a small bush in from the nursery - must have holes in bottom). I sit calmly on the step and hold the pot in front of me just under the surface of the water with some tasty food nuggets floating all around me. When the little guys come swimming by for the food and venture over the top of my submerged pot, I quickly lift the pot up from under the water and BOOM! Fish in pot! I've caught up to THREE AT ONCE using this method.

Sorry, no photos. It was really a rather humbling experience!

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Well I was looking for a picture of Sarah in the pond... deeply disappointed now!

There's not much harder to catch than a small fish in a big pond. My big koi will swim right in the net, but my little guys are like lightning bolts. My patented method is to get in the pond with an empty plant pot (like you'd get a small bush in from the nursery - must have holes in bottom). I sit calmly on the step and hold the pot in front of me just under the surface of the water with some tasty food nuggets floating all around me. When the little guys come swimming by for the food and venture over the top of my submerged pot, I quickly lift the pot up from under the water and BOOM! Fish in pot! I've caught up to THREE AT ONCE using this method.

Sorry, no photos. It was really a rather humbling experience!

Lol... Sarah was my herder, she was in the pond on the back side of the lilies keeping run out so I could catch them , I started to take a picture but she give me that look all married men have seen that look..... And after 43 years of seeing that look from time to time, I decided not to press my luck..... She's a darn good Koi herder though.... Lol

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Lol... Sarah was my herder, she was in the pond on the back side of the lilies keeping run out so I could catch them , I started to take a picture but she give me that look all married men have seen that look..... And after 43 years of seeing that look from time to time, I decided not to press my luck..... She's a darn good Koi herder though.... Lol

Just in case anyone wanted to know what we looked like..... I am pretty rough looking but Sarah is just as pretty as she was at 15 when we first started dating

 

[Lisak1]

I'd say you've both aged really well. It's fun to be with someone who knew you when you were barely out of elementary school, isn't it?

 

[sissy]

I found it was easy put a large piece of window screening in the pond and hold both ends of the screen and throw some food in it .Best done if after a couple of days of no food .You and Sarah are lucky at love as many marriages fail because one or the other does not want to work at marriage .Been 44 years fr hubby and I .I am lucky to have him after his heart attack