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Old 02-27-2005   #18 (permalink)
erwinsan
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 363
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike T
It's natures, but it ain't cheap...

There are a number of watercress farms on the shores of Pearl Harbor fed by artesian wells. In the 60’s, when I started this hobby, I visited one of the farms where the owner built his house so that a deck was over his well…

The first paddock next to his house was dedicated to koi…it was only 18"-2’ deep but contained the biggest, most beautiful koi I had ever seen…. Best part was the water was crystal clear and the maintenance was Zero, because this was a flow through system…I live in the area and our water, the same that feeds the wells is: 7.5 pH, with a hardness of 3 dH and zero contaminants… Sing along with me, Heaven, I'm in Heaven...

The farmer fed his koi, dog food, because it made um grow big fast (remember this was the ‘60s)… Each morning and evening, he’d throw handfuls of the doggie chow into the pond, the koi would eat their fill and the left overs would flow into the adjacent paddies along with all the koi waste as free fertilizer for the cress…

I’ve always dreamt of buying property in the area, but never followed through, stupid me!…

To make matters worse, the @#$*%^ power company condemned his land using a crazy law of eminent domain (they needed the land for the good of the people) forced him to sell, capped the well, filled in the ponds and built a storage yard and parking lot…. As the song says "they sold paradise and put up a parking lot" Grrrrrrrr!

Aloha! PO’d
What a shame. Your right... but again how many of us can find this opportunity. To have a natural water source good for koi with zero maintenance and enviromentally friendly. Even in Japan with their mud ponds, they still have to do annual maintenance and pull the koi out to winter them in doors. Hey, it's all part of the fun.

Regards
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