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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Sock net question

I am still trying to figure out the blog. I tried to post a reply but have no ideas what happened
The answer to your question is could the sock net be made?

I don't think so because it is very fine netting, almost like silk. There is a short handle that is heavy duty. Without the handle the net would be useless in handling large koi.

I do have them available from my one supplier. They are $69.98 plus shipping.

I recently purchased one and sent it to a customer and he "loved it"

If there is enough interest, I would stock them and have them available on my shopping cart.

He also purchased a professional 28" net for netting large koi. The handle, sold separately telescopes from 4 to 8'.

We use both of the items here when handling large koi for shipping and moving them around from tank to ponds, and ponds to tanks (spawning time)

Thursday, September 16, 2010

How to move and handle large koi


With large koi it is imperative that you not move them around in a fish net. If they flop or struggle in a net or worse yet, hit the ground, there is a real danger that they will break their back.

We get the fish in the net and then carefully heard the fish into the sock net. You can then pick up the fish in the sock net and move it where it needs to go.

Friday, September 3, 2010

Middle pond cleaning Thursday September 2nd Myths untrue











We cleaned the middle pond yesterday. Drained it down, washed the liner and vacuumed it dry. Removed 5 small koi ( used to keep the snails off of my lilies) and put them in a holding tank with an air stone and pump.

The "shark" in the middle pond was 12 inches, up from 7 inches in March of this year.
The one photo, he/she let me hold him in my hand and roll on its side to get a side view and was extremely docile while held. Try that with a koi!

There are a lot of myths on the Internet about them:
* grows 1 to 2 inches a year
* does not like high pH, my pH is 8.4

I plan to dispel the "myth" that they do not breed in captivity. Because I have a total of 5 in my 15,000 gallon pond, I am sure I have both sexes. I will try to sex them in the spring when we drain the ponds down again for spring cleaning. I will set up a tank in the greenhouse and try to breed them.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010


Today we cleaned the upper pond by draining it down and washing the liner. We also dead-head lilies and fertilized them. I would see him/her from time but only glimpses because it would dart back into the lilies.

I took this photo of a Chinese hi-fin banded shark that I put in my pond back in March. He/she was 7 inches then and today measured 10-1/2 inches. They are only supposed to grow 1 to 2 inches a year.
Tomorrow we will be doing the middle pond and I know the "shark" there is even bigger. I am anxious to see how much he/she grew since March