Hi there. I did a few videos that I thought I might share with you all. Racoons ate some of our fish, including my favorite one in early June, so I decided I wanted to buy some new ones to replace the little guy. So this first video is the first batch of fish. There are 2 butterfly Koi, one Shubunkin, and 4 fantail calicos. Unfortunately, we lost 2 of the Fantails and the Shubunkin from… thunderstorms! Everyone was doing great, and then we got a massive storm, and suddenly 2 were dead. The water quality is pristine so it was confusing, and the fish had no signs of disease. After a lot of guessing the importer just off-handedly mentioned that thunderstorms aren’t good after the fish are shipped because their immune systems and vitality are weak from cross-country shipping. As it happened we had 2 thunderstorms. Each morning after the thunderstorm is when we found the fish dead. Thankfully, the 2 butterfly koi are doing well, and the remaining 2 calico fantails are as well. They’re already grown a decent amount which is amazing and heartening.
We got refunds for the deceased, and I ordered some more this week. The larger one here is a Female Kikusui because I really want fish fry so I can challenge my genetics background when tons of fry are born and hopefully have unique patterning and coloring. The platinum one with the very long slender fins is one of my favorite fish types of all time, the Gin Rin Doitsu Platinum Ogon Butterfly Koi. It’s an expensive fish, but I got a good price on such a small one. The other is similar and will be very sparkly in the sun. You know, the thing that’s most important to hobbyist’s. Sparkles! That is a Gin Rin Gin Shiro Bekko. You can see a few black specs on his back.
And now for the pond and a bit of the frop bog/canal. Now, things don’t look good because it’s under construction. We have a submersible pump to cirulate water because my external unit is disconnected while I wait for a replacement UV light. So all that tubing will be gone. The bubblers are to help the new fish with extra oxygenation, and that will go away when I feel confident they’ll survive. The middle area with the plastic? That’s to kill the weeds and plants growing as I’m redoing that entire area to make it ornamental zone. I know it’s kinda dorky sounding, but it’s going to be a fairy zone. When filled out it should be really fun to see the frogs hopping around little fairy houses, bridges, paths and fairies. With lots of led mushrooms, dragonflies, and other items I’ve been collecting it should look just as cool at night as it does during the day. I plan to do all their feedings there to help condition them to spend time in the village. :)
So things will look a lot better in 2 weeks, if the company ever sends my RMA’d parts back to me.
Should also mention that the winter frog bog is not shown in this video.
Actually no filtration at all. To my utter amazement, the pond is kept in perfect equilibrium by the frop bog canal alone. Normally I have an extensive high powered system (all external)to pump out, filter, sterilize, and then return all the water through the bog. But apparently once the plants get going, they such avid growers they suck all the nitrites/nitrates/ammonia out of the water. I expected while my system was down I’d have to add a lot of nullifying chemicals to keep ammonia levels in check and water changes on top. It’s been aggravating waiting 2 months for this company to honor their warranty (they’re tried to weasel out of it multiple times). But I no recordable levels of ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates. I brought the salinity up to .1% however to help the new fish breathe a bit easier and to aid their slime coats.
I should mention, the lotus leaves/flowers you see? That run is 40 feet long, and that’s just 1 plant… covering 120 square feet. They’re 4 feet tall out of the water right now, and 4 feet tall in the water. So they’re 8 feet tall and not even at their full height yet! The tallest flowers are taller than me. And I cut half the leaves down a week ago because I couldn’t see anything lol. It’s like this Lotus is straight out of Jurassic Park.
There’s a violent, 12-hour thunderstorm rolling through tonight, so I’m quite worried how the 3 new fish will handle it. They’ve only been here 3 days, not enough time to have fully adjusted. This is the one time in my life I don’t relish thunderstorms as I usually love them.
Now this is interesting to me. I’ve been maintaining a turtle tank for a dozen years or so, and while there are some good filters to be had out there, I definitely notice a bigger difference with plants. But I usually just stick to anacharis, as it’s also a delicious snack for the turtle and goldfish.
But because of that very reason, it doesn’t grow very long before it’s all eaten up.
I hope you don’t mind as this is a big post full of excitement!
The storms did knock out power in the morning which meant the pond had to go without water circulation for several hours, but thankfully the fish did very well and we didn’t lose anyone. Then I ended up having the best day ever! I went out to clean the frog beach, a nursery area I’d always hoped the frogs would use to lay eggs and be a good place for tadpoles to grow up and what do I find? Frog eggs! They have never laid eggs so late in the summer before, so this was just amazing.
As if things couldn’t get any better, I’m pulling out algae and a little white something suddenly scoots out from under a water plant. It’s a baby fantail!
Early last spring, just after winter I briefly saw 2 fantails in the frog bog canal… which should have been impossible. It’s 2 feet above the pond and there’s no path for fish. So eggs were carried by bird, squirrel, or passed through the pump and ended up in the bog, and then amazingly grew. And even more crazy they just happened to be a single male and female who are now reproducing. Just like Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way”. Thankfully I was able to catch the tiny girl and moved her to the fish nursery in the pond where it’s the safest place for her and I can help her grow quicker.
Thought I’d show how feeding goes. Only a little bit of narration so it’s kind of a sit back and chill kind of vid. The second video is longer and of the nursery. Will post as soon as it’s ready.
Maybe one to watch when you’re winding down for the night. At 3:36 the teeny tiny fantail from the canal shows herself and I talk about that situation a bit.
I’m pretty sure those are bullfrog tadpoles because they’re huge for still being in jellied eggs. And Bullfrogs can wipe out everything in an ecosystem. From fish to crustaceans, to medium & small birds, and all other amphibious life. That’s why I won’t have bullfrogs in my pond. They’re voracious and not friendly either.
Yea, full sized grackles. It’s insane what they can gulp down. I thought someone was lying about a bullfrog in her pond’s waterfall eating birds until she showed me a pic. Bullfrog came out once every couple weeks, waiting under waterfall for a bird to take a drink or bath and would grab it. The picture she posted showed the feet and the wingtips still sticking out of his mouth.
