Page 59 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 17

thought out planting rolls down to the waters edge and
complements the overall picture. Here and there are
Japanese lanterns, statues and hints of Japanese
culture.
Now we all know you don’t mix plants and Koi because
Koi eat them, but Harry and Paula have built a narrow
ledge along one side of their pond and where masses
of different plants and herbs drift out across the pond,
I watched several large Koi munching an area of
watercress, but the plants seem to grow enough to
keep up with the demand. Later I thought, I bet
that’s keeping the Nitrate level down, but I forgot to
ask Harry.

I think Harry and Paula have had most of their Koi for
years and have grown most of them from 10cm Tosai,
now many of them are 70cm plus. Their Koi are
Their Koi are extremely extremely tame and welcome being fed by hand,
tame and welcome
being fed by hand. probably due to them not being netted for shows. I
noticed two Kohaku that fellow club member, Mick
Around the pond there
are complementary Preston, had spawned about five years ago, their Beni
plantings, lanterns and was looking good and they were keeping a good
exotic plants in pots.
shape, which Harry thinks is due to the deep water
and strong current.

Our visitors from Crouch Koi Club arrived and joined us
for a welcomed breakfast, what better way to start the
day. They stayed for about an hour before boarding the
coach to Mick and Maureen Preston’s home in Stoke.

We walked through the gate and were faced with a
large polytunnel where Mick carries out his Koi
breeding. Here were three ponds with mud bottoms
and blocked sides and pipes that deliver water to top
up each pond, which is pumped from a borehole.
In the first and second ponds there were fry from a late
May spawning of Yamabuki Ogon female and Mukashi
Ogon and Beni Kikokuryu males. There were hundreds
of small Koi, displaying a variety of metallic colour
Three ponds inside Mick’s combinations. The third pond held the Kohaku
polytunnel each with a spawning from a Sakai female, Marudo male and Gin
capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 Rin Taniguchi male which had been carried out a week
gallons raise Kohaku,
Yamabuki Ogons and other earlier than the metallics. As always the fry in all ponds
metallic Koi spawned in May. have fry of varying sizes. Most of them were around

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