Great Tip for scared koi !!!

[jlbspd]

Well guys (& girls) im new to this forum but see alot of good info in the short time ive been reading it over. I am also new (going on 1 year) to the koi pond scene and cant get enough of it. My girlfriend thinks i would rather be in the pond than in the house with her.....she's right
Here is a great tip that works for scared koi. First off, if your koi are small they will automatically be a bit more scared...remember, we are giants to them! When dealing with scared koi, dont wear bright colored clothing near the pond....the sight of you walking up to the pond looking like a giant banana in your glow in the dark yellow shirt isnt going to help things. This is the trick though.......so simple and it works! trust me....as I have turned many friends onto this and worked for them too! MOLLIES!!!! SAILFIN MOLLIES!!! GUPPIES!!!!! ect....... put a few of these little tropicals in your pond. They are fearless to us when it comes to food. Feed the koi as you would always do but stand or sit right next to the pond in arms length to these tropical additions. Because they are not affraid of us at all, the koi think "HEY! they are eating from him, he must not be a bad guy" and they will soon realize we are friends! My koi would hide the instant they would see me..this went on for several months..but after placing 5 sailfin mollies in a 600 gal pond, within 3 days the fish were eating out of my hand! and now they wont leave me alone. They attack my legs when i have to perform maintnance in the pond! IT WORKS!!!

[gspotmc]

Quote: Originally Posted by jlbspd Well guys (& girls) im new to this forum but see alot of good info in the short time ive been reading it over. I am also new (going on 1 year) to the koi pond scene and cant get enough of it. My girlfriend thinks i would rather be in the pond than in the house with her.....she's right Here is a great tip that works for scared koi. First off, if your koi are small they will automatically be a bit more scared...remember, we are giants to them! When dealing with scared koi, dont wear bright colored clothing near the pond....the sight of you walking up to the pond looking like a giant banana in your glow in the dark yellow shirt isnt going to help things. This is the trick though.......so simple and it works! trust me....as I have turned many friends onto this and worked for them too! MOLLIES!!!! SAILFIN MOLLIES!!! GUPPIES!!!!! ect....... put a few of these little tropicals in your pond. They are fearless to us when it comes to food. Feed the koi as you would always do but stand or sit right next to the pond in arms length to these tropical additions. Because they are not affraid of us at all, the koi think "HEY! they are eating from him, he must not be a bad guy" and they will soon realize we are friends! My koi would hide the instant they would see me..this went on for several months..but after placing 5 sailfin mollies in a 600 gal pond, within 3 days the fish were eating out of my hand! and now they wont leave me alone. They attack my legs when i have to perform maintnance in the pond! IT WORKS!!!

QUICK QUESTION IS YOUR POND A WATER GARDEN OR A KOI POND? WHY DO YOU HAVE TO GO IN TO DO MAINTENANCE? DO YOU HAVE A BOTTOM DRAIN?
MICHAEL

[jlbspd]

It started as a water garden and then i fell for the koi....so they were added. The maintnance i perform is trimming and prunning the water plants and i also have a small filter box on the bottom which runs an extra mini water fall. I do not have a bottom drain. I use a submersable pump 2000 gal hr and run to a machanical filter then a uv light then a bead filter before retuening to a larger waterfall. This pond has been my test bed pond....... i have learned many things and since its only 600 gallons, its very easy to experiment with.

[gspotmc]

Quote: Originally Posted by jlbspd It started as a water garden and then i fell for the koi....so they were added. The maintnance i perform is trimming and prunning the water plants and i also have a small filter box on the bottom which runs an extra mini water fall. I do not have a bottom drain. I use a submersable pump 2000 gal hr and run to a machanical filter then a uv light then a bead filter before retuening to a larger waterfall. This pond has been my test bed pond....... i have learned many things and since its only 600 gallons, its very easy to experiment with.

When you build your 8k gal pond. please don't forget to add a bottom drain and no plants please if it's going to be a koi pond.

[jlbspd]

I just posted in "pond construction" forum. Yes im well aware of this but thank you for the advise The pond has 2 bottom drains, is 4 ft deep and a skimmer at one end. I will eventually add a waterfall at the other end opposite the skimmer. This pond will have a elevated section in center (2'x2')that will be 2 foot from surface... i will be placing a large lilly plant but this will be all i "plant" in it and will be in a container for easy removal. The plumbing is 3" for the drains. Read my post in Construction.... there i posted another pond ????
Thanks
John

[kingkong]

One of my favorite things is dressing up as a banana. No wonder my koi act so weird.

[jlbspd]

HA!!!!! well its true! until they get used to you, they will often freak out to bright colors! but who am i telling, im talking to the banana guy himself! LOL KIDDING!

[koikichitoo]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingkong One of my favorite things is dressing up as a banana. No wonder my koi act so weird.

Thanks for the laugh.. What a crack up! I have found my koi really come out of hiding when I dress like a shrimp cocktail...

Lori Jo

[jlbspd]

Just remember, its not sexual koi-rasment unless the touching by your koi was unwanted ok...its 4am in Florida.....i deff need some sleep people!!!! ha!!
The above expressed comment was souly that of an unknown writer and not supported by the current writer or his affiliates... the copying of the above comment is forbidden by law (FBI) and violators face up to $10,000 in fines and or 2 yrs prison...
HAAAAA! good night everyone!

[JasPR]

The problem with the koi being afraid is/was their sense of vulnerability in a small pond. In addition, koi are used to having keepers go in the water with them unless they are going to be netted. So you inadvertently conditioned them to fear your presence. Everything koi do in reaction to the outside world is intensified or dulled by experience/conditioning. The fastest way to train you fish to look forward to your approach and your presence ( it is true that a large living object hovering over a pond could be 'death from the skies') is through their stomach. You can quickly condition your fish to come to you by feeding frequently but in very small amounts. You can also hang a bell near the water surface and ring it each time you come out to feed them.
On trick in conditioning is to not always be 100% consistent. Studies have shown that animals are the most responsive when the stimuli leads to reward 90% of the time.
On the mixing of tropicals and koi, it can work OK but remember that tropicals can potentially carry disease to koi and koi can carry parasites that don't bother them too much to tropicals. So never buy a tropical from Petsmart and assume that it will not infect your koi with a foreign strain of ich. - JR