For Want4rain - White Butterfly Koi

[clm]

A so, so pic of the white butterfly, Veronica. Best shot I've got of the little monster so far, but she's getting bolder. Little Betty is still too skittish to get a shot of yet.

Cindy

[want4rain]

oh my gosh, i am so jealous!!!

how are they doing??

-ash

[clm]

They're all doing great. Both Betty and Veronica (the tiny butterflies), come out and swim with the big fish at dawn and dusk now. Veronica is bigger than Betty and is a little bolder. Moose (the big gold one) is a sun worshipper, so I'm waiting for him to get a good burn. He'll lay up at the surface in the sun just basking in the warmth. I've had other fish do that and they do get a sun burn from it. The other fish have more sense and stay under the water lilies in full sun other than the odd swim around the pond.
Midge (the big female), will get very large, she's a swimming vacuum cleaner.
Archie, Reggie and Jughead are all eating and growing well.
No sign of any babies from their spawn yet, I'm hoping I've been spared having to deal with babies for another year at least.

Cindy

[want4rain]

HA!! dont they eat the babies?? would it be unhealthy to hold back feeding?? im ashamed to say thats what i use to do with my guppies!! water changes with even 2 females breeding was quite a bit for a new (again) mother!!

good to hear everyone is doing well! what do you feed?

-ash

[clm]

Originally Posted by want4rain

HA!! dont they eat the babies?? would it be unhealthy to hold back feeding?? im ashamed to say thats what i use to do with my guppies!! water changes with even 2 females breeding was quite a bit for a new (again) mother!!

good to hear everyone is doing well! what do you feed?

-ash

Apparently koi and goldfish will eat their eggs, but not the fry once they've hatched. As soon as they recognize them as being fish, they won't eat them.
I did hold back feeding after they spawned so they would feast on the eggs instead.
I know what you mean about guppies, they don't call them millions fish for nothing.

Cindy

[chico2]

Cindy,you must get sooo much pleasure in having this beautiful pond..
Hubby and I were talking about a smaller pond just yesterday,but small is just not good enough,what happens to the fish in winter??
We'd also love some little froggys,seeing hubby is related(french)
But I am afraid so would the cats and the birds..

[clm]

Originally Posted by chico2

Cindy,you must get sooo much pleasure in having this beautiful pond..
Hubby and I were talking about a smaller pond just yesterday,but small is just not good enough,what happens to the fish in winter??
We'd also love some little froggys,seeing hubby is related(french)
But I am afraid so would the cats and the birds..

The fish stay out there all winter. Normally that's fine and has been fine for me for over 20 years, but this past winter I lost all my koi. I had shut the pumps down over winter because a leak had developed and I wasn't sure which pump was the culprit. Result was not enough open water to gas off the pond, so the fish died. I was not a happy camper. If it had been a normal winter instead of the winter from hell we had, all would have been fine.
Live and learn, I'll never do that again.

We've had frogs and toads over the years, even the odd turtle pops in. Herons aren't a problem for me, they like to wade into a pond and mind is straight sided so no wading. They have stopped by to try to scoop a meal, but aren't successful, so they don't come back.
Cats drink out of the pond, but they don't fish, cats and water just don't mix.
It does attract loads of birds, that's the fun part of it. Watching all the birds come in to drink. Too deep for bathing though, they have to use the bird baths for that.

Cindy

[hazelrunpack]

Okay, I tried to do a search, but the 5 links I tried must go to pages that include pics because I can't open any of them with my connection

I'm trying to figure out what makes Veronica a 'butterfly' koi? (The 'white' I think I figured out from your pic, Cindy ) Does she have extralong fins or something? And do 'butterfly koi' come in all the colors regular koi do?

[clm]

Originally Posted by hazelrunpack

Okay, I tried to do a search, but the 5 links I tried must go to pages that include pics because I can't open any of them with my connection

I'm trying to figure out what makes Veronica a 'butterfly' koi? (The 'white' I think I figured out from your pic, Cindy ) Does she have extralong fins or something? And do 'butterfly koi' come in all the colors regular koi do?

All of their fins are longer than normal finned koi. Yes they come in all the same varieties as regular koi. My hubby hates them, but I think they're pretty.

Cindy

[want4rain]

pics are pretty small!

butterfly koi have extra long fins like you said.
here is a butterfly-
http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/Koi/Butter2.jpg

here is a pic of 'regular' koi-
http://upscalekoi.com/images/Mango_koi.jpg

pretty sure this is a female-
http://www.koi-carps.com/obrazky/kawarimono-koi.jpg

and fairly sure this is a male-
http://www.koi-carps.com/obrazky/hik...rimono-koi.jpg

this here is my favorite... the file is a little big though-
http://www.chicagokoi.com/images/BF02A14APL.jpg

little angels!!

-ashley

[hazelrunpack]

I could only open the first link--but it showed me a white butterfly koi and that's what I was wondering about! They have a certain elegance and flare to them, don't they?

[want4rain]

they look like angels!!

-ashley