President January 2009 CLUB ORGANIZATION Vice President Secretary Treasurer Board of Directors Meeting Coordinator email, newsletter Web site master Audio visual Pond Tour, Holiday party Dealer Relations Speakers Librarian Membership Refreshments Club equipment Koi Health Advisor Julaine Mullaney (408) 266-1791 Terry Denevan Larry Templeton 3 Terry Denevan (408) 279-4567 Larry Templeton (650) 948-7460 Larry Templeton Rita Hughes (408) 227-4388 Cal Hansen (408) 394-4642 Bill Mundy Cal Hansen Bill & Marifran Mundy (408) 297-3741 Ken Snarr (650) 969-0715 Sanjiv Kapoor (408) 223-8776 AKCA Representative Larry Templeton Art Director Emergency Pond Services Meeting notes Mike Perret (408) 226-7802 Ken Snarr Charity Lloyd (408) 971-2797 Happy New Year Everyone! We wish you and your friends and family a happy, healthy and prosperous 2009 and beyond. We also wish you a healthy and enjoyable pond. This seems like a good time to make a tally of our blessings. Cynthia and I are blessed with a lovely and healthy pond thanks to the efforts of Ken Snarr, Chuck Cottam, Sanjiv Kapoor, Victor Arrelano and others. We also owe a deep debt for the many friends we ve made through the club. We knew from our first meeting about three years ago that the club would be a major source of help, encouragement and, most of all, friendship. It has proven to be all of that and more. Beyond the personal side of it, we are blessed with a steady stream of interesting speakers, a good place to meet, a monthly opportunity to discuss pond issues and a most capable and willing support group to help us with pond problems essentially anytime we need help. The pros in the group, in addition to those mentioned above in connection with my pond, include Mike Perret, Dan Rutledge, and Noreen Rancourt. We are so fortunate to have all of our pros as club members who are knowledgeable and willing to share their expertise and enthusiasm with us. Terry Denevan has stepped in to lead our meetings with his light, enjoyable and effective touch. Julaine Mullaney continues her hard work as treasurer. Charity Lloyd has taken on the task of recording what happens at both general and board meetings. We are reminded at every meeting intermission how much we owe Bill & Marifran Mundy who provide such excellent refreshments. The annual Christmas Party was, as usual, a tremendous success and we are grateful to our great organizers such as Rita Hughes and Barbara Snarr who make these things happen. Would it be too much to ask for one more blessing? We are in desperate need of more volunteers to help with production of the newsletter, managing the website, photographing events and finding speakers. I have been doing most of this myself in order to keep the club going, but I need help or I m going to have to drop part of it. Please call me at 650-948-7460 if you can contribute even a small amount of time to sharing the load. See you on Friday, January 16th. Ken Snarr s October talk was a real winner and we look forward to the next in his series on pond design and construction. Don t miss it! Larry Templeton
Meetings & Events Monthly Club Meetings 7:30pm The third Friday of each month. Willow Glen American Legion Hall 504 Minnesota Ave., San Jose January General Meeting Friday, January 16, 7:30pm Speaker: Ken Snarr on pond filter selection, pumps, plumbing, etc. Pond Q&A as usual Refreshments - Marifran s pizza $65 attendance drawing prize Board of Directors Meeting We re back to the standard monthly meeting cycle so the Board meeting will be held at 7:30pm on Thursday, January 22 at Terry Denevan s home at 528 Minnesota Avenue, San Jose. Our board meetings are informal and are intended to steer the club in the most positive way possible. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Club Activities Our Club provides a wide variety of experiences, some to help people learn about designing, building and maintaining Koi and ponds, some to bring in new members, and some for just plain social enjoyment. For example: Monthly meetings with speakers, Q&A and refreshments Annual Pond Tour Pond Socials in the summer Holiday party A library of pond-related videos Representation with the Associated Koi Clubs of America Booths at events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival and several Home & Garden Shows. Many of these activities are effective at bringing in new members, which is essential for the continuing existence of the club. Now That s Cold! We ve recently seen overnight low temperatures in the mid-20s and pond water temperature has dropped to just below 50. Our fish have slowed way down and we are resisting (mostly) the temptation to feed them, much as they beg. When we do feed, it s only a few pellets of food. String algae has begun to rear its ugly head so it s time to order another bulb for the UV filter and make sure we have enough Algae-Fix on hand, just in case the expected algae bloom is more than we can tolerate. Our neighbors have huge pine trees just over the fence so there s always a debris problem. Wintertime is particularly bad with the higher winds. Time to get out the bottom-net and get cleaned up. It s a never-ending battle that can t be ignored if we re to have a healthy pond.
How Did the Dark Brown Carp Transform Into Highly Colored Koi? The common carp is widely believed to have originated from the Caspian Sea with natural habitat surrounding the North, Baltic, Mediterranean, Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral Sea basins. The common carp, as a food fish with the ability to survive and adapt to many different climates and waterways, was bartered and spread to many different areas, including North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Wild populations of the common carp now exist in those four continents and South America. Color mutations in carp were first noticed in the early 1800s. These mainly involved red, white and light yellow Koi (the latter developing into the first single - colored Kawarimono) and later the tortoiseshell - patterned Koi. These were all mutations from the black Common Carp, known as Magoi. By the middle of the 1800s, cross-breeding of red and white carp, mainly in Japan, produced what could be described as the first Kohaku. Early Koi varieties such as Asagi, Higoi and Bekko, were cross-bred until later the same century, fixing many of the varieties we know today. Certain varieties slowly reached high standards over several generations and in this way lineages became established. Around the same period, in central Europe, a Carp mutation arose, the Carp only having a few large glossy scales along the dorsal line - the "mirror carp" or, having no scales at all - the "leather carp". These fish which became known as "doitsu" from their mid european origins, were originally bred for food. Some of these "doitsu" carp were introduced to Japan in the early 1900s, which later led to the Shusui variety (doitsu Asagi). Have Them Eating Out Of Your Hand First you must get them to notice that you are the one feeding them. After they see you, take some steps back until the fish feel comfortable to eat. After some time your fish will begin to trust you and you will not have to walk so far away. Once they are at the point where you put your hand out and they all come up to the surface, start to lower your hand in the water with the food. Before you know it they will be eating right out of your hand. The Ultimate Koi Pond Wisdom Research before you dig! You ll be so happy you did.
A Great Holiday Party! The 2008 annual SCVKWG Holiday dinner was held at Marianni s Inn in Santa Clara on Sunday, December 7 th. The food and ambiance was, as always, very good. Rita Hughes and Ken Snarr collected many toys and a hatful of cash to buy more toys for disadvantaged kids. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the holidays with good friends, chat a bit about fish and ponds, and experience genuine good fellowship. Highly recommended! Deadline for Splash Inputs The next issue of SPLASH will be published in February 2009. The deadline for inputs is Friday, February 6. Please email your inputs to Larry Templeton at lwt@templesun.net. All Club and Koi pond/water garden topics are welcomed. If you want to write a pond-related article for SPLASH, that s better yet. Future Speakers In February, artist Carole Moore will present her beautiful paintings of Koi and Watergardens. Carol is a most accomplished artist who specializes in our favorite subject. If you have ideas for future speakers and/or topics, please email Larry Templeton at lwt@templesun.net Some Very Important Fish Information What do you call a fish with no eye? A FSH!!! Why are fish smarter than mice? Because they live in schools. How do I avoid infection from biting insects? Easy = don t bite them. What is the best fish on ice? A skate. Koi are so intelligent that within only a few days of captivity, they can train humans to stand at the edge of the pond and throw them food!
Pond Maintenance On A Budget by Sanjiv Kapoor The following are excerpts from the excellent talk on pond maintenance that Sanjiv presented at the November Club meeting Biofilter Processes A biofilter processes fish waste while producing acids and consuming oxygen and carbonate. To keep it working properly you need to provide a continuous flow of both oxygen and carbonate. A proper pond aeration system provides the oxygen, but you need to provide the carbonate. Carbonate Hardness (KH) Carbonate hardness (sometimes referred to as KH or buffering capacity) can be provided by natural stones such as calcium carbonate, concrete and chemicals. KH must be maintained at >80 ppm in all ponds. KH is a measure of the pond s ability to absorb the acids that are normally generated in the biofiltering process. If KH gets too low, the ph in your pond can drop quickly which may be fatal to your fish. In concrete ponds, KH is provided by the concrete and/or stones for the first few years. In ponds with liners and in older concrete ponds, KH should be supported by adding food grade baking soda. An overall rule of thumb is to add one cup of baking soda per 1500 gallons once each month, but frequency of addition varies with amount of food being consumed (more in summer less in winter). You may need to experiment for a while to find the quantity that is appropriate for your pond. Correcting KH You can buy baking soda in large quantities from places like Orchard Supply. Before you begin adding baking soda, buy a test kit. Dry "strip" type test kits are easier to use but less accurate than the wet "dropper" 'type test kits. Measure KH before and then 24 hrs after adding a cup of baking soda. This will tell you how much the KH is increased in your pond for each cup of baking soda. Add soda once a week until you have reached 80ppm, then wait two weeks, measure KH again and determine how much soda you need to add to bring the KH back up to 80ppm. You will soon learn how much you need to add on an ongoing basis. Biofilter Limitations A biofilter is incapable of processing inorganic waste such as airborne silt. This inorganic pollution buildup is best countered by water changes. Sanjiv recommends 10% per week OR 30% per month. Additionally two large water changes of 70% are needed each year. Late spring and early fall are ideal times for these. Neutralizing Chlorine/Chloramine To neutralize the chlorine and/or chloramine that is in the fresh water when you refill the pond, sodium thiosulphate can be used for 10% water changes. For larger water changes, Chloram-X is recommended. Fill the pond back slowly (over a couple of days) when doing 70% water changes. Building a Quarantine Facility If you have fish you value, you are putting them at extreme risk every time you introduce new fish that have not been quarantined. Taking this risk isn t necessary because a quarantine facility can be built at low cost and it doesn t take much space. Sanjiv highly recommends that you quarantine new fish for at least 6 weeks before putting them in your pond. You want the quarantine environment to be as much like the eventual pond environment as possible. The key environment elements of a koi pond including depth, bottom drains, and skimmers can be replicated in inexpensive quarantine tanks by building them out of 55 gallon drums. Buy two 55 gallon plastic barrels, an inexpensive pump, some japanese mat filter material, an aeration pump and airstone and the requisite plumbing fittings. Place the barrels on 4x6s or such to elevate them so that bottom drain plumbing will not contact the ground. 1-1/2 PVC plumbing is adequate for the job. Cut 1-1/2 inch holes in the bottom of both barrels. Cut 1-1/2 holes about 1 ft below the tops of both barrels. Install flanges and right angle fittings in the bottoms of both tanks. Plumb from the bottom fitting of the fish tank to the inlet of the pump and from the outlet of the pump to the bottom fitting of the filter tank. Plum from the top hole in the filter tank to the top hole in the fish tank. This arrangement gives water flow into the filter tank which goes upward through the filter mat and out the top to be introduced into the top of the fish tank where it flow with the fish waste to the bottom drain, through the pump and back to the filter tank. Total cost = cheap!
Treasurer s Report The club remains in good shape financially. As usual, most of our income is from the pond tour and memberships. Both income streams are predominately in July. The rest of the year, it s mostly outgo, and that mostly for rent on the meeting hall and printing and mailing expenses for the newsletter. December had extraordinary expenses for the Holiday Dinner and purchase of a new printer for the newsletter. Dec 24,2008 through Jan 9,2009 Opening balance $9,591.78 Deposits 118.00 Outstanding checks -200.00 Expenses -1,987.42-500.00 Closing balance $7,022.36 Our appreciation goes to Julaine Mullaney for all the hard work she puts in as Club Treasurer. Board of Directors November Meeting The newsletter is now being produced inhouse and the most cost-effective way to print it is to buy a printer. Commercial services are much more expensive. The Board authorized the expenditure of up to $400 to purchase a new printer. LT note: The printer has been purchased and is in satisfactory operation. It was used to print this newsletter