South Warren woman goes 'koi crazy'

As she walks into her yard she finds a refreshing sanctuary. A place where soft grass rubs her feet, where the splash of playful water massages her ears, where the green of bowing branches and tall plants and rippling ponds soothes and cools and kisses her eyes. Where fish — bright and dark, big and small, darting and still —swim and play. Where those fish touch her soul. Judy is “koi kichi,” which means “koi crazy.” Koi (pronounced “coy”) fish, are abundant in her three ponds at her South Warren house. Like many koi keepers, Judy has found herself absorbed by the hobby, so much that she became a specialist through the Associated Koi Clubs of America. And she loves sharing her know-how. Her front pond is manmade, surrounded by trees and flowers, with a waterfall at one end. Twelve koi live in it. Out back, she has a larger, spring-fed pond with about 65 koi. To the side is the gazing pond, a place for sitting on rocks and meditating. “The gazing pond is not supposed to have koi in it. I couldn’t help myself!” she said. Koi, from Japan, are a type of carp with “barbells” on the side of their mouths. (“Koi” means “carp” in Japanese.) They come in many colors and are born less than one-quarter inch long and can grow to more than 30 inches. They are decorations and lifelong pets, reported to live more than 200 years if their quality of life is right. Judy once had goldfish too. But there was something about the koi ... and she fell in love with them. She eventually weaned out the goldfish and gave them away so they wouldn’t spawn with the koi. “I think I loved the koi because of the colors and they seemed to be smarter. They are smart enough to size up a net and the person holding it and jump over them if they must.” She has a feeding box over the front pond, where koi can pull a string to feed themselves. “It took less than four hours for them to understand that if they pull the string they can get fed.” Today, Judy visits and helps other koi owners. She gives seminars at Gibbs Garden Center in LeRaysville and is part of the pond tour with The Cabin Country Store in Stevensville. She also volunteers at koi shows, where she shares knowledge with other koi keepers, helping set up and take down tanks, and working with vets in the labs. “Someday I hope to get a koi to take and show,” she added.

My 11000L koi pond w.sleepers build - pics etc.. - Garden Pond Forums

Hey, are you putting a bottom drain in? My pond is similar to yours (not quite as big), in that it's very deep. I love that it's deep, keeps the temp nice and stable. However, it makes cleaning the bottom a bit tricky - most pond vacs lose suction after 3 feet depth (my pond is 6 feet deep). Before you get to the final stages, you might want to think about how you're going to clean the bottom...

lazy Fish If your fish are"lazy"or gasping at the pond surface, you likely have oxygen depletion to read more vist

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