Nov 2003
21 Years of Koi Keeping
Selected Articles
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Nov 2003 21 Years of Koi Keeping Selected Articles |
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I also want to thank Terri Carter for the handling of the plant booth this year. Terri has done a lot of work already to prepare us for the best selection possible for our plant booth sale our club has ever had. Remember the proceeds from the sale of the plants are for the club so come out and get some great deals on some plants for your pond or garden. I also want to thank all that have committed to helping during our show and prior to the show time as well. This show would not be what it is without your help as a club. At the time of this article all 10 rooms that we allotted have been purchased and the hotel has more available for anyone else needing a room don’t forget to mention NFKC. If there is a problem please contact Tim Gasson at 783-4275 and I will see what I can do to help resolve the problem. We will have TV-4 on Friday November 14th at 7am to do a remote interview about our show at World Golf Village. The ads are in the local paper as well as the St. Augustine record so far. We also have at the time of this article 11 vendors and hope to get more. Thank you Rod for the extra help you gave. I want to thank Jan Brown. Jan has been very busy taking care of vendor registration and keeping track of all the activity for the show. Our judges are secured and set to come at this time. So as you can see we are almost there. We look forward to the meeting at The World Golf Village this month along with the show the next week.
DON’T FORGET WE WILL HAVE A BOOTH AT THE PET EXPO ON THE 8th FROM 9 TO 5 AT THE FAIR GROUNDS. I hope we can get some participation from our group to help our club get more exposure. Bring your pet with you and have a great time interacting with other pets as well. If you think you can safely do it bring your Koi on a leash and be the talk of the event (haha). So as you can tell November is a busy time for our club. This is what we have been building up for so we can have a great event for our club and members as well as visitors. Hope to see everyone there as well as the members I haven’t seen lately.
CHAIRS FOR THE MEETING WILL BE PROVIDED AND WE CAN’T HAVE A POTLUCK AT THIS MEETING. THE RESORT WON’T LET US BRING ANYTHING TO DRINK OR EAT INTO THE CONVENTION ROOM. We will have a tour of the facility as well as a talk on the layout for the show and any last minute issues that need to be addressed. Bring your topics or concerns with you and we will be sure to answer them for you. Till we meet again, Tim Gasson President 2002-2003
Secretary's Report By Todo: 20 Members and guests
We had a nice but rather short meeting in Oct. After the treasure’s report was done, much of the rest of the time was spent discussing the show. Jan read the show rules which drew some discussion. Dan announced that he needed material for the display board if members had items to post. Another call was made for more help, we cannot have too many people working. Later Tim described how to catch and transport fish to the show.
The Nomination Committee for the up coming slate of officers for 2004 has been formed, Todo Todorsky and Pat Rutherford. To date the nominees are: Pres. Jan Brown, VP Jim Roberts, Sec. Anne Miller, Tres, Susan Roberts. Nominations from the floor will be taken at the December meeting.
Preparations For Winter By Rod McConkey, Blue Water Koi, Oregon Koi and Watergarden SocietySo, Labor Day is about here and I wonder where the heck summer went. Summers are just way too short for me but it has been a busy year and I am looking forward to my trip to Japan. I have already got the date set to leave on the 22nd of October, and will be there for sixteen days.
Well, this would be a good time to start checking out the Koi in our ponds for sores from spawning or however they seem to come up with these injuries. We need to do it now so if we find any problems we can get them healed early enough to be ready for the long winter coming up. If they go into winter with even a small sore, it will only get worse by spring and could cause them to die in the long winter.
If you have to, catch each Koi and put it in a plastic bag (hopefully you saved them when you brought your Koi home) hold each koi up so you can see them from all sides and the bottom of the belly, too. Watch for parasites like anchor worms or fish lice, these are the ones you can see with the naked eye, however, you should take a few scrapings from the Koi and look at them under the microscope, if you have one and have it available for members to use it. Microscopes are a must for Koi Keepers, you can get one for around $200 which is less than the cost of a good show Koi.
If you find some problems, treat them and treat the pond for parasites. I like to treat my ponds in the fall with Potassium Permanganate because it will not only kill parasites but also helps to get rid of built up sediment and crud that has collected over the summer in our ponds, so it is double acting. For your money, I personally think it is the best you can get for treatment on water as well as our Koi.
At this time of year you must clean your pond the best you can, flush bottom drains, clean skimmers, settling chambers, and filters. When fall comes and the leaves start to fall, keep them cleaned out of the pond. The Koi will be sitting on the bottom and the leaves offer a good place for bacteria and parasites to hide. It is important that we give our Koi the best and cleanest environment we can so they can get through the winter with as little problems as possible. Also, some leaves can put off a chemical when rotting in water that will be bad for the Koi if the leaves are not removed when they fall into the pond.
I feel if you do these things it will help to keep your Koi safer and healthier for the long winter sleep. However, don’t forget to go out and check them once a week or so just to make sure no problems have come up.
Hopefully, you have a hospital tank ready for them in case a Koi develops a sore or other problem, and you can move it to the tank for the rest of the winter and heal it up. Many times they get a sore in the winter their systems are shut down and they cannot resist or fight off infections and will die before next summer.
Show Etiquette
Remember a Koi Show is about appreciation of koi, their color and uniqueness. The pride and feeling you have for your fish are matched by every other koi keeper at the show. By following a few simple courtesies everyone can have a fulfilling show.
2) Do
not disturb, question, or distract the judges while they are working. They have a lot to do and the less distractions
they have the better for all participants. You
may watch the judging by silently and with respect. Judges
often give instructions on how and why they picked certain fish after the judging is
completed.
3) Do
not point out which fish are your or identify any fish as belonging to anyone. To have fair competition anonymity of the koi
keepers must be maintained.
4) Do
not speak ill of anyone’s fish. One
person’s eye for beauty is another person’s eye sore.
5) Have
your own net (if possible) and have it located by your tank.
6) Do
not bring food, drink or anything else over the tanks.
A lot of effort is directed towards water quality and fouling the water in
any way is unhealthy for the fish.
7) Keep an eye on your fish to assure they are doing well and not in trouble. If you see a problem notify a show official.