It’s almost September and time to start thinking about who is going away. My indoor koi pond in the garage holds a limited amount of koi. Since we had some koi come home from Japan this year and bought some tosai for fun, some of the koi will never make it to the garage pool. I also need to think about having fewer koi to transport south. The plan right now is to take some south and leave a few up here because we have an open pond.

Not really sure how long I will be enjoying this pond. The sound of the waterfall is something I miss in North Carolina. Maybe the next waterfall will be a little taller, maybe more twisty and maybe some more moss on the rocks. My current moss tends to grow into the water and at some point breaks off in huge chunks. They usually land in the skimmer so I am able to place them in new spots on the rocks. The pond builder is thinking about making some natural water features using the gully and creek on our southern property. I’m not too sure about that. Since North Carolina is home to a few poisonous snakes and they seem to live near water, I’m somewhat fearful of creating welcoming environments for them.

This year I’ve been experimenting with koi food on the smaller side. I usually get the large pellets for the koi and someone once asked me why. Since the tosai were on smaller food, I went ahead and ordered the JPD Shori in a smaller size and I think some JPD Fujizakura as well. This year’s summer food has been a mix of JPD and Kenzen Breeder’s Choice. I can’t really tell if they love it or not. The tosai (yellow arrow below) have made a lot of growth and everyone seems to be eating a lot of algae off the walls. We’ll know in a few weeks when we bring them in for the winter. Everyone will be measured as they go into the winter pond.

Now for the candidates not making the cut this year. These koi will not be wintering with me. Our koi club might have a silent auction or do something to sell/exchange koi – or maybe I can just donate them to the Japanese garden. It’s kind of sad to move koi along – some of them, you really don’t mind are on their way out.

Weezer does not have the cleanest shiroji. Weezer also has no personality. I often forget about this koi. I think this would be a great addition to the Normandale Japanese pond because they really need some larger kohaku koi. Akachan is a koi that fell under unfortunate naming. An akachan in japanese is a baby. My Akachan has been Best in Size 2 (UMKC 2016), Best in Size 3 (UMKC 2017) and has pretty much stayed about 17 inches long for the last few years. Looks good, but not much growth happening.

Rio has been my canary koi for the last two years. Not too attractive, probably male, just a random tosai that we thought would be fun to buy and see how it turns out. Yes, we know that most tosai never turn out but I do enjoy their energy. Rio is very good at figuring out how to avoid being caught and leaping out of a net. Rio is also a good eater.

Finally there is Sumiko. Sumiko is just an unbalanced koi. I have been waiting for some time for the back half to grow in proportion to the front half. Every year I think “this might be the year,” and then I’m disappointed. Too bad since she has some really nice shiroji.

There might be another koi or two that I decide to move along. Maybe Louise, maybe Jane (young champion B at 2018 UMKC show)… Fewer koi will ensure better conditions for those wintering indoors. Looking forward to moving the koi south and once the new pond is built, it will definitely be time to buy some new koi!

Aside from thinking about who to move on, we are dealing with tons of acorns and acorn bits dropping. They are all over the pond decking, in the water, filling up the skimmer, etc. Pretty soon we will be netting the pond because the leaves will turn and fall. Hard to believe the koi will be outside for only 60 more days or so. I’m pretty excited at the thought of moving koi somewhere they can be outside all year. I wonder who will be hanging back in Little Siberia next year??