See my new fish and some golden oldies that were hidden!

I replaced my 11 dead fish with 5 larger fish last weekend (remember 11 of my fish died from sickness and then 3 were eaten by a heron . . .). Last night to my amazement, I counted 7 fish. Apparently 2 of the fish I thought were a carry out meal for a heron were just hiding for approx 10-14 days. They only just came out last night because of the bigger new fish (and the "school of fish"). That heron must have terrified them to have hidden that long. I am amazed at their level of perserverance as well as they were so sick prior to the heron that they are doing well. That's my good news of the day!

MM

Congrats! That is wonderul!

I always liked a happy ending!

Carolyn

That's terrific. Nice looking gang of koi you've got there.

My daughter wants them.

That is I N C R E D I B L E and all round wonderful news. Glad two of them made it through everything. I guess they figured there was some safety with this new group in order to come out...

Janet

Uhmm. . . I think I count 8 fish in that picture. Does anyone else see eight?

Yes I Do!

Okay, Snapple-now I have to look at my old photos of my fish to see how is in that bunch that I counted out. Wow, what a surprise this week at the pond has been. Thank's for taking a peek-how I missed that the first time I don't know. The black threw me off!

OK I'll play, but since I'm new to fish all I count is 7 a group of 3 on the left another group of 3 on the right and what looks to be a black maybe some white on it in the middle of these two groups. So where is the 8th one hiding???

Please share the answer????

Janet

There is a pale all orange critter with just the head visible and a shadowy black that's barely noticable deeper down. It took me minute to find them but they are there. For sure!

Bingo.... it is on the right by the white one??????????

Ok what do I win.... Not!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the clue...

Janet

That pale orange one was one of the remaining three I nursed back to health. It has an ulcer healing up on it's side. At one point this fish was swimming crooked and couldn't float right 3 weeks ago. A few medicated baths and two shots from the vet really helped. I'm glad to see it survived the heron!

Creamsicle will be your favorite fish! You always bond with the ones that have overcome a struggle.

That's fantastic mm!! (I needed the clue about the black fish meadowyck, don't feel bad lol) They are some good looking fish! Koi are surely hardier than we give them credit for.
I had 7 fish that survived my Colorado winter after 2 of my heaters went out (couldn't afford a 3rd replacement). Top was frozen solid 3+ inches for over a month. NOT supposed to happen.

I can't believe your fish hid that well for so long. They're amazing little creatures.

art-n-garden - heater/deicers sure have a high failure rate don't they! You need a backup for the backup. I've been there.

ooooh I wanna play count the fish too!

Definitely eight!

i am so sorry to hear about your koi---i know what that is like--i started with 10 koi---named them and then one by one over the course of a year i lost 6 of them. 5 died but one disappeared---i keep hoping one day she will show up for food. it is so sad----i'm thinking that i won't replace them---i'll just be happy with the water lillies and the mosquito fish. if you'd like to see pictures of the koi pond and flowers and vegetables you can view them at www.mysisterdalesgarden.com

themir - there has got to be a reason why you lost your fish and a way to keep them and enjoy them again. Have you tired to determine what happened?

I love them! They all look healthy and happy:)

"Creamsicle" cute name but this one is already named Goldilocks by my 6 year old (it's his fish). Funny, the two fish that survived the heron were my son's fish and also the first two fish we bought (cheapies). Of course my favorite was the heron's meal and the most expensive guy at the time. . .

My fish replacements for the original 11 that died are a premium quality and larger size. My fish dealer gave me a price for all 11 and I bought only a few. One was his pet from his pond that he has been nurturing for 1-2 years. It wasn't for sale but I made him feel bad about my fish deaths and that I really, REALLY wanted that fish. He was planning on entering him with 5 others into a koi show in August. Apparently he has great potential. Can anyone identify this fish? (hopefully I'll be able to identify it again . . .lol!)
Maybe I'll post more pictures so you can see them better.

The white one?

White one is supposedly one of my top three but no there is one that is a highly quality.

I guess we could go through all of them, but the orange and black would be my next guess. If it's not that one I'll leave it to others to guess.

Well, with just parts of the fish to look at it has to be either the Hi Utsuri, the Showa Sanke and I think I spy a Tancho Showa. Not sure about the last one. Can't really see enough of the them be certain. The Hi Utsuri ranks #1 in the photo for what is observable.

No-not the Hi Utsuri although I bought that fish in April when it was only 4-5 inches and it is already about 10 inches and the quality might have improved and I wouldn't know it because I am a rookie koi keeper. . .

I am partial to the hi utsuri too, but I just like them anyway. The showas are nice too. Who is that white guy on the bottom left with the orange head?

I just took more pictures. It's hard to get good pictures of the little buggers-especially when they are afraid of me still.

You can see what remains of the ulcer of Goldilocks in the above picture. Her skin coloring is still a little little than before the treatments. It should deepen a little more when all the damaged scales fall off and heal.

More photo's.

Would love to understand what makes a fish more valuable (show quality wise) versus pet wise. As far as the Utsuri-I don't think his black (sumi) is all that crisp. Do you think that will change? The one that is most distinctive in my pond and why I am so attracted to it was the sumi and the crispness of it. In person this fish really stands out in a pond-thus why the retailer pulled him. This fish is the one with all three colors and I think you would call him a sanke (I'm still learning . . .). I have been looking at their display pond for 6 months and this fish and another HUGE yellow butterfly with the most amazing fins have always stood out in a group or 30 plus fish.

In the above picture, fish on the right is the one that I got out of the display pond that is very distinctive in person. What do you all think (strengths and weaknesses of this fish)? Go ahead, I can take it. . . .LOL!

Linda, Congratulations on your new fish and the three suvivors!
Sound like a made for TV movie all that has gone on this summer with your fish. They are all very pretty . I wish you and them health and happiness.
Got a family portrait of my gang tonight. We lost one on the 7/4 but still have a dozen...

Had some underwater lights replaced today that had been burned out for 6 weeks now. The fish were very happy to see
the lights come on. Now they can party later into the night & catch more bugs to eat!

Bea-I love your pictures. For some reason my Goldilocks isn't coming out today which definitely has me concerned. I am totally netted so I know a heron didn't get it. All the other fish are happily swimming around and eating like little piggies.

Linda.. I would not be to concerned. Sometimes we all need a bit of "quiet" time. I have found that some of my fish just like to relax under a water lily pad, while the others are swimming and exploring all day & night. Goldilocks may be a bit ovewhelmed with the new fish also. Give them all time to adjust to each other.
Fish will eat and eat if you let them. I have limited the koi food feedings to one small tasting a day and they troll for bugs & eat plants the balance of the day. They seem to be thriving with the change in diet. They have their cherrios treat about once a week and they love that. I am going to try some grapefruit tonight as I hear they love it. We shall see.. Will report back later. They did not like watermelon last summer when offered. :)

Hope Goldilocks turns up soon, mothermole. Behive, your fish do look like party animals, always seem to be enjoying themselves. My fish are mad at me today because I have been trying to net the baby fish. I caught three. There are at least 2 more in there.

I think I will also pull my 2 common goldfish too before they start breeding. One of them, named Nemo is so stupid he kept getting caught in my net when I was trying to catch the babies. I want to see if any of the babies are sarassas but I think I'll be putting these guys on craigslist after they get a little bigger.

I have to try cheerios... maybe they will forgive me then.

FYI: Goldilocks came out of hiding and is safe and sound.

Today I went on the Midwest Koi Club's Pond Tour of NW suburbs of Chicago. Very cool!. One pond was build indoors and was amazing to see all indoors. All the ponds were great though. I even got some generous offerings of plants from a ponder. It made for a special day!

I so enjoy seeing everyones ponds and your fish, even though I won't be having fish.

mothermole, sounds like an incredible day. Glad it was great adventure for you.

Janet

my new little frog was concentrating on his next "catch". I do not think he even saw me trying to take pictures. The pic is a bit dark as my flash is not working.

This is the rowdyiest bunch of koi imaginable. (One Gin Rin is off somewhere else.) The biggest are six years and one is 7. The smallest ( blue) is a new 10" I just got this year. They can trash, tip over and shred most potted plants. I have to bomb proof most everything. I sometimes miss their younger days when they werer too small to cause so much plant destruction.