Since my fish have all been coming up for food in the evenings, I thought I would take advantage and get some pictures of some of them.
The large platinum koi at center-right is a male butterfly has a body of just over 12". He originally had black streaks through his fins, but I think those have mostly grown out now. With his fins getting longer every year, he has been one of my favorites. At the bottom left is a silver koi with the dragon scales. That one originally had a yellow head, but has completely faded to silver. I wasn't too sure about the scales at first, but as this one is getting larger, the scales are looking impressive. The large orange/black/white koi is male, and one of my original three.
The large orange/white koi is male, and the orange/black is female. They are the rest of my original three. All have a body length of around 16-17". They were given to me in 2009 when I had the original 160-gal pond -- not a lot of space for them in those days! Lots of goldfish and shubunkins here too. The orange/white koi has started begging for food from my this year and no longer freaks out when he is in the shallows and spots me. I spend a huge amount of time by my pond, yet he is the first one to seem to recognize me.
Sorry for the blurry image, but this one gives a better sense of the scale of the pond and fish. The pond is about 6' wide between the waterfall and where I'm standing. Its fun to see the smaller fish jumping, but when one of the big guys jump, it makes quite a splash! I'm trying to get some logs to sink here to provide the fish with cover in the Winter -- already have a few pieces sunk.
So what does everyone else consider as their favorite fish, and why do you like them? Show and tell!
The large platinum koi at center-right is a male butterfly has a body of just over 12". He originally had black streaks through his fins, but I think those have mostly grown out now. With his fins getting longer every year, he has been one of my favorites. At the bottom left is a silver koi with the dragon scales. That one originally had a yellow head, but has completely faded to silver. I wasn't too sure about the scales at first, but as this one is getting larger, the scales are looking impressive. The large orange/black/white koi is male, and one of my original three.
The large orange/white koi is male, and the orange/black is female. They are the rest of my original three. All have a body length of around 16-17". They were given to me in 2009 when I had the original 160-gal pond -- not a lot of space for them in those days! Lots of goldfish and shubunkins here too. The orange/white koi has started begging for food from my this year and no longer freaks out when he is in the shallows and spots me. I spend a huge amount of time by my pond, yet he is the first one to seem to recognize me.
Sorry for the blurry image, but this one gives a better sense of the scale of the pond and fish. The pond is about 6' wide between the waterfall and where I'm standing. Its fun to see the smaller fish jumping, but when one of the big guys jump, it makes quite a splash! I'm trying to get some logs to sink here to provide the fish with cover in the Winter -- already have a few pieces sunk.
So what does everyone else consider as their favorite fish, and why do you like them? Show and tell!