From the Oval Pond Mary Ellen McClain

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1 February 2010 PKWS 2010 OFFICERS President - Mary Ellen McClain Vice Pres.- Rebecca Trull Secretary Mary Ann Penix Treasurer Allen Lee ************************* APPOINTED OFFICES Show Chairs Rebecca and Russell Trull Membership Allen Lee Newsletter Carol Mathis Property Manager Tracy McCorkle Webmaster Mike Long From the Oval Pond Mary Ellen McClain I highly recommend reading an article in KOI USA, November /December The title is Tudo Bom! (It s All Good!) The story is written by Joe White and Ray Jordan. I know Joe White from the many years he has helped us with water quality at our Charlotte Koi Shows. I sent him an expressing how much I enjoyed reading his story about their visit to Brazil and their circumstances for traveling to judge the Association Brazil Nishikigoi Show. I mentioned in my message that our club had decided to forgo a show this November 2010 and concentrate our efforts on a pond tour. He responded that once a show like Charlotte is established, it hurts to skip a year; however, he understood that the club may want to focus attention elsewhere. He said pond tours are great for raising awareness of the hobby and bringing in new members, Good Luck! con t Page 3 Editor Carol Mathis Inside this issue: Officers 1 Advertising Rates 1 From the Oval Pond 1-3 Lily Pad 2 Direction for Social Social Calendar 4 AKCA Representative 4 Treasurer s Report 4 Social Topic 5 Seasonal Care 5-6 Minutes of Executive Mtg 6 Membership form 7 Quick Ads: up to 20 words $5 per issue, must be submitted by 15th of the month. Please be sure to include your address and phone number. Make checks payable to PKWS. Contact Carol Mathis, or caomah@aol.com All advertisers are welcome! Your business does not have to be koi/ pond related. Disclaimer: PKWS assumes no responsibility to claims of advertising or quality of goods/services offered.

February 2010 page 2 LiLy Pad Meet our MeMbers Marcia and Ralph Theroux Ralph and I joined the P.K.W.S. when we moved here from San Diego in 1994.

2 February 2010 page 2 LiLy Pad Meet our MeMbers Marcia and Ralph Theroux Ralph and I joined the P.K.W.S. when we moved here from San Diego in We were in a studio apartment waiting for our house to be built in Harrisburg when I saw an article in the paper about this club. It took courage to go, not knowing anyone, but they were all real friendly and Steve Hamilton, the President, kidded us about being Californians. We didn't have a pond here for a few years, but they let us attend anyhow! In San Diego, Ralph had built two fish ponds, one cascading down into the other in our canyon backyard. It was unusual to have 3/4 of an acre there, so he utilized every bit of space even if it was down a canyon. He terraced and bulldozed three levels. On the upper level he built a covered patio and brick barbecue, spa, deck and pond. The second level had a volleyball court and he built a wood gazebo with stained glass skylight and another pond, and the bottom level had horseshoes with a cement table and chairs. He built a wooden staircases down each level and a stucco garden building. That was our first home in his younger days! When Usairways bought Pacific Southwest Airlines, we chose to move to Charlotte, even though we could have moved to any one of their hubs. Ralph was a jet engine mechanic, who learned his trade in the Air Force, (Vietnam veteran), and has been retired since I was working at Grossmont College in San Diego, first in the Admissions Office for 15 years and then in the Library for 10 years. I worked at the UNCC library part time for a few years, but I am officially retired, too. When I'm not irritating Ralph and vice-a-versa, I collect vintage paperdolls from the 1940's, 50's and 60's from ebay and drive my 1959 Firedome Sportsman DeSoto. It's turquoise and white with the longest tail fins possible and we show it twice a year at the Speedway Auto Fair with the National DeSoto Club in April and September. My parents had one and gave it to Ralph and me for a wedding present in 1970, but Ralph's brother borrowed it in '72 and wrecked it. It took me this long to find another one almost identical to what we had! We have a new addition to our family, a rescue puppy named Gracie. We got her at Kitty City, (she may grow up with an identity problem), in Concord. She's a 7 month old Dachsund mixed with we don't know what, but she likes to chew, dig, and generally be a naughty girl. If you haven't seen our backyard, Ralph has been busy building 4 ponds, a brick gazebo with stained glass, various arbors, benches, chairs and potting table all made by him. A Blue Heron has been visiting our ponds and many of our fish are gone. The Trials and Tribulations of pond keeping, but we wouldn't trade it for the tranquility they provide.

3 February 2010 page 3 Directions for Social 5:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 20 The Great Wall of China South is in Carmel Commons Shopping Center at the intersection of Route 51 and Carmel Road, The restaurant is down the street from the Exxon Station, facing Carmel Road. For those unfamiliar with area, some landmarks are Charlotte Catholic High School, if using I-485, get off on Johnson Road, and or get off at the Carolina Mall nearer to Pineville, and drive down Route 51 toward Matthews. (From the Oval Pond con t) Mike Long has volunteered to lead up our Pond Tour this year, and I sincerely hope we have a concerted effort from all our members to produce the best tour yet! Mike and his committee will be sharing with us all the details and arrangements on how we can each contribute. As President, I have been putting on my thinking cap, to plan some interesting events in the months ahead. We have an unusually skilled and talented member in our midst - Allen Lee. Allen is a KHA, a koi health advisor and I thought why not make use of his abilities and knowledge? I have spoken with Allen, and he has agreed to speak at one of our socials. plant guru from one of the Charlotte nurseries to talk to us, and hopefully bring some plants along. One of our usual events is a cull auction. Here our members bring their caste a ways or excess fish from a well needed pond downsizing. The fish are sold and some profit is presented to our club. Here is a good chance for you to buy some fish, bigger and probably healthier than the ones sold in the pet stores. Well, if you want some tips on how to pick out a good pond fish or suggestion on how much you should spend on these fish, please come to our next February social. I have asked Brady Brandwood to come and speak on selection of pond fish as opposed to the show fish. The social is being held at a restaurant. This brings to mind that some of our members may not know why we meet in restaurants during the winter months. Years ago we met for socials in back yards during good weather, and did not meet over the winter months. We had decided as a club that we should not skip these months but attempt to keep continuity by meeting at restaurants during the colder weather. So now you know. I know we normally do a plant swap at one of the socials. I am thinking of asking a Hope to see you soon. President, Me McClain

4 February 2010 page SOCIAL CALENDAR February 20 Speaker Brady Brandwood The Great Wall of China South" Carmel Rd, Charlotte, Tele: March 13 plant divide Wayne Pritchett/Cecelia Smith April 10 Fish Cull Sale Leo Bollinger & Carol Mathis May 8 Ken & Barbara Horn-Stead June 12 Don & Mary Ann Penix July 10 Brannon Raines(new member) August 14 Allen & Regina Lee September 11 October 9 November 13 December 11 Mary Ann Penix takes Geoffrey Huntley s place as our new contact for Associated K o i Clubs of America(AKCA). She will be submitting news articles about our club meetings for publication in the KOI USA magazine. There is a section at end of the magazine organized by State in alphabetical order, where one can read about the various clubs across the USA. Also if someone in another State wishes to contact our club or ask any questions, her name and contact information is printed. Don t forget if you are subscribing to KOI USA, to inform them that you are a member of PKWS. They ll discount the price. TREASURER S REPORT CURRENT BALANCE $10, For your enlightenment, Allen gleamed this from the Mid Atlantic Koi Club newsletter. The 2009 MAKC's "Koi American" lost over $11,000. We weren't the only koi show in the red. Koi America is the second or third largest show in the country. $$$$$$$$$$$$

5 February 2010 page 5 February Topic: So you want to give your Valentine a pond fish Selection and care of Pond fish How much should I spend on a fish? How many should I have in my pond? Should I mix goldfish with koi? What are the different varieties called? Where can I buy pond fish? If I don t have a quarantine tank, what else can I do or use when adding a new fish to my pond? Are there any plants that do not agree with the pond fish, agree immensely with pond fish? Can you train or teach pond fish to do tricks?. What to look for in selection of a good pond fish?. How much do I feed my fish?. How can I tell if my fish are healthy? Attend our February social and find the answers to these and other questions on your mind. Seasonal Care Reprinted from Tetra Encyclopedia of Koi As temperatures drop, koi move to deeper parts of the pond and become reluctant to feed, and below 43F cease feeding altogether. As the water continues to cool, the koi lie unddled together on the bottom of the pond with all fins except the tail fin clamped tightly against their bodies. This conserves body heat, as the fins contain a tiny network of blood vessels. One of the major cooling areas of a fish s body is through the gills, where the warm blood is cooled by the water passing over the gill filaments. You may notice that koi breathe more slowly, which is another method of conserving body heat. Their senses of smell and taste are inoperative but they can still see and respond to external stimulation. Temperature below 36F are critical to koi, as there is an increasing risk of ice crystals forming in the delicate gill membranes. Because watr expands when it freezes, these crystals break the tiny cells in the gills and the koi die. Like many other materials, water expands when it warms and contracts as it cools. Because water is a liquid, warm water is light and therefore rises. Logically you might expect, therefore, that freezing water should lie at the bottom of exposed water but, as we all know, this is not the case. In fact, a reversal of this principle occurs at temperatures below 39F, when colder water rises to the surface and warm water sinks. This is the salvation of most underwater life. Water is a poor conductor of heat, so the cold water and ice form an insulating layer that retains the heat of the warmer water below it. The deeper the pond, the more temperature stablitiy of the water below the ince and the water will also absorb heat from the ground. Keep all biological filters running throughout the winter. It is important that the water continues to ventilate so oxygen can diffuse into the water and harmful carbon dioxide does not become sealed by total ice cover. If the pump is turned off, the fish could suffer and the plumbing could corrode or freeze if the pum is left in the water. If your system has a variable speed flow, turn it down to minimum output. If you have a submersible pump or a variable level gravity feed pipe, and you can vary the level from which the filter is fed, raise the pump to approximately 6-9 inches from the surface. This will avoid disturbing and chilling the bottom wate and allow the koi to rest, while preventing the pond from completely icing over. It is not good to use rubber balls, hammers or kettles of boiling water to break up any ice formations. Although the koi are torpid in cold water, they can sense any water movement and breaking ice sends violent shock waves through the water, which can severely

6 February 2010 page 6 stress and even kill your koi. It is a sensation probably similar to someone suddenly crashing a loud drum close to your ear while you are sleeping and waking you with a start. A growing number of enthusiasts are installing heating systems in their pond to keep their koi active and feeding. Avoid placing heaters in the bottom of the pond, however, as they can set up convectional currents that lift the warmer water, which chills as it rises towards the surface thur returning cold water to the koi. Airstones should be removed from the bottom of the pond for the same reason. Instead place small heaters in the filter system, preferably in the settling system or transfer ports. Any heating unit should be thermostatically controlled and capable of maintaining the water temperature at a minimum of 50F. Rapidly fluctuating temperatures are highly undesirable and temperatures sufficiently high to activate the fish but too low for safe feeding can have a debilitating effect. Furthermore, between 32F and 50F, the koi s immune system does not operate, but bacteria in the water are still active. BULLETIN I checked over the January newsletter and although it does say All Memberships are due now!!!!, we really did not give the or else. We did not print that if dues are not paid, this is the last newsletter you will be receiving. At least I didn t see this, and if I overlooked it I am sure others have done the same. Therefore, I think we should send out the February newsletter to all the active membership at the end of We are trying to keep or build members, and I think this kind gesture will demonstrate that. President, Me McClain Subject: Minutes Koi Executive Committee Telephone Conference / pm Attendees: Me McClain, Carol Mathis, Tracy McCorkle, Rebecca Trull, and Mike Long Absentees; Allen Lee, Mary Ann Penix and Geoffrey Huntley The following topics were discussed: Membership issues, Rebecca read us 11 names and then we added Theroux, and then added Brannon, a new member who attended the January meeting, and finally Mike Long mentioned he needs to pay up also. So to date, we come up with 14 memberships renewed. Pond Tour, we discussed if we had enough members to conduct a tour, and decided to keep a positive front and wait and discuss it in the months ahead. If we plan it in June or July then we have a few months to get prepared, mostly advertising is key. Events for year so far to date: o February-Guest speaker, Brady Brandwood at The Great Wall South Restaurant on Feb. 20, Mike will write the info on Website. o March- Plant swap at Wayne Pritchett and Celia Smith. Carol will try to get a guest speaker for us. o April Cull auction- Leo Bollinger and Carol Mathis, o May-Hornsteads- o June- Penix- o July- Brannon Raines, o August- Allen and Regina Lee- Open, but good suggestion is for Allen to give a talk on his role as a KHA. * Terry McClain will be asked to research a visit to Kernersville/Blue Ridge Hatchery, * Rebecca Trull said that we might want a field trip to Raleigh, to visit East Coast Koi. I asked her to research this field trip. * Mike mentioned we might want to consider visiting other KOI clubs meeting. Raleigh is pretty far one evening, but, the Greenville SC club is only about a 1.5 hrs drive. I will call these clubs and ask if any events might be of interest to us. ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS??? Contact MARY ELLEN with your ideas!

Carol Mathis 1284 Biltmore Drive Phone: 704-455-8587 Email: caomah@aol.com We re on the web! www.pkwsonline.

7 Carol Mathis 1284 Biltmore Drive Phone: We re on the web! M E M B E R S H I P F O R M The Piedmont Koi and Watergarden Society (PKWS) is a not for profit organization. The membership year runs from January 1st through December 31st. Annual Membership Dues for a family for the first year are $55.00 AND INCLUDES UP TO TWO(2) NAME BADGES. Additional nametags may be purchased at a cost of $15.00 each. For renewing members the dues are $24.00 Please complete the following form and return it with your membership dues to: ALLEN LEE 900 Club Drive Monroe, NC Please print clearly (this information will only be used for club records). Please print your names) as you would like them to appear on your name tag(s). Last Name: First Name(s): Membership in any AKCA affiliated Club and a two year subscripville, TN, May 19-20, next step. We need YOU! at the AKCA Seminar in Nash- you are already involved, take the tion Address to KOI 1: USA is now the only Classes start at your convenience basic requirement to take the class. anytime from July 1 through November. An early application al- Koi and/or water garden hobby While many participate in our The Address $100 2: registration fee is gone. This is in keeping with our lows you more time and greater there are, unfortunately, those focus City: State: Zip: on education and promoting assurance of a seat. Interested? who are missing out on some of the hobby. To promote the hobby Tim Czech, KHA Class Coordinator 65blcc@gis.net and fully involved in helping them- the potential satisfaction of being we Signature: Date: must first promote you. The classes are all on line at ask for an application and particulars. If you have questions, I the mission of most of our clubs is selves and helping others. Part of your own pace except for the Address: Telephone # hands on lab which will be held am khajerry@yahoo.com. Since to promote good Koi husbandry Membership Dues(New member) $55.00 Volume 1,Issue 1 Page 7 Membership Dues(Renewing) $24.00 (Circle One) Additional Name tags ($15.00) TOTAL ENCLOSED:

PRESIDENTIAL PONDERINGS

PKWS August 2014 Issue Editor: Carol Mathis PRESIDENTIAL PONDERINGS The summer has flown past and here we are in August. For those that missed it, we had a great meeting in July at the Fetzer s home. During