My goldfish pond

[addy1]

utoh.............getting bit by the bug. They are pretty, I resist! Where I got my shubbies they had some beautiful ones.

I was at the garden store yesterday and still thinking maybe about one butterfly Koi.

 

[Tula]

Those butterfly are beautiful....so far I resist too....sticking with my 4 standard koi. I was by the pond earlier this morning and there are more surviving koi fry, then I previously thought

I really dislike having to catch them and re home each season...but if I didn't.......

The other day my neighbor whose husband has a 20,000 gallon pond, stopped by for a visit. I told her I'd have another 10-12 koi babies for her hubby later on. She told me something is going wrong in their pond and they've lost a dozen large fish, 2 catfish and the rest large koi

I felt upset hearing that, but told her if he can figure out what's going on, I'd give him some to replace what he's lost.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Addy. I think I'm going to break down and buy one butterfly Koi in the next few days. i have seen some ponds that had mostly goldfish and one or two butterfly Koi and they seem to go well together. I know I have plenty of space in the pond for one because it's over 2000 gallons. One of our children gave me a father's day present of a gift card for a garden center that has some very nice fish so that would make a good present. The only thing I'm worried about is I think my pond is pretty high ph. A lot of masonry dust went in the pond when we were doing construction and the two baby koi someone gave me died and all the goldfish were fine. Should I risk it maybe with one small one? Hopefully with all the plants and the pond maturing the ph has settled down. Of course I could test it.... Tula. Too bad I'm not in the market for any Koi fry. My daughter makes the trip from Cincy to Chicago on a regular basis.

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks Addy. I think I'm going to break down and buy one butterfly Koi in the next few days. i have seen some ponds that had mostly goldfish and one or two butterfly Koi and they seem to go well together. I know I have plenty of space in the pond for one because it's over 2000 gallons. One of our children gave me a father's day present of a gift card for a garden center that has some very nice fish so that would make a good present. The only thing I'm worried about is I think my pond is pretty high ph. A lot of masonry dust went in the pond when we were doing construction and the two baby koi someone gave me died and all the goldfish were fine. Should I risk it maybe with one small one? Hopefully with all the plants and the pond maturing the ph has settled down. Of course I could test it.... Tula. Too bad I'm not in the market for any Koi fry. My daughter makes the trip from Cincy to Chicago on a regular basis.

If your worried I say wait until Spring to get one once things have settled in your yard. Those 3 butterfly koi I got from Walmart in Marc/April or whenever seem to be doing fine in my deep pond. I moved some goldfish from the lower one hoping they would flock to the surface to feed like in the lower pond but so far all in the upper seem to stay a foot below the surface. I always have loved butterfly koi though. Or go with shubunkins as for me they seem a close second. To be honest I've only tested the water in my system once in 6 years Lol fish are active and alive so I usually don't worry about it.

 

[herzausstahl]

How is the landscaping going Keith?

 

[Tula]

I have two koi fry that are a vivid yellow / orange and so easy to see in the pond The one cracks me up, reminds me of " Finding Nemo" swimming bravely with the big koi and feeding right along side them !

I'd be thrilled for you to have one....I think they need to be packed with O2. If you're serious, I could take one to our local fish hatchery and have them pack it for me....I've been a good and loyal customer for many years. Now catching the darn thing....that's another matter - LOL !

 

[sissy]

Thing is buying a fish before winter can be risky in your climate .The never know how bad inter may be and then you add are we going to have power outages that could make it worse .I would wait this way the fish will have a good chance to acclimate to the pond .I know it is hard to pass up a pretty fish but some times it is better than finding it dead come spring

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Nathan. It's going kind of slow. There are still a lot of things I'm doing around the new place like cleaning up building materials we have stored at the property and cleaning out the garage with all the stuff we put there. I planted a few perennials this week and have been accumulating chucks of limestone I have been taking from my building projects. You can see them in the foreground in one of the pics.I'm hoping to use some of them in the waterfall. Here are a few pics.

Thanks Tula. Those fish sound so pretty. I'll have to think about it. Sissy I'm sure you have a good point, but I have added fish this time of the year before without a problem. I'm very tempted to use the gift card I received. I might also get a few tadpoles to help eat the algae. I'm not crazy about bullfrogs but that is the only kind they sell around here.

 

[addy1]

That is really looking good Keith.

 

[lapisazul17]

Beautiful pond, Keith!

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks addy. I added a lot of plants in the pond this spring and it really helped. Most of the new ones are on the left side but there are some on the right side too, but the tree is blocking them. I'm really glad we left the tree. Basically is was a stump and it has come to life. I was definitely going to remove it a few months ago. It's a Bradford Pear and it is in a perfect location between the pond and porch even if it gets quite a bit bigger. Thanks Lapis. It's still a work in progress but it's getting there.

 

[addy1]

It's a Bradford Pear

They get huge! A landscaper near us cuts his back every year, keeps them smallish, looking good. We have a lot of them lose huge branches here, they are weak trees. Split in half in a wind storm.

I would cut it back every year or every other year, keep it controlled. We cut a neighbors down to the bare trunk this spring, it has regrow branches around 6 feet long already.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy. At our old house our Bradford Pear was about 15 years old and I think it was over 30 ft high. If this tree got big it would actually work well because the stairs on our deck is 25-30 ft high and it would be right behind it. It's about 10 ft from the the back of the stairs so there is plenty of room for it to spread out. Well I broke down and bought the Butterfly Koi I was thinking about. It a really pretty platinum color with a little yellow on it's head. It has beautiful fins and tail. So far it's doing well in the pond. For some reason my fish were all chasing each other this morning. I think they got mixed up because it was pretty cold this morning and they thought it was spring spawning time! Pictures coming soon of the new fish.

 

[Tula]

Enjoy your new platinum butterfly koi, looking forward to pictures !

 

[CometKeith]

He doesn't like to stand still for pictures. I took a bunch today and don't really have any great shots. You can see him in these two in the foreground. He is extremely active and very easy to spot.