Newsletter October 2006

What a month it was on the Koi Club of the Air. Todo got on his fishy soapbox this month over a confiscation of koi from an Asian restaurant pond in the state of Maine that in turn were given to a pet store in New Hampshire. "This is really a bizarre situation," Todo said. "I think it is a little bit of overkill." Acknowledging that any species can become a pest especially exotics this still seems very odd considering the restaurant owner had been keeping koi without problem or incident for fifteen years. The perp now faces a jury trial and you might be hearing more from us on this one! See www.seacoastonline.com/news/special/9_19special5.htm

Todo also led a discussion on hurricane preparedness for koi hobbyists. The basis of the discussion was an article from the Tampa Bay Koi & Water Garden Club www.tampabaykoi.org. We discussed a few of MAKC’s- list of 25 Tips About Koi Keeping. Plus, Todo shared how one of his koi named Chow Man was recently induced into a state of confusion over sinking food.

John Mann representing the S.W. Texas Koi & Pond Assoc. www.skapa.org in El Paso, Texas shared with the audience the low down on their pond tour. They suffered some rain damage prior to the show as a result of Hurricane John. They split their two-day tour into east and west regions with a different region’s ponds available on different days due to the mountain that splits the town making it easier to manage the event. Interestingly, club members help out on the tour by deploying themselves at each location, which allows the pond owner to sit back during the tour and not be overburdened with questions and answers. What a concept! The club is also very public spirited having aided the El Paso Zoo by improving filtration at the zoo koi pond. Other projects undertaken by the club include their build out of a koi pond at the Rio Grande park wetland reclamation project, and footing the bill an d elbow grease for a large koi tank at a new public library. They are really busy down in Texas. Pond Tour dates: Sept. 16-17.

Ray Jordan gave us the low down on the Texas Koi & Fancy Goldfish Society www.texaskoi.com party and, oh by the way their 14th Annual koi and goldfish show. Everyone involved is excited as last year’s show was postponed due to Hurricane Rita.

Jordan also gave the audience tips for preparing fish for koi shows including his technique of doubling the amount and frequency of water changes prior to a show and other water quality related efforts that improve koi appearance. Show dates: Sept. 30- Oct. 1.

Barry Hixson gave a historical overview of Mid Atlantic Koi Club www.makc.com and details of MAKC’s 18th Annual show. This year the show is in Allentown incorporating 55K-sq ft about half the size of their typical show space when in Chantilly where they typically show 350 fish. They expected about 40 vendors. There was discussion of their renowned magazine that promotes hobby education and the four chapters of MAKC. Charlie Phelps, Bryan Bateman, Joe White, and Henry Culpepper were judging koi and Peter Ponzio judging the goldfish. There was a Saturday auction to benefit AKCA KHV research. Show dates: Sept. 30- Oct. 1.

Bryan Bateman back from judging the national show in Holland explained how they do things in the Netherlands. "It is truly a national event," Bateman said. According to Bateman there were approximately 250 volunteers and 16 judges from around the world including South Africa, Great Britain, Belgium, and Japan. It is a hobbyist/dealer show with no animosity exhibited over the arrangement. He denied the existence of any koi hooliganism at the event. A little over 500 koi were benched.

Bateman also gave a review of his home club the Midwest Koi & Pond Society Show www.mpks.org. They benched 169 koi and 141 goldfish at their show. The club has a large membership of about 500 members. They started doing pond tours then doing shows and both are first rate. Their pond tour spans two weekends and included 75 ponds earlier this year! Show dates: Aug. 25-27 and Pond Tour dates: July 8-16.

Chris Neaves joined us from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa where he was a founding member of the South African Koi Keepers Society. He shared some of the roots of that country’s national society. He informed the audience of his pond survey revealing that approxemataly10% of middle and upper income residents keep koi. He shared his findings on filtration and koi nutrition, and some observations as the producer of Shogun koi food in South Africa. Plus, Neaves relayed several tales of intrigue involving acquiring and raising Japanese koi under most peculiar circumstances in South Africa. Neaves looks forward to one day crossing the pond to the U.S.A. where he has many friends some whom he has met as an advisor in the AKCA Koi Health Advisor Program. For more info on SAKKS visit www.sakks.co.za. Contact Chris with your questions and comments at neaves@mweb.co.za/

Nature’s Coast Koi Club’s Johnny Foster shared details of their upcoming open show at the Cadillac Motel in Fanning Springs on Oct 7 & 8. Foster believes this will be a better-coordinated show with facilities more centrally located. The Pin Man Norman Call will be on hand for judging, pictures and maybe a pin if you are lucky. For more information contact Foster at (352)542-8925 or pelbay@bellsouth.net.

To hear these koi luminaries in their own words check out the audio at www.KoiCluboftheAir.org. Please be patient as the audio files are quite large and take considerable time to download. Numerous other websites feature the content including www.koipondtalk.com and www.squidoo.com/carp along with many online audio search resources. Google "Koi Club of the Air" and we aren’t difficult to find.

In October tune in to hear:

-Dr. Sandra Yosha, DMV "Unplugged" on whatever she cares to discuss in our veterinarian series that has previously included Dr. Andy Goodwin, and Dr. Julius Tepper.

-ZNA Southern Koi Association’s www.znaska.org take on their 1st Annual Show in Naples, Florida November 17-19,

-David Hardcastle on their Gainesville Koi, Goldfish & Water Garden Club Show on Nov. 12 www.pondhoppers,

-Pete Patera giving the run down on the October 6-8 1st Annual Las Vegas Koi Show www.lasvegaskoiclub.com

-Todo & John boostering their home club, the North Florida Koi Club’s 20th Anniversary Show on November 17-19 www.nfkc.info

And invites are out for:

-Dave Cope to discuss the October 20-22 7th Annual Golden Empire Koi Show hosted by Bakersfield Koi & Water Garden Society: Contact Dave Cope (661)399-6195 or dcope@bak.rr.com

-Ed Thomas to discuss the October 14 San Francisco Bay Area Koi Club pond tour in Brentwood www.sfbakc.org.

-Debby Young to discuss the November 11 & 12 Annual Southern Arizona Koi Association Show. Tucson Arizona. Contact Debby Young 520-682-7697 debbyt@akca.org

-Note: We are looking for someone in Hiroshima, Japan that would care to represent on air the November 17-19 42nd ZNA All Japan Nishikigoi Show, at Marina Hop Hiroshima Festival Outlets, 4-14 Kannon Shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.

As always special thanks to our guests and sponsors including Al Zimmer’s Ponds and Supplies at www.AZPonds.com, Mazuri Foods at www.Mazuri.com, and Joe Pawlak and company at Blackwater Koi Farms www.koisale.com.

Happy Ponding from Todo Todorsky & John Hawley at the Koi Club of the Air.org!


	The Fish Wrap: October 2006 From The Koi Club of the Air What a month it was on the Koi Club of the Air. Todo got on his fishy soapbox this month over a confiscation of koi from an Asian restaurant pond in the state of Maine that in turn were given to a pet store in New Hampshire. "This is really a bizarre situation," Todo said. "I think it is a little bit of overkill." Acknowledging that any species can become a pest especially exotics this still seems very odd considering the restaurant owner had been keeping koi without problem or incident for fifteen years. The perp now faces a jury trial and you might be hearing more from us on this one! See www.seacoastonline.com/news/special/9_19special5.htm Todo also led a discussion on hurricane preparedness for koi hobbyists. The basis of the discussion was an article from the Tampa Bay Koi & Water Garden Club www.tampabaykoi.org. We discussed a few of MAKC’s- list of 25 Tips About Koi Keeping. Plus, Todo shared how one of his koi named Chow Man was recently induced into a state of confusion over sinking food. John Mann representing the S.W. Texas Koi & Pond Assoc. www.skapa.org in El Paso, Texas shared with the audience the low down on their pond tour. They suffered some rain damage prior to the show as a result of Hurricane John. They split their two-day tour into east and west regions with a different region’s ponds available on different days due to the mountain that splits the town making it easier to manage the event. Interestingly, club members help out on the tour by deploying themselves at each location, which allows the pond owner to sit back during the tour and not be overburdened with questions and answers. What a concept! The club is also very public spirited having aided the El Paso Zoo by improving filtration at the zoo koi pond. Other projects undertaken by the club include their build out of a koi pond at the Rio Grande park wetland reclamation project, and footing the bill an d elbow grease for a large koi tank at a new public library. They are really busy down in Texas. Pond Tour dates: Sept. 16-17. Ray Jordan gave us the low down on the Texas Koi & Fancy Goldfish Society www.texaskoi.com party and, oh by the way their 14th Annual koi and goldfish show. Everyone involved is excited as last year’s show was postponed due to Hurricane Rita. Jordan also gave the audience tips for preparing fish for koi shows including his technique of doubling the amount and frequency of water changes prior to a show and other water quality related efforts that improve koi appearance. Show dates: Sept. 30- Oct. 1. Barry Hixson gave a historical overview of Mid Atlantic Koi Club www.makc.com and details of MAKC’s 18th Annual show. This year the show is in Allentown incorporating 55K-sq ft about half the size of their typical show space when in Chantilly where they typically show 350 fish. They expected about 40 vendors. There was discussion of their renowned magazine that promotes hobby education and the four chapters of MAKC. Charlie Phelps, Bryan Bateman, Joe White, and Henry Culpepper were judging koi and Peter Ponzio judging the goldfish. There was a Saturday auction to benefit AKCA KHV research. Show dates: Sept. 30- Oct. 1. Bryan Bateman back from judging the national show in Holland explained how they do things in the Netherlands. "It is truly a national event," Bateman said. According to Bateman there were approximately 250 volunteers and 16 judges from around the world including South Africa, Great Britain, Belgium, and Japan. It is a hobbyist/dealer show with no animosity exhibited over the arrangement. He denied the existence of any koi hooliganism at the event. A little over 500 koi were benched. Bateman also gave a review of his home club the Midwest Koi & Pond Society Show www.mpks.org. They benched 169 koi and 141 goldfish at their show. The club has a large membership of about 500 members. They started doing pond tours then doing shows and both are first rate. Their pond tour spans two weekends and included 75 ponds earlier this year! Show dates: Aug. 25-27 and Pond Tour dates: July 8-16. Chris Neaves joined us from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa where he was a founding member of the South African Koi Keepers Society. He shared some of the roots of that country’s national society. He informed the audience of his pond survey revealing that approxemataly10% of middle and upper income residents keep koi. He shared his findings on filtration and koi nutrition, and some observations as the producer of Shogun koi food in South Africa. Plus, Neaves relayed several tales of intrigue involving acquiring and raising Japanese koi under most peculiar circumstances in South Africa. Neaves looks forward to one day crossing the pond to the U.S.A. where he has many friends some whom he has met as an advisor in the AKCA Koi Health Advisor Program. For more info on SAKKS visit www.sakks.co.za. Contact Chris with your questions and comments at neaves@mweb.co.za/ Nature’s Coast Koi Club’s Johnny Foster shared details of their upcoming open show at the Cadillac Motel in Fanning Springs on Oct 7 & 8. Foster believes this will be a better-coordinated show with facilities more centrally located. The Pin Man Norman Call will be on hand for judging, pictures and maybe a pin if you are lucky. For more information contact Foster at (352)542-8925 or pelbay@bellsouth.net. To hear these koi luminaries in their own words check out the audio at www.KoiCluboftheAir.org. Please be patient as the audio files are quite large and take considerable time to download. Numerous other websites feature the content including www.koipondtalk.com and www.squidoo.com/carp along with many online audio search resources. Google "Koi Club of the Air" and we aren’t difficult to find. In October tune in to hear: -Dr. Sandra Yosha, DMV "Unplugged" on whatever she cares to discuss in our veterinarian series that has previously included Dr. Andy Goodwin, and Dr. Julius Tepper. -ZNA Southern Koi Association’s www.znaska.org take on their 1st Annual Show in Naples, Florida November 17-19, -David Hardcastle on their Gainesville Koi, Goldfish & Water Garden Club Show on Nov. 12 www.pondhoppers, -Pete Patera giving the run down on the October 6-8 1st Annual Las Vegas Koi Show www.lasvegaskoiclub.com -Todo & John boostering their home club, the North Florida Koi Club’s 20th Anniversary Show on November 17-19 www.nfkc.info And invites are out for: -Dave Cope to discuss the October 20-22 7th Annual Golden Empire Koi Show hosted by Bakersfield Koi & Water Garden Society: Contact Dave Cope (661)399-6195 or dcope@bak.rr.com -Ed Thomas to discuss the October 14 San Francisco Bay Area Koi Club pond tour in Brentwood www.sfbakc.org. -Debby Young to discuss the November 11 & 12 Annual Southern Arizona Koi Association Show. Tucson Arizona. Contact Debby Young 520-682-7697 debbyt@akca.org -Note: We are looking for someone in Hiroshima, Japan that would care to represent on air the November 17-19 42nd ZNA All Japan Nishikigoi Show, at Marina Hop Hiroshima Festival Outlets, 4-14 Kannon Shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. As always special thanks to our guests and sponsors including Al Zimmer’s Ponds and Supplies at www.AZPonds.com, Mazuri Foods at www.Mazuri.com, and Joe Pawlak and company at Blackwater Koi Farms www.koisale.com. Happy Ponding from Todo Todorsky & John Hawley at the Koi Club of the Air.org!