I love my Koi pond, even though I have no Koi in there, yet. I have lots of goldfish, though, and what a delight they are. I must have 150-200 babies in there this year. We have 14 adults.
When I put my hands into the water, the babies come up to my fingers and nibble on them. They are at that age they think everything is food, even a net! People come over to our house, and when they see the pond they are delighted, and they all want one. Once a person sits down on the bench at the pond, it is an instant tranquilizer. We all need that about a dozen times a day! Minimum.
One can really just sit and watch the plants grow, and that feels so good. This fast-paced life is not good for any of us humans. Even the dogs and cats sit there and just watch the fish and enjoy being close to the rocks, plants and water, and hearing the waterfalls running. Our cats walk across the bridge, stop to get a drink of water, and then swish their tails in the water on the other side, and then mosey on over to the backside of the pond. The shade on the parts of the pond keep the water cool in a heat wave, and most of the time the fish are passing the time of day until feeding time. When it is time to feed them, they race around the pond with their tail fins swishing the water rapidly. They move almost in a snake like wave pattern through the water, and once the pellets hit the water, they rush up and grab as many pellets as they can. It is the most movement one sees out of the fish all day long. Once the rush is over, they settle down, and wait for more pellets to hit the waterfalls, which shoots them down to the lower depths, and they grab more of them. The rest of the floating pellets are left for the babies to fight over.
We bought some baby-sized pellets for the little ones, and they gulp them down as fast as they can. The babies are growing very fast, and all are getting quite colorful. I’m amazed at how much they eat. They also nibble at the algae growing on the sides of the pond. We try a different type of food each time we replenish the supply, rather than feeding them the same thing all of the time. Hopefully, the variety keeps them healthier. The largest, firstborn fry are now two inches in length!
