My goldfish pond

[CountryEscape]

Cool! Very similar in markings. Supposedly these koi change their markings quite drastically. Has that been your experience?

So far, Skelator has remained mostly the same. He has gotten a bit darker, more prominent in the “stripes/ribby look” on the sides, though. I’m glad we decided to keep him rather than sell him along with the 60 or so other koi babies. I think we kept about 8 altogether. It’s fun watching the “babies” grow up and change. In fact, there are several of the babies that I like better than a few I’ve bought over the years. So there’s that!

 

[CometKeith]

@CometKeith , Yes I absolutely plan on visiting my koi in their new home. I'm wondering if it would be best to wait till next Spring for a couple reasons, the weather and maybe I won't be missing them so much by then. The man who has them is great about sending me videos and updates, but I don't want to bug him too often - ha ha!

Hi Tula. I know how attached you were to your Koi. I hope you are doing okay. I don’t think other people really understand how important it is for having Koi as pets. We have a very good friend that unfortunately has had an extremely difficult year but she asked me if we could eat our Koi. I didn’t even know how to respond.…I didnt want to be mean but I think I asked her if she would eat her cat!

 

[CometKeith]

Getting all male koi has got to be an amazing stroke of luck!

But yes, I was very reluctant to take even one koi, and was happy enough with our large goldfish and shubunkins. His Honor the Chef has wanted koi from the beginning, but that's partly because he has fond memories of them from his years living in Hong Kong. Had this one koi not been in such desperate straights, I would have held off. And truthfully I'm not totally sure he'll make it, after having been in such an awful situation, but at least we'll give him a fighting chance.

And he (or she) is actually quite a handsome critter, in a color scheme that I believe is called kikokuryu. With the large scales along his back, he looks positively Jurassic! Here is one pic from earlier today with two of our largest sarassa goldfish:

View attachment 155109


For size comparison, the new koi is about 30 cm in length, and Fancy Fin, the large red sarassa in the picture is just over 30 cm, including his impressively long tail. In this photo, the two sarassas look larger in comparison to the koi only because they're closer.

Hi Yaaharr. That’s a really pretty fish.From what I understand they will change colors over time. I took this picture yesterday. The pond water is hitting close to freezing and most of my fish are pretty still.

 

[CometKeith]

So far, Skelator has remained mostly the same. He has gotten a bit darker, more prominent in the “stripes/ribby look” on the sides, though. I’m glad we decided to keep him rather than sell him along with the 60 or so other koi babies. I think we kept about 8 altogether. It’s fun watching the “babies” grow up and change. In fact, there are several of the babies that I like better than a few I’ve bought over the years. So there’s that!

Hi CE. How are your fish doing? Did you get a lot of snow?

 

[Tula]

Gosh, I could NEVER eat my koi or any or our pets.....I rarely eat meat as it is! I don't regret letting my koi go to a better home, but I miss them a lot.......for almost twenty years the pond was the first and last thing I looked at each day and it's not the same without them.

I used to have a thin slab or granite raised on some blocks over the deepest part of our pond and that is often where our koi were when the weather was cold. Of course the last few winters we covered the pond, so they were more active and the plants did all too.

 

[CometKeith]

Gosh, I could NEVER eat my koi or any or our pets.....I rarely eat meat as it is! I don't regret letting my koi go to a better home, but I miss them a lot.......for almost twenty years the pond was the first and last thing I looked at each day and it's not the same without them.

I used to have a thin slab or granite raised on some blocks over the deepest part of our pond and that is often where our koi were when the weather was cold. Of course the last few winters we covered the pond, so they were more active and the plants did all too.

Hi Tula. Just wondering did you fill in the pond already or could it be used again if you wanted to do something else that would be less work? I’m pretty much the same way. I love looking at my pond and miss it in the winter. We have actually considered moving because all our daughters and now grandchildren too are living somewhere else and we are getting tired of Chicago winters. One of them is in Northern California. I can’t see moving and not having a pond but to buy something where we want with a piece of land for a pond is crazy expensive! How much do I love my fish…

 

[Tula]

No, our pond is not filled in and is running as we speak. With no fish there was no need to cover it and we've kept the waterfall and filter going. I'm sure we'll turn off the filter in Jan, but might keep waterfall going.

It's nice to see the birds and squirrels bathing and drinking from it. I planted some beautiful water lilies last fall and am planning on some floating planters as well. If at the end of next year's season it hasn't been fulfilling we'll evaluate filling it in and creating some kind of garden, perhaps with a fountain.

 

[CountryEscape]

Hey, Comet Keith! We are doing well here in Cincinnati. We keep very busy, me mostly volunteering with not-for-profit companies and my garden club, or walking with friends, or just going to Chamber of Commerce functions with my husband. In spring-fall, you can find me outside in the back yard with the flowers and fish.
The fish are doing great!!! I wish it was easier to attach a video. I took an underwater video just a few weeks ago. All the fish were up front and nosey. We got one small snow, maybe a couple inches, and it was gone within a couple of days. It was the beautiful kind of snow!
The first two photos show our meager snowfall. Third pic is where I work seasonal and PT in spring, but this year I also helped creat porch pots of greens and “creations”. Loved it! The last picture was taken in November of the fish.
Enjoy!
Hope everyone is having good weather, no issues with snow for traveling. We plan to make another IN, IL, WI, IL, IN, OH loop to see family and friends for Christmas, so will be praying for clear roads.

 

[j.w]

@CountryEscape good to hear you are enjoying life and busy doing all the things you love to do! Love that bird/squirrel photo and I think that bird wants whatever that squirrel is eating. What kind of bush is that that is blooming in winter? Snow is what makes winter so nice for me but we don't get enough of it here. Lucky you do! Your fish look good too.
Have a

and safe travels to visit family and friends

 

[CountryEscape]

JW the “tree” that has snow on it is our petunia tree. Think old fashion artificial Christmas tree where you added the branches. This has 16 branches with pots of petunias that grow and completely cover the frame by July 1 or so. It was still blooming … until the snow kinda killed the flowers.

 

[cas]

JW the “tree” that has snow on it is our petunia tree. Think old fashion artificial Christmas tree where you added the branches. This has 16 branches with pots of petunias that grow and completely cover the frame by July 1 or so.

Neat idea.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi!! Here are a few pictures I took today of the hazy sunset from our yard!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Sorry about the haze but all I could see was all those awesome fishies!

 

[CometKeith]

Sorry about the haze but all I could see was all those awesome fishies!

Thank you!

 

[GBBUDD]

i only saw a couple fishes what i saw was mainly cows