Mi pawnd rebild tew

[sissy]

Yeh I went to lowes and when they are getting ready to get a new shipment of plants you can get great deals .I got 10 hollys and they were 5 dollars each but I was only going to get 5 but manager said you take them all you can have them for 4 so I took them .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

*sigh* I know it's probably too late to ask now, but does anyone know if koi will EAT dojo loaches? There is about 2" of black sand on the bottom of my large pond, which I know from experience with them in the aquarium, the dojos love digging in. Unfortunately, I have not see any sign of the three dojos since they swam off into the depths.

Now dojos are naturally nocturnal, however they were very active during the daytime when they were in the aquarium. Also, the koi have rosy reds swimming around them and feeding with them, and I've never seen a koi chase a rosy. So I'm hoping the dojos are still doing OK, but it would be really nice to see some sign they are still alive.

So... anyone else here tried dojos in their koi pond?

 

[fishin4cars]

I doubt they would get them, How large is the largest Koi? In aquariums fish will act different, because they adjust to us to get food and recognise us, in a pond they may revert back to their nature, have you tried looking for them with a flash light at night? You can see through the water easier at night and I love going out and seeing what I see at night. If you have fry they are far easier to see at night too.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I did actually go out with a flashlight right after I wrote that, but the mosquitoes are absolutely horrible tonight so I wasn't out for long. I figured the dojos could take care of themselves because they came from a tank of firemouth cichlids, but they've never seen anything as big as the koi. My three spawning koi around around 12-13" each. I've thrown in some sinking shrimp pellets that the dojos loved eating, give them something to nibble in case they're still down there.

I've been watching for the fry as well. I've picked out a place where I think they will show up, down in the small pond - there's an area where the water is not moving, only a few inches deep, with rocks to hide around, and a full corkscrew rush (also with eggs on it) that the fry can easily hide in and swim through. I keep an eye open when looking at other areas, but this is the spot I'm betting on finding them.

 

[addy1]

When my fry showed up they were everywhere, The tiny ones hung out around the sides of the pond, the little bit bigger ones under lily pads, the little bit bigger ones at the water fall. I have watched my biggest gf chase some of the fry with mouth open...........she missed.

It has been fun watching them develop from tiny to less then tiny.

Good luck with yours.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Over the weekend my water has gotten crystal-clear again, and I'm seeing air bubbles everywhere - on the rocks, the liner, the plants... I guess which the algae beaten back, the waterfall is providing an excessive amount of aeration to the pond. The fish certainly seem to be liking it. I've noticed they been a lot more active recently, so the water conditions must be balancing out nicely for them.

All of the new koi have wandered up to the large pond. I have 7 now, but still looking for a metallic-gold, and if I find a nice solid yellow with black I'll probably consider getting it as well. I think I have a good batch of goldfish now as well, however I am looking for one with a double tail. I love those, but have not seen them lately on the standard comets, only on the fancy balloon-style goldfish (which I don't like).

Unfortunately, still no sign of the dojos or the crayfish. The frog is doing well, and I'm starting to see dragonflies returning (finally). One of these days I'll get a submerged light in the big pond, then maybe I'll be able to spot the dojos at night. Oh, also still no sign of fry yet.

 

[fishin4cars]

Instead of a metallic gold try looking for a Ki Doitsu, Metallic Gold isn't stable, 50/50 shot it will stay gold. Doitsu (smooth skin or German scale) seem to me to hold their color better. I've tried to keep both and the Ki Doitsu is a far better show fish in the pond. I haven't found one in butterfly yet but been looking. Wish you were closer, I have a really nice golden headed golden back dragonscale that would knock your socks off! Have you watched ebay? NextdayKoi is a great place to get GOOD quality nice koi shipped to your door, I've used them three times and will use them again. They don't carry goldfish but they do carry both standard and butterfly named koi. What I like is they don't set the prices, The buyers do. $45 shipping to anywhere and I spend half that driving to the three koi places within decent driving range here. If you get two or three at one time the shipping breaks down per fish and you can pick up on some good deals for some nice fish. KTTW is a good choice too and they do carry a few goldfish but I've never seen a non-fat body twin tail on their listing. That's not going to be a easy find but worth it if you find a nice one.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Hmm that's interesting about holding the golden color... could explain why I haven't seen pictures of any online. As for the double-tailed comets, I used to get those out of the feeder tanks (long before I ever had a pond), but I'm just not seeing them anymore. Just something to keep my eye open for, I guess.

 

[fishin4cars]

yellow, gold, bronze, and blacks are some of the most unstable colors. reds, whites, and blue are more stable colors, Just a tip when shopping, also fish that are over 12" are more likely to hold patterens than smaller fish. I was never fond of solid colors but I'll say if you buy a solid light color (Yellow, white, solid orange, Gin Rin)you'll find that it stands out against fish with mixed colors.

 

[addy1]

My white female, with just a spot of orange can be seen from the house. Uphill looking down on the pond. She really stands out, even more than the gold ones, she is pond boss. The shubunkins blend in with the pond, but the lighter one you can see from the house also.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Picture updates today! Sorry for the harsh contrast in some of them, the sun was very bright and cast some dark shadows, so the camera did the best it could...

My largest lily finally bloomed today. Also several water irises with lots of new leaves. The irises in the dirt will probably pop back up again next Spring.

A few more irises. The ones in the pot were bought locally (for an outrageous price), so of course they are doing the best. Also at the front is one of four pickerel rushes which are doing nicely.

My hyacinths are doing terrible this year. I started with a dozen plants back in May, and this is all I have so far. Two more pickerels in front which are also doing great, and the moneywort on the banks is spreading fast. I also finally replaced the last blue pool hose with some black hose for the pumps, so they are much less obvious now.

Here's half of my strawberries, plus more moneywort, some variegated perriwinkle, and a couple little blue grasses.

And moving to the right of the last picture, some taller grasses and the irises again. The moneywort will completely cover all the bare dirt here by next year, plus I want to add more of these grasses if they survive. I also plan on digging in some landscape edging next Spring to finish everything off.

And finally... the pot contains a green taro and a dark taro. The plant to the left is a lizard tail (or something like that?) which has started putting up some really strong new shoots. And this shot shows how clear my water is, finally... that is looking to the bottom of the 3-foot section.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Fish everywhere!

From the bottom, up: a 1-year-old comet, the ghost koi bought in May, the copper-colored koi bought a couple weeks ago, a 3-year-old female koi, and a 4-year-old female comet.

My two butterfly koi, and one of the new shubunkins

The orange comets are female, the white comets are male. Thankfully the large shubunkin started adding to the gene-pool this year, and I've noticed a lot more color-variations in the babies from last Fall. The koi may not be show-quality, but they are strong and healthy, and that's good enough for me!

 

[addy1]

Very very nice, That is looking so good! and pretty fish!

The iris in the pond will come back also, if the root is deep enough to not freeze, mine stayed green all winter sticking through the pond ice.

 

[j.w]

Looks great and love all the fish. Hey is it the fat goldfish that are females and males always slimmer? And is what you call Money Wart what I call Creeping Jenny (the green sprawling one)? Mine gets yellow flowers on it like this:

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Well my females typically stay fat with eggs most of the Summer, so that could be a good way to tell them apart.

And yes -- creeping jenny == moneywort. I've found several references saying they are the same thing, and I usually find moneywort at Home Depot, and creeping jenny at Lowes. I try to get the golden variety which has more yellowed leaves, but once they get some time in full sun I can't really tell the difference. Most of mine also have the yellow flowers already, despite being moved around so much this Spring. Isn't it fantastic stuff?