Hello from Indiana

[sissy]

Auntie Ag and Uncle Bert are the first 2 fish I got and are my favorite 2

 

[sissy]

geeze wish everything got that green around here

 

[blessedfamily]

My son's calico goldfish gorilla,he is very friendly and even lets the kids pick him up.

 

[sissy]

My calicos love to swim into your hand and if you let Ag she will give you a kiss on the cheek .Thats all the rewards for all the work and money we put out taking care of them .Great fun aren't they

 

[blessedfamily]

Yes they bring me lots of joy and the kids just love them too..such a nice time when we are all out there playing with the fish.

 

[sissy]

I think it really helps children learn what an eco system is too as they get older as my nieces children love to come here to help with the pond every time they come here .I take pics so they can take them to show in school about the filters and how to clean them and how to feed the fish and test the water .They get a big kick out of it .

 

[CountryEscape]

Sissy, Aggie looks like she is out of the water on that rock, waiting for a smooch! LOL And, the speckled multi colored fish with lonnnngggg tail, what is that one? Beautiful!!! I love your arbor and garden items, BlessedFamily! What a deal you got! Maybe I will find something like that on CraigsList! Can always hope! But, problem is I don't have enough info yet to know if I was getting junk or diamonds with the equipment for a pond .. . . so still learning.

 

[yukoncornelius]

That is a SWEET pond. I can see this forum is going to be bad for my wallet. I want to build a new pond from the different pictures of ponds I
've seen so far.

 

[sissy]

The long tailed one is a butterfly koi and he was really my most expensive fish as he cost me over 7 dollars .I have another one similar but it is white

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks, Sissy. I thought butterfly, but then what do I know! Guess I am learning some as I go after all! I love that butterfly. I would love to have a pond full of them. Are they any different as far as taking care of, diseases, etc. from regular Koi? And, I realize the word "regular" is anything but regular, when it comes to Koi! Holy cow, there are tons of different colors and varieties. But, I guess there are Koi, and Butterfly Koi, is that right, not counting all the colors, and those domestic and others foreign/from overseas?

 

[sissy]

I really think they are easier to take care of .They are about 3 years old now and I love the way there tails just float around as they swim .The white was 6 dollars and I guess I had to pay more for him because of the striped tail .I think I paid by counting the stripes 50 cents a strip lol.He really has some pretty ones when I was there last week ,wish I could get more now .He had some pretty brown ones they almost looked like a chocolate bar

 

[CountryEscape]

I need to not even go near a pet shop with koi, because I will stare and pick and buy, but not have sufficient place to put them. My 55 gal is supposed to be goldfish free when the outside pond goes in. LOL But, guess since I have 5 in there now, with other fish, could get a couple more . . . if the price was right and they were SMALL.

 

[addy1]

Laughing, countryescape, CONTROL! lol

 

[CountryEscape]

Addy, Yes, control is the name of the game. LOL I got to this forum from a man who is a member that lives in Indiana, and he has told me about a place closer to IL that his family runs, garden shop, that will open in I think he said closer to May, and his fish will be added to the pond fish for sale! I'm shooting for that time frame with getting my pond started and well on it's way, to go look and see what is available! I lay awake at night and "build" my pond, which now has visions of stream as well! Oh boy, better get busy with drawing this weekend, and see what I can REALLY build! Going to be a challenge, but I'm always up for a challenge.

 

[CometKeith]

CountryEscape, Remember less is more. The fewer fish you have and the smaller the fish the easier it will be for you to properly cycle your pond and build up beneficial bacteria and create a natural eco-cycle that will sustain the good health of your fish. I would suggest to take it really slow with adding fish and when you get more experienced you can add more. Adding a lot of fish to a pond is a temptation a lot of us had when we first started ponding, but the results are not always good due to ammonia spikes, low O2 levels, PH issues, etc., not to mention problems with the construction and design of the pond itself.