Do you name your fish?

[Chef Dave]

I haven't named my fish but I suspect that my cats are calling my three koi, "Breakfast," "Lunch," and "Dinner."

They sit on the edge of the pond and stare as the koi swim in the depths. From time to time, one of the cats will stick is paw into the water as though he's trying to snatch up one of the fish. With a disgusted hiss, he'll shake his paw off because the pond is filled with water.

What was his caregiver thinking of to actually put water in the pond? (GRIN) Fish swim in cans as they well know from the tuna I feed them during dinner.

I suspect that there was an incident between the koi and the cats after I gave the cats access to the backyard. The koi used to swim along the surface of the pond but now stay near the 4 foot depth. Something must have happened to make them change their habits.

When I noticed that the koi were trying to shelter under the edge of a flagstone that I submerged to extend a plant shelf, I decided to improvise a koi "home." I submerged two cinder blocks. I stood the blocks up on their ends and covered them with a plastic shelf weighted down by bricks. The koi now spend most of their time hiding in their home.

When I feed them, they won't rise to the surface to feed. They wait for the food to sink down to them.

 

[DrDave]

You must have some bad ass cats! My cat, Smoky lays next to and drinks from my ponds and the Koi ignore him. I guess I am lucky.

 

[Chef Dave]

You must have some bad ass cats! My cat, Smoky lays next to and drinks from my ponds and the Koi ignore him. I guess I am lucky.

Only 2 of my 4 cats are really predatory. Bob (the "Bobcat" - so named because he's a Manx and only has a bobtail) and Princess Tabitha Panda Cat Toe Biter (yes, I know that's quite a big name for such a small tuxedo cat), seem to delight in stalking critters.

They'll hide under a shrub and wait until a likely target comes by. They have an unfortunate tendency to telegraph their moves because their hind feet jiggle from paw to paw just before they pounce.

Princess Tabitha Panda Cat Toe Biter (usually called "Tabitha" for short) also delights in pouncing on people's feet as they walk by. She usually goes for the toes ... hence the name, "Toe Biter."

I suspect Tabitha will grow out of her toe biting tendency since she's still only a kitten. Like human babies, kittens seem to want to stuff everything into their mouths.

My other two cats, Jasper Baby (who looks like a fluffed up cuddly toy animal) and Scraps are both content to simply soak up the sun's rays and watch the other two. I think they both think about chasing birds and fish but being somewhat overweight, any predatory thoughts they have involve nothing more strenuous than running to dinner in response to the chimes of the 4 PM dinner bell.

 

[Timo42]

My wife names all her fish, Gary(baldi), Albert Finney, Lawrence Fishburn, Lefty, Wildfire, Tammy, Streak, Smudge, Pudge, Gupta, Dash, and Midas:icon_rolleyes:
I just smile and nod and say "Yes Dear"

 

[asudavew]

I have names for most of my fish.

Spike - Tiger Oscar (after the evil gremlin in Gremlins)
Meshia - Tiger Oscar
J.D. - Jack Dempsey:icon_mrgreen:
Convict - Convict:icon_mrgreen:
Mogwai - Blood Parrot (after the nice gremlin in Gremlins)

Then there is Godzilla, the fish I am putting up the indoor pond for.

Here' a picture of me moving him from his 25 gallon tank to a 70 gallon.

 

[MassKoi]

My wife named my most of my koi. I have Chertake (slovakian for little devil), Sushi, Sherbert, Speckles, Stubbs, Sunny and my favorite Snot aka Sage (he is green)

 

[newbieincalifornia]

I have Maybelline - a female feeder fish that is white with orange lips and eyes looks like makeup
Cover girl - a smaller version of Maybelline
Big Red - a beauty he is a red/orange goldie
Monarch - my platinum butterfly
the rest don't have names because most of them are going to new homes!

 

[stroppy]

i dont name mine ... but then i do have 19 goldfish all much the same size apart from the first one i got and i can only tell him apart from the rest because he has a wonky fin ... hes micky
also 3 cats
tinker shes 19
and george and hecktor both rescue kittens ... and all 3 love to just sit and watch the fish
oh and almost forgot brian the lion head house rabbit

 

[CLHQayyum]

I named my koi before I even got them. I knew I was getting 2 and I named them Crocket & Tubbs. But there was a "buy 2, get one free" deal so I ended up with a 3rd koi. His name was Three. Unfortunately, Crockett, Tubbs & Three all died last night.

 

[Nanci]

I have four comets: Levy, Halley, Findlay and Borelli.

 

[koikeepr]

Heck yes! I have one koi with the exact shape of a heart on the top of his head and his name is Romeo. There is a yellow one with a small red dot on his head I named Indio; my biggest one is named Big Ben; a pretty white, flowy butterfly is named Stevie (Nicks) and so on...everyone deserves a name...even fishies.

 

[tengbells]

OMG...I just posted a similar question...and YES! I name everything in my pond...haven't come up with a name for the frogs yet...b/c never sure if they are the same ones...I guess once you get a lot of fish it may be difficult to tell who's who, but til then I have names for them all!

 

[tengbells]

My wife named my most of my koi. I have Chertake (slovakian for little devil), Sushi, Sherbert, Speckles, Stubbs, Sunny and my favorite Snot aka Sage (he is green)

I see a pattern emerging here!