Friday, November 16, 2007

Japanese koi - the no maintenance pet








We have 15 Japanese koi and fantails and 2 bottom feeders (algea eaters) that live in our 2500 gallon pond. The top pond is pretty deep and there is a waterfall that connects it to the bottom part where the fish live. It looks small in the pictures, but it's actually quite huge. Click on any picture to enlarge.

I thought I'd just share some pictures with you of my gorgeous pets. They each have their own personality and they're just awesome. A lot of people that come over ask how can they be your pet when you can't play with them. Well, see, they're great that way. They hardly require any maintenance expect food and clean water.
Koi can live anywhere from 20-60 years, they're like the parrots of the fish species. People leave them in their wills in case they die before the fish do. I'm sure mine are destined to outlive me! They also know their owners vibrations. When I come outside, they all swim up to the edge of the pond for attention and of course their food. Let's not forget their food - these animals live to eat. They love their food. You cannot disturb them when they're eating because you can tell they're gettin' pissed. They also don't know when to stop eating - they are like humans in that way. You have to be a little stingy with their food or they will overeat.

I read somewhere that if they are under stressed conditions like if the water ph is too high or there is not enough oxygen, then they will literally jump out of the water to try to commit suicide. In Japan, some people resort to installing mesh netting above the water to prevent this from happening. Hence, I get my water checked often. I do not want any $500 koi jumping ship.

6 comments:

Indian Food Rocks said...

Lovely pics! And you have a hot tub, too!

Your ponds are beautiful as are your fish! The only time I have seen large koi was at the Butterfly Pavilion of all places!

We just killed our third goldfish. So I think we're done with fish! I refuse to have any more pets!

Alpa said...

Thanks! Ya, the hot tub doesn't get much use because the weather here is too hot to be in scalding water.

Third goldfish? hehehe, I used to do that too when I had an aquarium, luckily ph bal is easier to manage with the pond :)

Cynthia said...

I'm so glad that you stoppped by my blog and helped me to discover yours! I love your place here. And the ponds, I can see myself spending all my time outdoors :) And the hot tub! oh yeah :)

Do come back and visit when you can.

Alpa said...

Cynthia - Thanks so much for your sweet words! It truly is a sanctuary.

~mE said...

Alpa..you got beautiful landscaping done...I just love the two waterfall pic..:))
Wish you had closer pic of your pets..they are beautiful

Alpa said...

Happy - Welcome! Thanks so much for your sweet words! I will try to post some more pics of the fish in a later post (when the pond is green again, right now it's pretty sparce with the cooler temps).