Poissons Morts

[snousle]

As some of you know, our koi have kicked the bucket. And I'm kicking myself for not paying closer attention.

I had thought that koi were good with low to zero oxygen, but that is not the case. What almost certainly happened was that when the spring overflow stopped for a while (probably due to a sticky float valve in the storage tank), the pond got too warm, and then at night - when algae switch from producing oxygen to consuming it - they ran out entirely. I was surprised they'd died during the night rather than the heat of the day, but some Web research indicates that this exact scenario is extremely common due to this feature of algal metabolism. Back in San Jose, they had a nice shady pond with a recirculating pump, but when we set up the spring overflow on their new pond, we figured the constantly replenished water made the pump unnecessary, so we turned it off. Bad move.

Dogs and cats, you expect them to age. But koi can live a hundred years, which makes it much more disappointing to lose them. It's not like they have a lot of personality, but we took great pleasure in watching them. We can get new ones, but they take many years to grow as big as these were. And we put SO much work into moving them safely and making sure their new home was suitable. So I'm really bent out of shape about it.

In the meanwhile, I've stashed them in the freezer. They'll make good fertilizer for something this fall. Maybe we can have a combination fish funeral and tree planting.

I knew some things would screw up in this move, but it's never what you expect.

Comments

[qbear.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear. I think a funeral under a tree where they can continue the circle of life as fertilizer is a great idea.

When we moved into our house, we inherited 10 nice-sized koi. Problem was, they were in an artificial pond way too small for that population, requiring constant cleaning. And I can't imagine they were happy. After losing three of them the first year, we donated the rest to the California Academy of Sciences Koi Club, who gladly found them new homes.

I liked them--they were kind of like cats that swam. We still have the pond and recirculating pump, but took down the electric raccoon fence because it's now fishless. Maybe someday we'll get some goldfish.

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

Ouch. Suffocation, what a sad way to go.

[barbarian-rat.livejournal.com]

They'll make good fertilizer for something this fall. Maybe we can have a combination fish funeral and tree planting.

What a good idea. Native tree or exotic?

[furr-a-bruin.livejournal.com]

Something Japanese, if not a native variety, I'd think.

[bbearseviltwin.livejournal.com]

sad to hear about the koi, I like koi, at lest to look at, I am not one to have pets, I am too lazy and see no reason to make them suffer because I am too lazy to take care of them properly. I do better with plants, most of them are more forgiving.

Koi Vey!

[jstregyr.livejournal.com]

I hope it's not too soon to post this (and that you are past the grieving period) but... would it be in terrible taste and black humor to suggest that the fall plantings fertilized as such be called the "Gefilte Garden"?

[ednixon.livejournal.com]

It could have been a wet Parrot. They live to be like 70. This one is
about 5.