We are just about complete with building a new shed that will house two new boilers. In our newest greenhouse (construction was completed in August) we will be using a hydronic heating system. We will utilize hot water to heat the air and water in the greenhouse. The purpose of the new greenhouse is to provide special grow-out conditions for our high-quality small koi, which we are in the process of harvesting. All of these koi will be in the greenhouse before our Main Event Harvest. These specially selected koi will be given lots of room to grow in warm water and fed every hour throughout the day using automatic feeders. Keep an eye on our blog for more information about the design and function of the filtration for the new greenhouse…
Archive for September, 2009
The Shed is Built
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Testing Mud Pond Water
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009One of the purposes of this blog is to share with you the daily maintenance jobs that we do at the farm. These jobs change seasonally. Normally most of the summer jobs are outside: stringing the ponds, walking the ponds, breeding, culling, etc. We also test the water in the mud ponds on a daily basis. Each day a block of ponds are tested so that each pond is tested at least once a week. We primarily test the ph, Kh (alkalinity), oxygen, and temperature. We have found over the years that oxygen depletion can happen rapidly and the results can be fatal. To combat this, all of the ponds have aeration and are lightly stocked. Also, during heat waves we will add more aeration to ponds that have lower levels of oxygen.
Reading the results from an oxygen test
Tip for Pond Owners: Test your ponds on a routine basis! We recommend testing ammonia, nitrite, alkalinity, ph, oxygen, and temperature (knowing your water temperature will help you determine when to feed a high protein food vs a wheat germ based food). Set a consistent time that you test the ponds. We always test our ponds between 9-10am. Be aware that ph levels swing throughout the day, which is why we recommend testing at the same time each day. If you have time to test twice a day, it’s always useful information to know your levels in the morning versus your levels at night for comparison. Keep a record of you results. Whenever we receive calls from people regarding issues with their pond/koi, the first questions we ask are related to water quality.
MAKC Show Right Around the Corner!
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009Fall is show season, time to select the show team!!! In the spring, while some of the best koi went to mud others went to an indoor grow-out to get ready for all of the koi shows Quality Koi will be attending this fall. Check out our Events Calendar to see where we will be headed. Today we went through some of these tanks and selected koi for the upcoming MAKC Show, October 2-4, Westminster, MD. Below are some of the MANY koi you will see at the show. We have three booths at the show and koi to fit all sizes, budgets, and preferences!!
Quality Koi Going to Koi Shows
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009Keep an eye on our Event Calendar. If you see we are headed to a koi show in your area and you are looking for a specific koi, contact us ahead of time and we can arrange to bring a koi to a show for you. Also, if your Quality Koi wins an award at a koi show, please email us a picture and details, and we will post your win on our website.
ZNA Potomac Show Winners!
Monday, September 14th, 2009This past weekend was the ZNA Potomac Show in Vienna, VA. We have been participating in this show for the past three years. The ZNA Potomac members are wonderful hosts and the show always brings out great koi to compete against each other. This year 211 koi were entered into the show!! One aspect of this show that makes it unique is the inclusion of awards for the “B” varieties (anything not Kohaku, Sanke, Showa, Shiro Utsuri, or Hi Utsuri). We proudly announce that two koi bred at the Nisei Koi Farm were winners of major awards:
Grand Champion B, Gin Rin Showa, owned by David Hicks
Bred by Nisei Koi Farm
Grand Champion B
Photo by Jim North
The Gin Rin Showa was born in the Summer 2005. The parents were a female Matsunosuke Gin Rin Showa and a male Matsunosuke Gin Rin Showa. Dave purchased the Gin Rin Showa as a tosai in Spring 2006 and it spent that summer in the mud ponds. The Gin Rin Showa went back for another season in the mud during Summer 2007. Dave took the koi to his pond after Harvest 2008 and grew it into a 26″ show winner!
Baby Champion B, Gin Rin Kohaku, owned by Krystyna Belendiuk
Bred by Nisei Koi Farm
Baby Champion B
This 3 Step Gin Rin Kohaku was bred in 2008 from a female Matsunosuke Kohaku and a male Matsunosuke Gin Rin Kohaku. The gin rin on this koi is outstanding, as it is even and strong throughout the entire body of the koi. The owners of the koi are very excited about this win since it is the first time they entered a koi into a koi show!
Grand Champion A, Kohaku, owned by David Hicks
Bred by Sakai Hiroshima
Grand Champion A
Photo by Jim North
This impressive Kohaku was purchased from Sakai Hiroshima by QKC in March 2002 at 10”. We sold the koi to Dave at an onsite auction in Fall 2004. She was 19 inches at the time. Dave took her home and grew her into a beautiful 31” Grand Champion!
Congratulations to our customers!!
ZNA Potomac Koi Show
Thursday, September 10th, 2009The day before a koi show is always a busy one at the farm! Tomorrow, Mat will be heading to the ZNA Potomac show in Vienna, VA, September 11-13, http://www.znapotomac.org/. Today we are making koi selections for the show. The koi will range from $100 – $300 and will be approximately 9-16”. Below is one of the many beautiful koi you will find at our booth. Mat will be there by noon on Friday so be sure to get there early! Quality Koi will also have a competition tank for any koi that are purchased at the show before benching is complete.
15" Kohaku, $300
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 – Mud Pond Harvest
Thursday, September 10th, 2009Today we harvested one of our mud ponds. Each summer we typically do a few rounds of spawning, with the last round usually being in August. This last round is our “experimental” spawns, where we try different parent sets in the hopes of creating potential parent stock for our use. In August 2008, we bred a female Kikusui (Doitsu metallic Kohaku) with two high-class Matsunosuke Sanke (white base, red pattern, black spots) males. Our hope was to gain potential Heisei Nishiki (Doitsu metallic Sanke) and Yamatonishiki (metallic Sanke) parents. We wanted to provide these koi a full summer of mud pond growth; therefore we are harvesting them now. Below are some examples of the Kikusui and Heisei Nishki from the harvest. These koi are now in quarantine and will make their debut appearance in at the MAKC show in Westminster, MD, October 2-4. We hope to see you there!
Ross & Mat harvesting the pond
Kikusui
Kikusui
3 Heisei Nishki
Kikusui
Heisei Nishki
Kikusui
Wednesday, September 9, 2009 – Shipping Koi
Thursday, September 10th, 2009This morning we packed up a shipment of koi headed to Nantucket! These koi will arrive safe and sound at the customer’s doorstep tomorrow morning. We pack our koi in fully insulated boxes to not only protect the koi, but to also help keep the water temperature stable during shipping. The customer asked for a nice mix of three 5-6” Select Grade, so we chose a Showa, Kujaku, and Doitsu Goshiki (reticulation to appear later on in the development of the koi).
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thursday, September 10th, 2009The concrete pads were poured behind the new Growout Greenhouse (more details about our newest greenhouse will follow in later blog entries – keep your eye out for them!). The elevated pad will hold the shed that houses the boilers. The other pad is to allow vehicles to drive into the greenhouse.
Register on QualityKoi.com
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009… to receive the most up to date newsletters. Archives of past newsletters are available to the public but our latest goes out free to our registered users.