LFriedel

Hi Everyone - as part of the Edmonton Horticultural Society Open Garden tours we agreed to host one this Sunday, July 20th between 12-5. We have a lovely pond that my husband designed and built himself using some ingenuity and creative ways to get parts economically. You are welcome to drop by for a self guided tour- the garden is quite lovely too and we just found out we won first prize in the Newly Landscaped yard category. We live not too far from Londonderry Mall in Old McLeod - 15020-63 Street. It is in a keyhole crescent. I know my husband would enjoy sharing pond stories with other pondsters.

Update on our PetSmart Koi: We caught one of them and returned him to PetSmart for a full refund. It looked like he had a scratch on his side which then had some kind of fungus. We treated the entire pond with a product that fizzes and turns the pond blue for a few days and is for various fish conditions such as fungus, swim bladder, etc. (purchased at Big Al's which has an excellent selection of pond treatments). The other koi seemed laconic for a few days but now is happily swimming around with his fish buddies and any problems he had seemed to have been solved.

We recently purchased two 6 inch koi from PetSmart for our pond. There are 12 other fish including small koi and goldfish in the pond and the water quality is excellent. Two days ago the first PetSmart koi began floating tail down and then onto his side on rocks and on the bottom of the pond and showing great effort to keep himself upright. Today the second PetSmart koi is starting to do the same thing. WeThe other fish in the pond are vibrantly active and appear healthy. PetSmart has a 14 day guarantee apparently IF you bring in the dead fish in within that period of time and a water sample. These are lovely looking koi but the fact that BOTH from PetSmart are in distress leads me to wonder if anyone else has had similar experience with koi from PetSmart?

I found a site that focuses on the health of koi and goldfish. We have an ailing little koi - laying on his side and lethargic. Found some answers on this site and thought I would pass it on. http://koivetforum.com/index.php

Check out this site http://www.coloradokoi.com/koisize.htm On the other hand The Bristol Shubunkins only live about 10 years and grow to 6 to 12", a much smaller fish. Thanks!!! That is a great site! My husband has said that the fish can't hear. This site tells me they can - so I guess talking to them and calling them sweety-nookums names is not so silly.

We have four 5" Blue Bristol Shubunkins just added to our outdoor pond. I am wondering if any of you have experience with these and can give me an idea of how quickly they grow in relation to the koi.

Hi - we are new at having fish in our pond and found the food went into the skimmer and gummed it up , not to mention the waste. My husband rigged up a floating ring about 2 1/2 feet in diameter and we added a few pond lettuce plants. It works okay to keep the food pellets from going into the filter but I'm wondering if there is a better way some of you may have come up with?

When we finished the pond last year it was too late to put in real plants so we went to Dollarama and purchased an assortment of fake cattails and rushes and "planted" them in two submerged pots. They look so good we put them out again this year. We actually get a lot of positive comments on how nice they look. Re: The shubunkins. How quickly do they grow in a year? Our new ones are 5". I read they can grow to 12-14" but just wondering about their rate of growth.

Does anyone know if there are pond tours in Edmonton this year? Thanks.

Re: Shubunkins - I loved the first two we got so much I went out and bought two more today. PJ's Pets has the 5" for 2 for $14.00. I chose ones with a lot of blue so they would show up better in the pond - the one which is more calico blends in with the rocks but is quite beautiful when he comes up for feeding. They call these the poor man's koi but they are so zippy and attractive that I'd like to get more. I'm glad for this site...as I am sure we will have all kinds of questions.

Thank you - we have heard good things about Nature's Corner Store and I am sure we will be stopping by.

Thank you for your kind welcomes. My husband would know the exact dimensions of the pond as he dug every inch of it by hand and designed it himself. I think it is about 10 foot x 10 foot square with a waterfall and about 2 1/2 feet deep I think. As far as plants we are just getting started. So far one water lily , some floating hyacinth which the fish seem to love to chew on the roots and a mini bullrush. We also have some lovely "Dollarama" cattails but we do need to get more plants. There are lots of caves for the fish but they need more shade in the pond itself. Any suggestions on the best pond plants?

Hi All - My husband built a pond last year and this is the first year we are stocking it with fish. We are real newbies at this so I joined this forum to learn from all of you experts. We are in northeast Edmonton and retired . So far we have 4 6" koi, 2 goldfish and 2 Blue Bristol Shubunkins. I am absolutely fascinated by them and am looking to add more since the pond is a pretty good size. Thanks to the moderators for provinding this forum.