Ya, the pink is my fav. I have two pinks, a white and a yellow. Have had the 4 for the past three years and they have all bloomed every year quite well.

Koi bring me a different level of enjoyment from watching my saltwater fish. The big differences being, I can sit by my pond and hand feed my koi and pet them as they swim by. They are so graceful and peaceful to watch from overhead as they glide through the water. The reef fish are quite different to watch as they are always darting around quickly, chasing each other.

I don't have any crazy expensive koi. The most expensive koi I have was $150 that I got when he was 6". He's now 20" and probably worth $500-$1000. All of the other koi were purchased at about the same length or smaller. They grow very fast. I have a lot of inexpensive American koi and mutts. Nothing showy other than that one I mentioned. I'm not really interested in the expensive showy fish. There are lots of pretty koi out there that are reasonably priced. I also have various goldfish, Sarasa, comets, Shubunkins, etc..

Nope. Don't have any of those. I think you are referring to the Pickerel Rush (Pondeteria cordata). They are currently in bloom too actually but I figured I'd already maxed out my pansy quotient for the day. :lol:

My big water gardening experiment this year is trying to grow blue Nile River water lilies and water lotus from seed :surprise: Last year I did manage to grow a water lotus from seed and get a few leaves from the seed. However, I made the mistake of placing them in the pond too soon and the fish at them :(

</pansy>

Nice Pond! I've been working on my backyard oasis for last couple years and I'm getting really close to completing it. Thanks for the info, I've been wondering what to do with my fish over winter and you've answered a few questions for me. I'll post my pics when I'm all finished.

Here's an update on one of my water gardening experiements. I'm attempting to grow out a batch of Water Lotus from seed. The seeds I ordered on-line from Thailand.

Here's one of the seeds which I nicked to prepare it.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_001.jpg

I have 4 colours, Red, Pink, Light Pink and white varieties. After nicking the seeds I then plunked them into small plastic containers with water.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_002.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110728_003.jpg

I put them on a window sill and performed daily water changes.

About a week later they started to sprout.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110802_004.jpg

and sprout..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110806_007.jpg

and sprout..

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110809_010.jpg

and we have our first leaf!

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110809_009.jpg

If a mod happens upon this could you move this to the Freshwater forum? Please and thank you! :-D

I personally feel that cup is far too small for 4 seedlings. Beyond that it's an interesting project.

Everyone please do your research before trying this yourself.

You may not have noticed but once they sprouted they left the cup for a yogurt container. This weekend they'll be going into Instant Ocean buckets. (see what I just did there?? Still saltwater related).

Koi feeding frenzy.
 

nom nom nom nom

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6086/...5b84c3bf_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/...dda0554a_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6073/...5b54f4f8_b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6184/...dfecb6f7_o.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6074/...e67946b1_o.jpg

"nom nom" LOL LOL LOL

Love the Koi shots Kien. :biggrin:

Thanks Cankles :-)

Well, the season is about to wind down. Spent the good part of the summer rejuvenating the pond. Last year weeds had over taken the landscape around the pond and there were a few other things that required maintenance which kept me fairly busy. Here she is in the prime of her season this year.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_001.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_003.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_004.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_005.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_006.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_007.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...110829_008.jpg