pond-life-4-july-2016

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Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

MID ATLANTIC POND LIFE The MAKC Newsletter Published by The Hudson Valley Koi and Water Garden Club

Winning A Pond Queen

By Ray Kelly I am not a gambler. I rarely go to casinos. My hobbies are having a koi pond and kayaking.

My wife, Cheryl and I have purchased most of our koi at Kodama Koi Garden in Patchogue, NY. Kodama has beautiful koi with an assortment of sizes and types in their many ponds. Kodama's Koi come from Japan and are raised on their farm in Mililani, Hawaii. I hope to visit the farm one day.

I have learned a lot about koi on their website kodamakoifarm.com.

I also follow the koi auctions on the website. The prices can be high in these auctions but Kodama has inexpensive auctions as well. In May, I gave it a try and made some bids in their Treasure Hunt Auction.

The bids started at $1. I bid on five koi but did not win. I was surprised to see some of the 12 in. koi were auctioned off for $7-$10. I was disappointed I did not watch the auction closer. I knew another Treasure Hunt Auction would come but to my surprise it was two weeks later.

In This Issue Hudson Valley chapter welcomes new members

Members flock to Quality Koi for Central chapter’s first meeting of the season

Light of Knowledge Illuminates Hudson Valley The recent survey of Hudson Valley chapter members showed that education was among the most valued benefits of chapter meetings. In response, under Herb Ehrich’s leadership, several dedicated members have begun building a practical learning segment into each chapter meeting. The new emphasis on sharing and building knowledge begins at the July 17 meeting. See page 8 for details of upcoming plans.

What in the world are Herb and Skeeter up to? Find out on page six.

Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

Winning a Queen (cont.)

I tried my luck again in this new Treasure Hunt auction. I remembered that on Ebay it is the last few minutes that really count. I selected my five favorite koi, which included Kohaku, Tancho, Showa, Gin Rin and a Hariwake. All were in the 11-14 inch range. The auction was fun. Many bidders had automatic bids going in. It was hard to keep track and bid on these five koi. With ten seconds left, I had the high bid on only

looked up at me. I was very happy. She is the Queen of our pond now and seems to love her new home.

two of the koi. The auction ended. I was nervous as I checked the final results. I missed bidding on the Kohaku, which auctioned off for $27. Another koi went for $7. To my surprise, I won the Hariwake.

She was 12.4 inches. I thought she was beautiful. My winning bid was $62.

Next Day Delivery Kodama Koi Farm ships the koi via UPS next day air. I could not wait for our new koi to arrive. I met our UPS driver, Paul, as soon as he pulled up. I only hoped the koi survived her long trip. I opened the box and triple bags and she was swimming and About the Author: Ray Kelly has had his pond since 2010. A retired Detective with the Suffolk County, NY Police Department, he founded America's Finest Foundation, which supports children and law enforcement.

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Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

Hudson Valley Membership Event Exceeds Expectations

by Ken Dreyfack

Upcoming Events

The emails following the event were peppered with such phrases as “an awesome event expanding the ranks,” “a huge success,” “great job,” “great success” and “a great time was had by all.” The event in question was the Hudson Valley chapter’s first annual new member reception.

Sixteen potential new members joined roughly as many existing chapter members for the byinvitation-only get-together on Saturday June, hosted by Frank and Peggy Almquist. After a few choice welcoming remarks by Outreach Committee head John Remington, the new members heard several existing chapter members describe their ponds and their fish tales, before getting a chance to introduce themselves and to describe their own ponds and/or plans.

Threatening Weather The thunderstorms that threatened the event during the morning hours disappeared by noon, leaving clear weather for the gathering. In addition to lots of talk of ponds, fish, plants and other clubrelated subjects, all of the attendees had the pleasure of strolling through the Almquist’s superb gardens and admiring the colorful variety of koi, large and small, in their well-tendered pond.

During his remarks, Chapter Vice President Herb Ehrich underlined the importance of education to MAKC. Outreach Committee member Cheryl Benken, who contributed considerable and care Long time Island in organizing the smoothly run event along with John, made a particularly gracious effort to make everyone feel welcome. Along, of course, with hosts Frank and Peggy.

Visitors traded fish stories at they sampled assorted hors d’oeuvres & goodies.

John Remington opened the formal part of the session with brief welcoming remarks.

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Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

MAKC 2015 Koi Grow Out Results

by Jo Mead The MAKC held the 2015 Koi Grow Out Event at Quality Koi in Carneys Point, NJ on Saturday May 9, 2015.

The main purpose of a Grow Out Event is to learn more about tosai selection and share tosai grow out experiences. It’s also a chance to purchase high quality tosai from a top breeder/pedigree line at a special discounted price. After a growing season, hobbyists will compare and share their growth and development against event siblings.

On June 11, 2016, the members received their results of the 2015 Grow Out at the MAKC Central Meeting on June 11, 2016. The three fish that were purchased did not meet the standards of a show koi. Those fish are going to be replaced by the breeder and we will have future updates on these tosai.

At that time Quality Koi set aside a small number of fish for our members to purchase and three fish where purchased at the meeting for the Grow Out. As koi will change in size, color, shape and—in some instances—pattern over the course of their lives, the basic judging criteria is adjusted or weighted to account for the particular traits that are more prevalent during the koi’s particular stage of development.

Where do all the hippist meet?

Where the dancin’ is elite?

Facebook, Facebook What? You haven’t been hangin’ at the Hudson Valley Chapter’s own Facebook page? You’d better click below right now!

https://www.facebook.com/hvkoiclub/

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A Word of Thanks from Paul Tomasko Unable to attend the membership event following a health issue, Paul asked us to relay a message:

I would like to thank our Hudson Valley chapter for the lovely gift basket from Adams. Specialthanks (particularly from Harriet) to Skeeter and Herb for coming by to take care of pond chores.

Thanks for calls of support from Jo, and for all the offers of help from so many friends. It warmed my heart.

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Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

MAKC is Busting Out All Over A Message from MAKC Vice President Herb Ehrich June turned out to be a very busy month for MAKC members. The month was filled with many koi activities. Many thanks to the HVKWG Chapter members for their efforts in finding ways to share their knowledge with others. In doing so, they have helped MAKC to grow as a club.

Thank you to all who helped with the trailer inventory.

Jo Mead and I truly appreciate your assistance in organizing the many items in our MAKC trailer.

Although not completed, we have come a long way in assessing the contents and its value.

Thank you to the members involved in planning the Invitational Pond Event

which took place on June 11, at the pond of Frank and Peggy, in Kingston.

This event gave those who are interested in koi keeping the opportunity to see an established pond and hear first hand from MAKC koi keepers. There were questions asked and lots of valuable information shared. At the end of the afternoon, MAKC had 6 new members.

While the Pond Event was taking place, our president, Jo Mead was attending the Central Chapter meeting at Quality Koi in Carney, NJ. Vice President Bruce Damme and 25 members heard Mat McCann’s presentation and were able to tour the premises. At the end of this day’s event, MAKC welcomed 2 new members into the club.

Year’s 1st Central Chapter meeting at Quality Koi in Carneys Point, NJ

By Bruce Damme Nearly 30 members attended the June 10 meeting. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed viewing the beautiful koi on display, catching up with old and new members and listening to a very informative talk by Mat McCann of Quality Koi on general koi topics of interest.

The next Central Chapter meeting is a BBQ in Newark, Delaware July 10.

All Chapters are invited. The Central Chapter is also still seeking meeting hosts for Sept. & Oct. Contact Bruce Damme [drbdamme@windcrestanimal.com] or (302) 598-8431.

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Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

Pond Rescue and Wet Lab

By Paul Tomasko After his pond suffered severe ice damage, a local pond owner decided a new kitchen was more needed than an expensive pond reconstruction. So after years of koi keeping he decided to close the pond. This gave Hudson Valley members a chance to do a pond rescue.

We showed up one day in May with pumps, tanks and nets. Herb, Skeeter and I drained down this very murky pond in order to sock-net the fish. We were told it was a koi pond but as we were harvesting we realized it was mostly goldfish. Herb and I were both in the water and put the netted fish into a tub which Skeeter carried to the truck’s holding tanks.

Once back at my house we had to lift out each fish individually and rinse it in a clean bath of

flowing water in order to identify and transfer it to a larger holding tank. This tank had two filters a large aerator and a heater. During this process we discovered we had only five koi, about two feet long, and around 70 goldfish. It was too large a population for the tank so I called a neighbor who has an enclosed natural pond with no outlet. We loaded the goldfish back onto the truck and brought them to their new home.

Goldfish Warning This is a gentle warning about goldfish. If you have two you will have a hundred. Be careful what you put in your pond. Your filter has to do the work no matter who or what is making the mess. In addition as fish grow the load on your filter is increased.

That’s why even after years of keeping a clean pond, things change. Fish size is one of the many variables. In fact I purchased the bubble bead filter

Jo cuts the gill as Skeeter holds the gill plate open

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Doing a scraping

Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

Pond Rescue and Wet Lab (cont.) that the owner had for these very reasons and plan to add it to my filters (I’ll do an article on that when we finally find time to install it).

Experience Rated GP 0ur plan was to raise the water temp and then check for disease. When water temperature is raised, it allows it allows dormant bugs and illness to manifest themselves, especially Koi Herpes Virus (KHV), which is temperature dependent. This can save you from putting a sick fish, that “looks perfectly healthy,” into your pond and risking your whole population. This time, unlike the spawn and wrong decision to place unchecked fish in ponds described in the June issue, it all went well.

MAKC President Jo Mead and John Remington came by a few days later when the water temp-

was around 75 degrees. Jo brought a microscope and Tricaine-S topical anesthesia (MS-222). We decided to use one fish as our representative patient.

(If one fish is sick the others almost always have the same thing - very similar to a kindergarten class).

Anesthesia & Microscope We wanted to do body scrapings in several places and to take a small clipping of the large gill. To accomplish all this and not stress the fish, we added MS-222 to the water. Jo handled this beautifully, anesthetizing this large koi and taking scrapings to view under the microscope. Next with the help of Skeeter the large front gill plate was gently lifted and a very small piece of the gill was cut with a scissors to examine. There will be blood when you do this, but if you have only taken a small cut, it stops fairly quickly.

Drunken friend As we were checking the samples under the scope, Herb lifted the fish into a waiting tank of fresh water and walked it around the circle. It’s sort of like walking a friend around who has had too much to drink.

This gets water and air flowing over the gills and helps the fish to come back to normal.

Jo looks up a pathogen on a fish vet site as John describes what he just saw and Herb supervises 7

Mid Atlantic Pond Life

Issue No. 4, July 2016

Upcoming Events Hudson Valley Chapter July 17: 3-5 pm - Paul & Harriet Tomasko home, Saugerties - Paul will talk about filters and pump systems for various ponds, including his own.

August 21: 3-5 pm - John & Jan Remington home, Saugerties - New member Jennifer Hauer will speak about recognizing disease and illness in your fish.

Sept. 18: -3-5 pm - Betsy Moore and Jim Pellicone home, Kingston - The Cary Institute will talk about invasive plants and fish.

Oct. 16: - Henry and Cherie Rua home, Saugerties - Lecture on Japanese Tea Gardens and Landscaping Nov. 2016: No meeting but the Event/Program committee is researching possible day trips. Stay tuned.

Dec. 18: Holiday dinner at an outside venue tbd. Watch this space.

July 11: Summer BBQ in Newark, Delaware – contact Bruce Damme (drbdamme@windcrestanimal.com) August 21: Meeting in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Marry Hixson We are still looking for meeting hosts for pond meetings in September and October - contact Bruce Damme (drbdamme@windcrestanimal.com)

Long Island Chapter July 17: Pond Tour

South Chapter Oct. 15: Japanese festival at the National Arboretum for reopening of the pond

Tell Us What You Think

Albany Region Pond Tour

This is YOUR newsletter. One key goal is to provide a forum for everyone in the MAKC community to express themselves. Let us know what you think about our articles or any issue concerning MAKC. We want to publish your comments, letters or suggestions. Send them to Ken Dreyfack or Paul Tomasko at pon-

Visit water features in the NY State Capital Region on Sat., July 16, 10 am – 4 pm.

Tickets are $10 per car with all proceeds benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Albany. Tickets & maps are available at Decker’s Landscape & Aquatics, 1632 Main St., Pattersonville, NY (518) 887-5552

dlifenewsletter@gmail.com.

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Central Chapter