Interesting points Jim, as I expect to be faced with the same issues.
I am wondering then, how do you keep the mosquito fish population
under control? Or are they self-limiting -- in the same way?

Thanks, David

On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 06:51:44 -0600, "Phyllis and Jim Hurley"
wrote:

I think your point is well taken...fish eat fish. Hungry fish eat more of
the babies than full fish.

As to thinning. I do believe that more well-fed adults means more
spawning...but that may not result in a greater survival rate. I think
fish like their little swimming protein bundles...fed or not. I am sure
cover for the babies is another an important part of their survival rate.
It can shield them from their parents and other species.

We have had NO babies grow up over the last five years. The fish are well
fed and do spawn. We have a bunch of mosquito fish in the pond. They
reproduce well and are, I suspect, responsible for the loss of many of the
little fish and the eggs. We have a good bit of cover for them as well (WH,
egg crates koi can't get under, etc. We think the mosquito fish are
probably why none of the baby goldies or koi have made it. We did get
babies in the first year, when we had feeder goldfish and baby koi only in
the pond. Since they grew up and the mosquito fish went in, nothing. It
would be nice to have babies, but it would also mean having to cull to keep
the pond population steady. Our koi now run in the 24" category and the
goldies in the 7-10" category. Stable population is probably good for us.

Jim

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 26 Mar "Phyllis and Jim Hurley" wrote:

Population: Kathy is right about pet shops and about the value of cutting
back the numbers of goldies. Unfortunately, that will also fuel their
successful spawn.

I respectfully disagree, I think it is the "feeding" that fuels it, if
they
aren't fed, live off the pond than the statement below controls the
problem:

However, the big guys will eat up the babies if they are hungry.

Reason: I worried about over population in the Demon pond when someone
(and
we do know who) put in 6 comet goldfish (not even pretty ones). Since they
aren't fed and must compete with a dozen butterfly koi and lots of rosy
reds, we haven't had the population explosion I worried about.

To the original poster, even without a filter you can help the water
quality by doing frequent small water changes, 20% once a week. You'll
will
need something to treat the new water to detox chlorine or chloramines,
whichever your water company uses.

BTW, can you run an extension cord out there? Not prudent, but many of us
did it (and still do it) for years before we got the post right out to the
pond(s)/filter(s). ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

I feed Hikari & Sho Koi. Never had problems with my Koi eating the lilies,
just rooting them out of the pot. I can't keep WH at all, they devour the
roots right up to the plant base. I do feed frozen peas as a supplement and
they like those.

--

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
Will you fess up?

How many of you feed a lesser quality fish food and find you can't keep
lilies in your koi pond? I wonder if there is a correlation? ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:23:50 GMT, "JB" wrote:

I feed Hikari & Sho Koi. Never had problems with my Koi eating the lilies,
just rooting them out of the pot. I can't keep WH at all, they devour the
roots right up to the plant base. I do feed frozen peas as a supplement and
they like those.

Sho Koi & peas here, no problems, but if I put WH in, I get a massive spawn
so they have a little egg with their veggies.

New food I'm trying that the goldfish inside are really enjoying right now
is this Mandu fu (I think I spelled that right). ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

Will you fess up?

How many of you feed a lesser quality fish food and find you can't keep
lilies in your koi pond? I wonder if there is a correlation? ~ jan

Nope (at least in my case). When I had koi, I fed them cheap food (and not
much of it) and never had a problem with the plants.
--
derek

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

On Sat, 26 Mar "Phyllis and Jim Hurley" wrote:

Population: Kathy is right about pet shops and about the value of cutting
back the numbers of goldies. Unfortunately, that will also fuel their
successful spawn.

I respectfully disagree, I think it is the "feeding" that fuels it, if
they aren't fed, live off the pond than the statement below controls the
problem:

I'd agree. I've never had a problem keeping lots of fish in a pond, but not
the numbers you see in well-fed ponds. Mine are always fed for one reason
only - to get them to come to the surface.
--
derek

Interesting points Jim, as I expect to be faced with the same issues.
I am wondering then, how do you keep the mosquito fish population
under control? Or are they self-limiting -- in the same way?

Thanks, David

Mosquito fish get eaten by the koi, usually not intentionally. Mosquito
fish will attack a koi pellet far bigger than their mouth, along comes a
koi, who inhales many pellets at a time. Down go pellets and fresh protein.
;) I found winter knocked their population down.

I had mosquito fish from the get go, and never had any babies. The year I
decided to continue surface circulation did them all in. I guess it was too
cold, being that they are surface cruisers. The next year, koi babies
survived in the filter. The year after culling my big fish down due to
critical mass emergency, I had koi babies in the filter and in the pond.
And foolish me. I'd also put eggs in plant containers and the lily pond.
Koi babies everywhere. So far I've been lucky enough to give them away. One
ponder in particular took quite a few because they had made a special fry
grow out pond and then didn't have a spawn. Isn't that how it goes? ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~