This is NOT fun!!!

[Jackie Ramo]

Ok they started this morning and already I have Elf looking like this, Bullet the main one they are chasing is fine so far but Elf has a big gash on the other side of his head not visiable in this pic. It looks worse in real life as the water is now clouding up from all the eggs and sperm. Yeah, just as it got clear enough to almost see the bottom... :banghead:

I wonder what he will look like after another 3 days of this

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3600970498_f6a5710bc9_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3600201601_dd88a3caf7_b.jpg

[clm]

Have fun with that Jackie. Hopefully Elf will heal up quickly.

Cindy

[philly]

Hey Jackie your pond water looks a lot better than a week ago, hope Elf get better soon. :yup:

[Koidaddy]

The power of Nature... Good thing most of us humans are a bit more civilized! :grin:

[Peg]

Wow Jackie, Elf look awful. Hope he recovers well for you. That's why I lkie to have all boys, I hope.

[Jackie Ramo]

He really does look pretty bad, have no idea how he got so battered so quickly. Bullet the object of all this affection... has one scale that may come off but other wise looks good and is busy eating eggs at present. She doesn't look much slimer though...

Some of the action

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/3601810292_51099c28a0_b.jpg

[philly]

With everything happening all together your water still looks good finally the filter is starting to do it's job. :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

It is a mess today and its Chiba's turn this morning. Have to get a water change done soon. The foam is clogging up the skimmer.

[philly]

I see you have your work cut out for you till the spawning is all over until then keep the water changes going you busy girl. :phfft:

[Jackie Ramo]

Well your fish is also spawning Phil so two at once with GG looking interested in more than eating eggs so I guess tomorrow it will be her and then it will be finished.

Large water change today and flushed the filter several times. Need to clean the skimmer mats yet again, they are soooo full of eggs that I can't get off even with banging them against the birdfeeder stand.

No more major injuries just the odd scale here and there but its hard to see them through the foam.

[philly]

Too bad you can't tell Chiba's eggs from the rest, I would have gotten some to see what surprises it would bring me. :yup:

[fong11]

awww, mine went friday... separated my sanke and kohaku just in time for the sanke to give me tons of eggs after letting some go in the main pond (surprisingly they couldn't stay away from each other after i caught them, i thought they would have stopped and went later in the day, but they just went at it). so yeah, moved the eggs to the greenhouse and they should be hatching tomorrow. :)
the other female was getting smashed from all directions by like 3 males. kind of felt bad for her.
but they are all fine and have slimmed down a lot.

too bad about elf jackie. at least yours don't go at it like every three weeks during the summer. my one female just keeps producing eggs like crazy, and she's the smallest female at like 14 inches and uhh almost 12 years old. hopefully she stops soon.

[Jackie Ramo]

I couldn't handle every three weeks!!! At least she is small so the mess isn't as bad.

I am hoping for no babies but without small koi in the pond there always seems to be a baby boom.

[Koidaddy]

.... remember my ochie fry...... :frisbee:

[Jackie Ramo]

I have no control over what will hatch and what will be eaten. Ochiba and fries, sounds good !rofl

[philly]

Yeah it will be great to have some but don't know what will be in the brew. :scratch:

[Jackie Ramo]

GG is still withholding but I am doing a water change. Hopefully that and the rain will encourage her to drop her load so I can get it all over with. Number of eggs is greatly reduced but I am sure some will hatch and we will see what babies we have.

[philly]

At least you have an indoor green house you can grow a few out. :frisbee:

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, the problem is they GROW :HAHA:

[philly]

If they didn't grow then how would you know what's nice or what's worth keeping for grow out just for the sake of getting a real beauty. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

You are right Phil but then they continue to grow and eat you out of house and home. I can't see any eggs now, I think GG ate them all.

[philly]

Well there's nothing better than in-house clean up. :frisbee:

[Jackie Ramo]

Tested the water today and have a small showing of nitrItes, nothing else but another water change and a dollop of prime should fix it all up.

[philly]

Then you're on your way to recovery and things should be back to normal. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

Just wish the foam would go away.... and the water would warm up still only 62F

[philly]

Are you keeping up with the water changes ? my pond temp is at 64.7* F seems to be fluctuating between 54* F to 65* F.

[clm]

I wonder why yours fluctuates so much. Even with the air temp going down to the 40's last night, my pond temp was still 65 this morning. Doesn't fluctuate more than 5 degrees between day and night. The sensor is near the bottom too, not measuring mid or top water temp. Could be my pond isn't as deep as yours, but you'd think with the pumps all being right on the pond bottom and the waterfall and shower filter, mine would fluctuate more or get colder than yours.

Cindy

[Koidaddy]

Think it depends on how much exposure your filtration is getting - My temps are seeing the same swings as Phil's :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

My pond is 62F day and night. I have no idea why you folks have temp changes like that. Waterfull running and the filter is above ground...

Darn thing lost prime tonight for no reason took 45 minutes to fix it and I have no idea how it could have happened. Leaf trap clear, bottom drain clear.... Took the entire thing apart and of course made it worse as I had to check the check valve to see if it was jamed, not. Finally running but I have no idea why it stopped.

[Peg]

My pond temps are not swinging either, were sitting at a constant 61 day and night. It has been cool and raining for the last four days as well. Qt is sitting at 60 even with the water changes. All pumps, filters, waterwalls and bottom drain are up and running as well.

[philly]

I did notice at one time when the filters were back washed and the pond topped up the temp dropped 4* to 5* within 15 or so minutes maybe I'm doing something different. :)

[Jackie Ramo]

Phil it may be the amount of water you are changing out each day. My temps are low because I am changing out 500 gallons a day which is 10% but it is not enough to impact the water temp except to prevent it from rising.

[Jackie Ramo]

Here is what Elf looked like yesterday poor guy. There are a few missing scales and a split fin or two on the rest but he really took a beating

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3615482574_974e017d9d.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3652/3615480086_7482fc2128_b.jpg

[clm]

I only do a 10% change twice a week and I've never noticed a difference in temperature doing that.

Poor Elf, he really did take a pounding didn't he. Hopefully the warmer weather and some good food will help him heal up quickly.

Cindy

[philly]

I do about 10% the same amount every day almost and Elf looks like he needs a lot of TLC. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

I'm only doing it daily because of the spawn, first change was 1,000 gallons and now 500 or so a day trying to keep the water up.

The more I look at the fish the more damage I see... darn things. GG still has not spawned and now I don't expect her to for a while.

[clm]

GG will probably hold off until your pond looks absolutely pristine and you have company coming, the night before she'll decide is the perfect time. :grin:

Cindy

[philly]

Cindy that's Murphy's law. I can see Jackie working her butt off to keep the pond clean. :HAHA:

[Jackie Ramo]

You just like to see me work Phil.

The more I look at the fish the more damage I see, most of it underneath. Chiba has a nasty gash under her right pec fin, Phil's fish is missing a couple of scales and even old Tweet has a boo boo. A few of the fish see sluggish and Doodle decided to jump 4 or 5 times yesterday. Tested the water and all seems fine..... darn fish.

[philly]

You just like to see me work Phil.

Yes, keeps you out of trouble and other things. I hope all your koi recover soon after all they only have so many eggs they can release. :)

[Jackie Ramo]

Maybe only so many but it is many many many when it is GG :yup:

Did 1,000 gal change today as I will be away tomorrow. Every one looks good so far, no redness or fuzziness.

[marla]

Elf looks quite banged up there, hope those scales stay and he heals up. I pulled 3 larger goldfish today from the lily pond that had some lifted scales, did a salt paste, scales fell off, I'm leaving them in the little upper pond and keeping an eye on them. The same thing with the ugly little Lucky fish last week, he had 3 salt paste treatments during his week in the little pond and is now looking much better. I love having that little pond redone, much more room, no rocks falling in, lots of swimming room. Makes a nice little qt and no worries about filtration problems as the water comes up to it from the main pond.

[philly]

Marla, I hope Lucky and the rest recover quickly. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

Marla, a couple of scales have already fallen off Elf and a few others. Still no raised scales or redness or white fuzziness.

Marla, I know you know this, but that little pond is not a QT if the water is exchanged with the main pond. Nice to be able to keep them in a smaller space for easier observation and capture. Any ideas on why the goldfish scales are lifting? Did they spawn?

[marla]

yeh, I know it's not a qt, and if I thought they were really sick or had bugs they would not be in there, just observation as you said. The ones I pulled at first I thought might have been anchor worm or something, but on closer inspection it was hanging scales and missing scales. Yes there has been spawning going on. So I've just done some salt paste on the areas, and will watch but no redness. Lucky the ugly fish had redness I did the same and it healed nicely and he is back in the pond. I still have one female that is still getting large, this one always seems later. Hope she doesn't make a mess while we are gone. The other 2 females must not have had to many eggs as very little foam or eggs seen this year. Maybe the cold winter had something to do with it.....last year was a smelly mess.

[philly]

Well my pond water is back to what it use to be clean hope the kois don't decide to make a big mess anytime soon. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

My pond still has foam on the surface.... I thought maybe GG had spawned while I was away but I can't see any eggs so I will assume she did not.

[philly]

Jackie, how is your new filter working out for you ?

[fong11]

is gg still carrying eggs?

uhhh and my water just got gross from some reason... i think it's from an algae bloom. :( time to do a massive water change when i get home i guess.

[philly]

Algae is not bad for the baby it protects them a little from being seen. :yup:

[Jackie Ramo]

Phil I think the filter is doing ok. Its a bit of a pita to work with but it seems to do a good if small job. the water is much clearer, I can see the bottom but it still has a green tinge and lots of algae.

A bit of algae is ok but a lot can deprive the fry of oxygen at night. Fong did you finally get fry???

[Koidaddy]

Jackie, Get yourself a UV - I'm up to my eyeballs this week doing pond renos, and in doing so had to disconnect my UV... within a short three days my pond went from crystal clear to green pea soup... honest! So the moral of the story is, not all green water means more filtration - Just an added UV :frisbee:

[philly]

KD, I have been trying to talk her into getting a UV for months but she's a tough nut to crack. !rofl

[clm]

I haven't hooked up a UV this year and the results have been very good so far. A little pea soupy earlier this spring, but nice and clear now. I'm not going to miss paying that $100.00 a pop to replace the bulbs. :-P

clm

[philly]

Cindy you can go 3 years before replacing the bulbs works out approximately to $33.00 a year. :)

[Jackie Ramo]

I have no interest in a UV, it just hides a problem, I'd rather deal with the problem. Water is clear enough to see the bottom, more than that makes the fish unhappy.

Darn string algae is the problem and UV don't fix that. Buddy was up puking all night which I guess was good since when I let him out I heard the pump straining. Fixed it, happened again, just unplugged it. Fumbling around at 1 am in the dark is not fun. Bottom drain plugged with string algae again. Almost all gone now so soon things will be better.

[clm]

I have to rake out some string algae a few times a week, maybe net out some that's on the pond bottom every 2 or 3 weeks. It's hasn't been that bad this year yet. I was expecting to have more problems this year with the only tree that provided some light shade to the pond in the afternoon now gone, but not a huge difference with algae at all.
Beautiful the last couple of days, I envy those of you who are at home in this weather.

I hope Buddy is better today Jackie.

Cindy

[philly]

Well I'm lucky so far no shade and the string algea from the spring is not growing and I hope it stays that way. :yesyes:

[philly]

Before going to work yesterday I decided to tie the hose to a 1" X 2" and was the pond bottom off the gravel the koi knocked over ran out of time so left for work checked a couple hours ago and the filter was plugged and stop pumping water to the pond had to clean both filters and prime them up what a b**ch to get them going again so Jackie I know how you feel. :banghead:

[Jackie Ramo]

Now I get sympathy!!! :frisbee:

Buddy is better Cindy, not himself but not puking all over the place. Ate some food but not all of it. I think he had some heat issues after chasing the groundhog all around the yard. Buddy doesn't do well in the heat.

[philly]

Now I get sympathy!!! :frisbee:

Just a little. :HAHA:

[Jackie Ramo]

Terri came by and did a scrape and scope for me but found nothing. The fish prompty displayed spawning behaviour so perhaps that is why they are acting up.

[Koidaddy]

Good thing that Terri found nothing - You must be relieved!

KD
:grin:

[carcha koi]

Nice to have friends

[philly]

Chris speaking of friends, where have you been hiding ? :frisbee:

[carcha koi]

Been Busy. No time for fun or ponding :censored: :banghead:

[philly]

You gotta make time to smell the roses that's what my doctor said to me or we will plant the roses over you.

[Koidaddy]

You gotta make time to smell the roses that's what my doctor said to me or we will plant the roses over you.

.... Phil, it seems like you're smelling them roses all the time with all those dang trips you take... Save some flowers for the rest of us!!
:phfft:

[philly]

KD, those are only " mini trips " can't do very much on a few days you know. :HAHA:

[Koidaddy]

KD, those are only " mini trips " can't do very much on a few days you know. :HAHA:


... and I get excited getting away for the afternoon......

KD
(Invisible Happy Face here)

[philly]

Well to each his own. ( Grin )