The guys spent this morning packing very special koi to make the trip down to Florida for the Central Florida Koi Show this weekend.
Packing of koi for the Koi show in Orlando, FLOne of the Koi getting ready to be packed
Koi being loaded...no the coolers are Mat's food for the trip!
A few months ago we were asked by one of the organizers of the Central Florida Koi Show, Mike McMahon, if we could provide small female showas to be grown out in Florida by their club members.
As a bulk purchase we were able to offer very high class Showa at an unbelievable price.
All these koi were grown in our new greenhouse since the end of December 2009. These koi typically doubled their body weight in less then a month.
Last week we made our final selection of the very best female showa that we were growing in this size range. With the many jobs going on here at the farm, Henry Culpepper kindly offered to photo the koi and video them for us. Many Thanks!
We shipped the koi out to Henry yesterday, March 2 2010. The arrived in Florida in excellent condition and Henry has taken a photo of each koi and video.
See Koi…
Showa 1 thru 6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zp0HzGgFtTs
Showa 7 thru 14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNXEl3U5FBs
Showa 15 thru 23
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qi2VsXXucc
Showa 24 thru 28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLUx5lR8OtQ
Still pictures of the koi http://bellsouthpwp.net/h/c/hculpepp/Atarashi_Showa/Atarashi_Showa.html
We have great expectations that with the Florida climate and the skill of the hobbyist, they will be able to raise these great koi to their full potential.
Thank you to everyone involved in setting up and organizing this grow out.
We invite all koi clubs to participate in a similar experience. Call us today so what we can do with your club!
Due to the very small working room and importance of this project, we have decided to build an identical replica of the filtration system here on the farm to ensure that the insulation in Philadelphia goes flawlessly.
The tanks in the greenhouse where the trial filter is being installed are elevated. This means a deck with the same foot print (ft6inX4ft6in) as the filter room in Philadelphia had to be built. This deck will hold all the filter components to replicate the installation of the Philadelphia filter system.
In the upcoming weeks we will be installing a filtration system in the most luxurious new condo development in center city Philadelphia, Rittenhouse 1706.
The filtration will be placed on a 3000 gallon pond that is being constructed outside the main lobby in the residents’ garden.
Due to space constraints in the city, the architect for the total project could only have a filter room with an internal foot print of 7ft6in long X 4ft6in wide with a height of 5ft10in ceiling.
Filter system requirements: Low Maintenance/ High efficiency/ Compact in size
We have decided to base this filtration system on a gravity fed sieve for the mechanical filtration to remove all large particles; uneaten food, leaf debris. Following the mechanical filtration will be a pump fed polygeyser bead filter.
Due to the very restricted working room and the importance of this project, we have decided to build an identical replica of the filtration system that going to be installed at Rittenhouse 1706, here on the farm.
Thank you to Mike Frady for sharing his winter pond pictures. He reports that they have had it easy winter, only 56 inches so far.
The Deck
Winter Pond
This week the farm had to say good by to a beloved member of our team. Bengal
Ross and Tara’s dog Bengal was known by many as “The Big Guy” here on the farm. He was a loving, gentle dog who brought such joy to the farm and to our lives.
He joined the farm our first breeding season 8 yrs ago. Bengal loved coming to farm every day. He was a proud hunter, loved playing with Cadbury and Kiko and laying out by the mud ponds watching over the guys as they did their work – what else could a dog ask for.
We have many memories of him that will keep us smiling
We will miss you Bengel..with all our love, your QKC family
Bengal
Thank you Brian and Denise Hein for sharing your winter pond picture.
Keep sending in your winter pictures for us all to enjoy!
With a heavy heart, I write my last blog entry. Don’t worry all you koi kichi out there, the NKF blog will still continue…just with a different author 
As many of you know, before my time at Quality Koi, I was an elementary school teacher. Recently I was offered a teaching job in a great school district and I felt this was an opportunity that I must seize. Once a teacher, always a teacher, as any fellow teacher will tell you (right, BB?). It was not an easy decision to leave the farm, especially seeing how the quality of our koi keeps improving every year and knowing that the farm has a promising future. While I am sad to leave (and not get to work with my husband every day!), I am very excited to be back in the classroom. During my four and a half years at the farm, I have been fortunate to meet many new wonderful friends who have made my job even more enjoyable…I will definitely miss you and I hope to see you at a koi event in the near future!
~ Tara Morgan
Orchard Boland Summer Koi Pond
Orchard Boland Winter Pond, Feb 6
Keep those pictures coming!!
In the March 2010 issue of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club Magazine, there is a feature article written about the MAKC ZNA Style Judging Seminar that Quality Koi hosted at the farm in August 2009. The MAKC magazine will run a feature article about the judging seminar for the next three issues, each focusing on one of the varieties that was judged that day; Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa. These articles are very informative since they are written by one of the participating judges from the seminar, Nicole Lembke. She discusses how the koi were judged, their strong points, and their weak points. See if your assessment of each koi matches what the judges thought.
If you don’t receive the magazine (or you want a sneak peak before the issue is mailed out), click on the link to the MAKC website. The link will take you to the home page. On the right hand side in the area that has a white background, click where it reads “Featured articles, look here.” It will take you to a new page that reads “Articles of the Month” at the top of the page. Click where it reads “Judging Kohaku.” Enjoy!
