1st hello

[Catahoula Ranch]

My first post... Hello, turns out, my co-worker Jay and I were talking today, and had common thoughts on aquariums and he told me of the website, so thought I'd tune in.
lot s of members, very nice. I used to have a 54 and a 72 gal freshwater and all sorts of fish, my good bud next store had about the same. so between us we had everything from piranna's to large freshwater eels, snakeheads... and on and on. Lots of great stories throughout the years. no tanks any more. However I do have an outdoor pond, as I post this there is still about 4inches of ice on the pond, its been frozen for 3 months, but underneath, there is about 50 nice Koi and maybe 50 goldfish waiting for the thaw, we are up in the mountains north of Mission , B.C. at about 700ft alltitude , so we still have over a foot to 4ft of snow everywhere on the ground. The pond is natural runoff, about 30x15 ft, 5 ft deep. I hope they all survive, in the summer the pond is full of life, all the fish and the common residents of garter snakes, western toads, mudpuppies, tadpoles,bugs,and bugs ,,, . I will provide an updated picture of the fish when the ice melts.
good fishing to you.:err: http://catahoularanch.com/pond/Dsc03649.jpg

[GaryofMontreal]

Welcome - that's a nice pond, and the dogs are cool too. Patience, it will thaw.
I thought it was neat that you had had the fishkeeping friend next door. That would be fun. I knew a guy in the suburbs south of Montreal who really had it bad - 30 tanks of African cichlids. His daughter brought friends home one day, not long after they'd moved in, and one of the neighbour kids said "Poor you. That's just like my dad's basement room." So he ran across the street and introduced himself to a really nice guy with 50 tanks. They ended up as great friends, and supplied half the auctions in Montreal for years.
Think of the odds of that...

[Gobies et al]

Welcome to CAC! :hello:

Have you had koi and goldfish over winter in the pond before?

I had been hoping to have an acreage with a deep outdoor pool a few years ago. Unfortunately it didn't happen.:frown:

I'd love to hear about your experiences though!

Nice dogs! :yes:

[Melody]

:Welcome: Aquariums are responsible for many of my most valued friendships :smile: . I'll look forward to following along with your pond's Spring thaw. Is this 'our' Jay that you were talking to? If so, I'll know where to find him now - right beside that pond. Don't worry, he's quiet and well mannered. You'll hardly know he's there... until he decides his Mollies would grow nicely in your pond if he could just take all of those Koi out... :err:

[CACAdmin]

Hi and :Welcome: Glad you did get a chance to pop in. Great to see your pond. It's beautiful. Looking forward to pics as the ice melts... it's been a really cold winter this year so this will be a true test I'm sure of how hardy those koi and goldfish are. I hope they've done well.

You'll hardly know he's there... until he decides his Mollies would grow nicely in your pond if he could just take all of those Koi out... :err:
I never even thought about twisting his arm to let me breed my mollies in his pond. :twitcy: ... but now you've given me food for thought. :wink: ...just kidding.

[OldMan]

Welcome to the forum. That is a very nice pond. I have to make do with a stock tank for my fish to spend time outdoors but that looks like it would be a great place for fish.

[Pamelajo]

Hi and Welcome. Very nice pond. Looking forward to more pics. Nice dogs, how many do you have? I see another tail on the left. Do they like to swim with the fish?

[Catahoula Ranch]

wow, what a great forum you we have here.
thank you for the replys.
yes I have had the koi over winter, it is my second winter at the Catahoula Ranch, I moved here at the end of july 2007,we got the koi as soon as we moved in, they were the size of feeders, we originally got 30 of them. When 2007 winter arrived the koi were about 4inches long, and only 14 of them, the bigger ones didn't have any friends, if you know what I mean::D: , they ate their friends. then the pond froze for 3 months, when it thawed the fish had survived and were a little bigger, the pond was 100% clear and the fish were just georgeous, the next day they were all gone, I thought the ditch turkeys had found them, but in time I realized that they were afraid to show themselves and each had found a crack beside or behind a rock to hide in until the pond had received more runoff and some sediment was in the water to hide them from the likes of the sky, ...the ditch turkeys...aka.. Great Blue Herons and the Vultures we also have here,(aura cathartes).
In the spring of 2008 the fish had propagated and now I had the original 14 and about 30 young beautiful Koi, at that point we added 30 goldfish feeders, not sure that was the right thing to do, as I would prefer to just have koi, but its always fun releasing new fish into your aquarium, its sort of an addiction, you get a God like feeling, as you are the keeper..
This winter was colder than the last, instead of -3 we had -15, when the pond thaws we will see how hardy these fish can be.... I heard a story once about when the Fraser Valley was drained with the creation of the Sumas Drainage Canal and and the river bed was now fertile soil, farmers started to cultivate the new land and they found Stergeon fish in the mud,,, still alive, like frogs, never under estimate survival of the fittest... or fishes...Im sure they will outlive us.
The dogs I have are Spirit dogs... I have four of them, they are Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dogs, 2 males, 2 females, thier names, oldest first, Ginnveive, Blue Rodeo, Cosmos Factory and our new pup, Cadillac Chrome.
Now, as for Jay, he may come see the pond and I hope he does, pretty sure the gobies wouldn't survive here, as the fish I have even eat their friends. Anyone who would like to visit is welcome, just follow gravity.
The dogs do swim in the pond, in the hot months, mostly Cosmo, he is the offspring of Gin and Blue, born here, in the water.
My friend I used to share fish with was a high school buddy, we both married our highschool sweathearts and to this day, heading for our 50's, we are great friends, still married to the same great girls.
Well, I have to end this note, and I will say, of all the fish I have kept in aquariums, my favorite was the Convict Cichlid, get yourself a male and a female and watch life happen, they will propagate, its better to watch than TV.
Cheers...Woof.
here is a picture of our resident Western Toad in the pond. We call him "Burl", after the folk singer Burl Ives, froggy went a courtin and he did ride, uumhmmm.
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/P1010022.jpg

[Catahoula Ranch]

a picture of Cosmo in front of the pond, he swims with fishes...
http://catahoularanch.com/cosmo/Dsc04316.jpg

[firestorm]

Hello, glad to have you here :Smile: Beautiful dogs you have there. I like your pond too, can't wait to hear how they have survived.

[CACAdmin]

Thanks! I'd love to come by sometime and see the pond. I will, however, leave my mollies at home rather than have them served up as a snack for your koi. :err:

It's amazing the ability fish have to survive. Your koi have done well to outwit predators. I remember you having said your pond is 6 feet deep so I am sure the depth helps them dive out of reach when necessary. I was wondering how steep the sides of the pond are. Do you have any issues with raccoons fishing for dinner?

That's a fantastic pic of Burl, your toad, and the water lily in bloom. Does he have a mate? If so maybe you'll have many 'baby-Burls' around (that if if they're not on the dinner menu too :rolleyes: ).

[Catahoula Ranch]

Hi Jay, the sides of the pond are quite steep, and I've never seen a Raccoon around here, I think they stick to the city where there is more rewarding work for them.
As for Burl, he is much like a magician, sometimes at night he is in more than one place, but in the daytime he can be seen once in a while, thats my little secret that I don't tell the kids, this way he seems like a pet frog, but yes he is quite prolific.
I cleared some of the thinner ice off the pond today and it didn't take long before I found a deceased Koi, either he had no love or just gave up too soon, Spring fever I call it. I pray that the stronger survived, but I know how they feel, you've got to have something to live for, and I guess he didn't feel it.
I am looking forward to the Lilys coming back, when they do they just keep blooming and blooming all summer long.
I think this year I will part with some of the Koi at the end of summer or install some sort of heater in the pond.
Here's a picture taken today, Cheers, Don
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/pondice.jpg

[Gobies et al]

Sorry to hear that you have found a dead Koi. :frown:

I don't know if you are aware of a problem that can happen with young koi over-wintered in a pond. This site gives good information:

http://www.kokosgoldfish.com/SleepingSicknessinKoi.html

When I was looking to keep Koi in a deep pond here in Alberta, I checked out various ways to keep an open area. One method involved building a floating "green house". It seemed the most economical. The idea was from this site:

http://www.wernersponds.com/yourself/deicer.html

For early spring, I set up a greenhouse over my 8' x 8' outdoor pond. That way I was able to move my fish from their inside pond to outside in April. The water temperatures were ~ 65 - 70 using clear plastic over a PVC frame, no light bulbs.

I hope this helps.

:Smile:

[Catahoula Ranch]

Thank you Gerry, next winter I will be better prepared. I had a floating styrofoam rock, an old movie prop that was working well at keeping away the ice, but the winter winds blew it out and that was the end of it, the greenhouse system looks like it would do the trick, I will also add a bubbler soon to airate the pond.
This is a fantastic and informative forum, thank you again.:smile:

[Melody]

That's not a great way to start the season :frown: . It's all a learning process though and unfortunately the learning process sometimes involves losses. Happens to the best of us. We'll send positive thoughts to you & the rest of the pond's occupants, and wish you surprises of the pleasant variety from here on in. :Smile:

[CACAdmin]

Thanks for posting a current pic of the pond, Don. Very pretty with the sun on it and one can sense Spring is in the air. Sorry to hear you discovered you lost a koi. I hope you'll find that the rest fared better. Remember too, this past winter was much colder and for much longer than usual. Sounds like you will be prepared for whatever Mother Nature dishes out next year.

As for Burl... glad to hear he's not a lonely bachelor.:wink: :laugh:

[Catahoula Ranch]

Well more snow overnight on Friday , I had a sump pump colecting dust in the shop, so I dug it out and set up a makeshift fountain in the pond, seems to work quite well at clearing the ice and I guess it will allow some of the built up toxins in the water to disipate, I'm sure the extra uv rays that contact the water as it goes up in the air will be benificial as well. I stuck the pump in a bucket filled with rock to hold it down and some holes drilled in the bucket so it won't suck up any fish. The green thing left of the fountain is the pond overflow.
another picture to save a thousand words.
:confused:
Have a nice weekend everyone.
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/1.jpg

[CACAdmin]

Good idea... it's amazing how we can improvise with stuff we have. Now if only the snow would stay away for good. Thankfully, we didn't get any here in New West... I've had it with winter. :mad: ... mind you it does look pretty (if you just get to look at it from inside a warm, cosy room).

[wut?]

Hello and welcome:wink:

Great pond!!!, I've been thinking on starting a pond. Nothing like stitting by the pond to relax after a long day:yes:

Building my big tank and adding on to the house is not going to happen for a while with the way the economy is going... but I'm getting inspiration looking at these pond pics... and getting ideas:laugh:

[CACAdmin]

Don, now that it's finally warming up, I've been wondering how the rest of your koi fared through our unusually cold winter. Hopefully, most of them made it through ok.

[neon]

Hi and welcome! beautiful pond and dogs!


969

[Catahoula Ranch]

Thanks for all your comments.
Spring has sprung here for sure, on April 5th, the sun was shining, a pair of Vultures had returned and toured overhead, the Hummingbirds arrived, and that evening I also saw Bats fluttering,, and oh..., my eldest Catahoula Leopard dogs "Gin and Blue" got it on, should have pups in 2 months, what a great day.
As for the fish in the pond, it apears I only lost one Koi over the winter, the rest are still a little skidish, but are all feeding now, they look very healthy, how beautiful.
I will get some Spring pics of the pond together soon.
Cheers.

[Melody]

That's fantastic news! All of it, but I'm a tad over-focused on the fish part :yes: . Will you be adding more fish this year or are you just going to leave the current occupants to populating it themselves?

[Catahoula Ranch]

the fish are doing a fine job of populating on their own, right now I have about 11 Large Koi {6-8inch} and maybe 20 Goldfish. There is about 50 small Koi from last Spring, and I expect more babies soon. My pond presently is run off water, however I have a fresh water spring that is abou 20 ft lower and about 150ft from my pond. In the future I would like to pump water from the spring into the pond, and would prefer to raise trout in the pond. So right now I will let them do their thing and not add any more of anything until I have the spring water filling the pond. I would like to add some more plant life, right now I have some lilypads and bullrushes, any recomendations for plants.
some pictures
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/3.jpg
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/4.jpg
http://catahoularanch.com/pond/5.jpg

[Catahoula Ranch]

well lots of fish the other day, today they are all gone, I know this happened last spring also. I suspect they are all hidden in the cracks of the rocks.
Hmm, I wonder what they are doing.:wink:
Guess I better start a new thread...

[CACAdmin]

After all this time, I realized maybe we should put this thread in the Pond section so I moved it here. As for starting a new, that sounds like a good idea... you're more likely to get more eyes (and input) if it's focused on specifics... like looking for ideas for pond plants, etc.

Thanks for posting the links to the pics of the fish. They look great. You have some really fair sized koi in there. Beautiful!
well lots of fish the other day, today they are all gone, I know this happened last spring also. I suspect they are all hidden in the cracks of the rocks.
Hmm, I wonder what they are doing.:wink:

Could be they're planning another population explosion :wink: or simply were enjoying the sunshine for a change (we're back to grey skies and rain again)

[Namor]

A very belated :Welcome: CR.

That is a fantastic pond! What type of trout are you thinking of?
I don't imagine they could be kept with the koi :Dunno: , but (imo) keeping trout in there would rock. (Nothing against koi, I like them too).