Hi Norm, We've used this method with success. Take a wire hanging basket, the kind with the moss in it. Remove the moss, invert the wire pot over the lily pot and wire it to the lily pot. The lily grows through the wire and the big bad boys can't dig in the dirt. They can swim over it, circle it, and bump into it all day long, but can't dig up those yummy roots. You have my permission to use the photos in the article. Joann Here is a link that might be useful: Our web page.

Andrea: Did you quarantine the new koi? I just found out from Lisa (Goodkarma) that small koi carry ich. I purchased 4-5 inch koi a few weeks ago. They are in a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank in my basement. I gave them 1 week to adjust to the new environment while treating the water for ich, and am now testing them for KHV. I do this by raising the temperature in the tank to between 75 & 80 degrees for three weeks. Then I will lower the temperature to between 60-65 degrees. Once they acclimate to the cooler water I will raise the temperature again to between 75-80 degrees again for three more weeks. Any fish that has KHV will show symptoms when the water temperature is warm. Most of them will die immediately once the temperature is warm enough. My fish have been in the warm water for three weeks this Saturday. I know it's hard not to put them in the pond immediately, but I don't want to endanger my larger koi. They will be quarantined for almost 2 months in my basement before I release them into the pond. Jenny

koi are messier, they get much larger, and are not as hardy. They come in prettier colors and lots of varieties though. Koi need at least 250 gallons each, preferably 500 gallons. Koi can grow to over 36" in length. Their ponds should be a minumum of 36" deep, with 5' deep preferred. There is nothing quite as beautiful as a well deaigned koi pond stocked with a selection of koi. It is like looking into a living painting. Goldfish come in lots of varieties too. Fancies (ryukins, orandas, lionheads, etc) are not has hardy but are very cute. The hardy ones, like comets and shubunkins are inexpensive, hardier than koi and very colorful. Goldies can do well in shallower ponds. They need 50 gallons each.

Hello, I've been raising koi with various degrees of success for about seven years now, though I still have little knowledge of the species, and I have never witnessed aggressive behavior of any kind, not even larger koi toward younger, smaller koi. Until last week, that is. I had just thoroughly cleaned and restocked my little 90 gallon pond with youngsters, two regular koi and two butterfly koi. One of the butterflies was much smaller than the others, and they are only about five inches long. I noticed when I introduced them to the pond that the little one was not quite right, listing to the side when it came to eat, hiding alone behind the potted papyrus. It lived only a few days before it passed on, tho I had been doctoring the water with Pimafix and Melafix. The others are strong as tiny horses with appetites to match. Back to aggressiveness: The one surviving butterfly is tri-colored, while the two regular are traditional orange and whites. The tri-color one evening began harassing the other two after I fed them, not attacking mind you, but running up along side them and pushing them, bullying them along almost as if directing them. It was very forceful behavior and went on for the whole evening. The little butterfly was still alive at the time, zipping aimlessly around on the surface, obviously in distress. I felt so helpless. But the tri-color did not approach it, only running up beside the other two and pushing them with its body. So I googled a search on aggressive behavior in koi and found your forum, which I'm so glad exists. I was thinking that it might be mating behavior, though I would think they are far too young for that. I've had much larger koi, two and three years old (victims of a raiding raccoon that prompted me to build a fish coop.) The older ones never displayed any aggression, but then this is the first butterfly koi I've ever had. Is anyone familiar with that particular type of koi? Well, thank you for a chance to air my concerns. Sorry if I'm a bit wordy. I used to write novels for a living, long ago. ldeanjames Here is a link that might be useful: Window's Live Spaces