Happy New Year Everyone!

We wish you and your friends and family a happy, healthy and pros-perous 2009 and beyond. We also wish you a healthy and enjoyablepond.

This seems like a good time to make a tally of our blessings. Cynthiaand I are blessed with a lovely and healthy pond thanks to the effortsof Ken Snarr, Chuck Cottam, Sanjiv Kapoor, Victor Arrelano and oth-ers. We also owe a deep debt for the many friends we’ve madethrough the club. We knew from our first meeting about three yearsago that the club would be a major source of help, encouragementand, most of all, friendship. It has proven to be all of that and more.

Beyond the personal side of it, we are blessed with a steady streamof interesting speakers, a good place to meet, a monthly opportunityto discuss pond issues and a most capable and willing support groupto help us with pond problems essentially anytime we need help. Thepros in the group, in addition to those mentioned above in connec-tion with my pond, include Mike Perret, Dan Rutledge, and NoreenRancourt. We are so fortunate to have all of our pros as club mem-bers who are knowledgeable and willing to share their expertise andenthusiasm with us.

Terry Denevan has stepped in to lead our meetings with his light, en-joyable and effective touch. Julaine Mullaney continues her hardwork as treasurer. Charity Lloyd has taken on the task of recordingwhat happens at both general and board meetings. We are re-minded at every meeting intermission how much we owe Bill & Mar-ifran Mundy who provide such excellent refreshments.

The annual Christmas Party was, as usual, a tremendous success andwe are grateful to our great organizers such as Rita Hughes and Bar-bara Snarr who make these things happen.

Would it be too much to ask for one more blessing? We are in des-perate need of more volunteers to help with production of thenewsletter, managing the website, photographing events and find-ing speakers. I have been doing most of this myself in order to keepthe club going, but I need help or I’m going to have to drop part ofit. Please call me at 650-948-7460 if you can contribute even a smallamount of time to sharing the load.

See you on Friday, January 16th. Ken Snarr’s October talk was a realwinner and we look forward to the next in his series on pond design

and construction. Don’t miss it!

Larry Templeton

January 2009

CLUB ORGANIZATIONPresident open

Vice President open

Secretary open

TreasurerJulaine Mullaney

(408) 266-1791

Board of Directors

Terry Denevan

Larry Templeton

3 open

Meeting CoordinatorTerry Denevan

(408) 279-4567

email, newsletterLarry Templeton

(650) 948-7460

Web site master open

Audio visual Larry Templeton

Pond Tour, Holiday

partyRita Hughes

(408) 227-4388

Dealer RelationsCal Hansen

(408) 394-4642

SpeakersBill Mundy

open

Librarian Cal Hansen

Membership open

RefreshmentsBill & Marifran Mundy

(408) 297-3741

Club equipmentKen Snarr

(650) 969-0715

Koi Health AdvisorSanjiv Kapoor

(408) 223-8776

AKCA Representative Larry Templeton

Art Director open

Emergency Pond

Services

Mike Perret

(408) 226-7802

Ken Snarr

Meeting notesCharity Lloyd

(408) 971-2797

Meetings & EventsMonthly Club Meetings – 7:30pmThe third Friday of each month.Willow Glen American Legion Hall504 Minnesota Ave., San Jose

January General Meeting

Friday, January 16, 7:30pm

Speaker: Ken Snarr on pond filter se-lection, pumps, plumbing, etc.

Pond Q&A as usual

Refreshments - Marifran’s pizza

$65 attendance drawing prize

Board of Directors Meeting

We’re back to the standardmonthly meeting cycle so theBoard meeting will be held at7:30pm on Thursday, January 22 atTerry Denevan’s home at 528 Min-nesota Avenue, San Jose.

Our board meetings are informaland are intended to steer the clubin the most positive way possible. Allmembers are welcome and en-couraged to attend.

Club ActivitiesOur Club provides a wide variety ofexperiences, some to help peoplelearn about designing, building andmaintaining Koi and ponds, some tobring in new members, and somefor just plain social enjoyment. Forexample:

• Monthly meetings with speakers,Q&A and refreshments

• Annual Pond Tour

• Pond Socials in the summer

• Holiday party

• A library of pond-related videos

• Representation with the Associ-ated Koi Clubs of America

• Booths at events such as theCherry Blossom Festival and sev-eral Home & Garden Shows.

Many of these activities are effec-tive at bringing in new members,which is essential for the continuingexistence of the club.

Now That’s Cold!We’ve recently seen overnight lowtemperatures in the mid-20s andpond water temperature hasdropped to just below 50. Our fishhave slowed ‘way down and weare resisting (mostly) the tempta-tion to feed them, much as theybeg. When we do feed, it’s only afew pellets of food.

String algae has begun to rear itsugly head so it’s time to order an-other bulb for the UV filter andmake sure we have enoughAlgae-Fix on hand, just in case theexpected algae bloom is morethan we can tolerate.

Our neighbors have huge pinetrees just over the fence so there’salways a debris problem. Winter-time is particularly bad with thehigher winds. Time to get out thebottom-net and get cleaned up.It’s a never-ending battle thatcan’t be ignored if we’re to havea healthy pond.

The common carp is widely believed to have origi-nated from the Caspian Sea with natural habitatsurrounding the North, Baltic, Mediterranean,Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral Sea basins. Thecommon carp, as a food fish with the ability to sur-vive and adapt to many different climates andwaterways, was bartered and spread to many dif-ferent areas, including North America, Africa, Eu-rope, and Asia. Wild populations of the commoncarp now exist in those four continents and SouthAmerica.

Color mutations in carp were first noticed in theearly 1800s. These mainly involved red, white andlight yellow Koi (the latter developing into the firstsingle - colored Kawarimono) and later the tor-toiseshell - patterned Koi. These were all mutationsfrom the black Common Carp, known as Magoi.

By the middle of the 1800s, cross-breeding of redand white carp, mainly in Japan, produced whatcould be described as the first Kohaku. Early Koivarieties such as Asagi, Higoi and Bekko, werecross-bred until later the same century, fixingmany of the varieties we know today. Certain vari-eties slowly reached high standards over severalgenerations and in this way lineages became es-tablished.

Around the same period, in central Europe, aCarp mutation arose, the Carp only having a fewlarge glossy scales along the dorsal line - the "mir-ror carp" or, having no scales at all - the "leathercarp". These fish which became known as "doitsu"from their mid european origins, were originallybred for food. Some of these "doitsu" carp were in-troduced to Japan in the early 1900s, which later

led to the Shusui variety (doitsu Asagi).

How Did the Dark Brown Carp

Transform Into Highly Colored Koi ?

Have Them Eating Out Of Your Hand

First you must get them to notice that you are theone feeding them. After they see you, take somesteps back until the fish feel comfortable to eat.After some time your fish will begin to trust you andyou will not have to walk so far away. Once theyare at the point where you put your hand out andthey all come up to the surface, start to lower yourhand in the water with the food. Before you know itthey will be eating right out of your hand.

The Ultimate Koi Pond WisdomResearch before you dig! You’ll be so happy you

did.

A Great Holiday Party!The 2008 annual SCVKWG Holiday dinner was held atMarianni’s Inn in Santa Clara on Sunday, December7th. The food and ambiance was, as always, verygood. Rita Hughes and Ken Snarr collected manytoys and a hatful of cash to buy more toys for disad-vantaged kids. It was a wonderful opportunity to cel-ebrate the holidays with good friends, chat a bitabout fish and ponds, and experience genuine goodfellowship. Highly recommended!

Deadline for Splash InputsThe next issue of SPLASH will be published in Febru-ary 2009. The deadline for inputs is Friday, February6. Please email your inputs to Larry Templeton atlwt@templesun.net. All Club and Koi pond/watergarden topics are welcomed.

If you want to write a pond-related article forSPLASH, that’s better yet.

Future SpeakersIn February, artist Carole Moore will present her beau-tiful paintings of Koi and Watergardens. Carol is amost accomplished artist who specializes in our fa-vorite subject.

If you have ideas for future speakers and/or topics,please email Larry Templeton at lwt@templesun.net

Some Very Important Fish

InformationWhat do you call a fish with no eye?

A FSH !!!

Why are fish smarter than mice?Because they live in schools.

How do I avoid infection from biting insects?Easy = don’t bite them.

What is the best fish on ice?A skate.

Koi are so intelligent that within only a few days ofcaptivity, they can train humans to stand at theedge of the pond and throw them food!

The following are excerpts from the excellent talk onpond maintenance that Sanjiv presented at the No-vember Club meeting

Biofilter Processes

A biofilter processes fish waste while producing acidsand consuming oxygen and carbonate. To keep itworking properly you need to provide a continuousflow of both oxygen and carbonate. A proper pondaeration system provides the oxygen, but you needto provide the carbonate.

Carbonate Hardness (KH)Carbonate hardness (sometimes referred to as KH orbuffering capacity) can be provided by naturalstones such as calcium carbonate, concrete andchemicals. KH must be maintained at >80 ppm in allponds. KH is a measure of the pond’s ability to ab-sorb the acids that are normally generated in thebiofiltering process. If KH gets too low, the pH in yourpond can drop quickly which may be fatal to yourfish.

In concrete ponds, KH is provided by the concreteand/or stones for the first few years. In ponds with lin-ers and in older concrete ponds, KH should be sup-ported by adding food grade baking soda. Anoverall rule of thumb is to add one cup of bakingsoda per 1500 gallons once each month, but fre-quency of addition varies with amount of food beingconsumed (more in summer less in winter). You mayneed to experiment for a while to find the quantitythat is appropriate for your pond.

Correcting KHYou can buy baking soda in large quantities fromplaces like Orchard Supply. Before you begin addingbaking soda, buy a test kit. Dry "strip" type test kits areeasier to use but less accurate than the wet "dropper"'type test kits.

Measure KH before and then 24 hrs after adding acup of baking soda. This will tell you how much the KHis increased in your pond for each cup of bakingsoda. Add soda once a week until you have reached80ppm, then wait two weeks, measure KH again anddetermine how much soda you need to add to bringthe KH back up to 80ppm. You will soon learn howmuch you need to add on an ongoing basis.

Biofilter Limitations

A biofilter is incapable of processing inorganic wastesuch as airborne silt. This inorganic pollution buildup isbest countered by water changes. Sanjiv recom-mends 10% per week OR 30% per month. Additionallytwo large water changes of 70% are needed eachyear. Late spring and early fall are ideal times forthese.

Pond Maintenance On A Budget by Sanjiv Kapoor

Neutralizing Chlorine/ChloramineTo neutralize the chlorine and/or chloramine that is inthe fresh water when you refill the pond, sodium thio-sulphate can be used for 10% water changes. Forlarger water changes, Chloram-X is recommended.Fill the pond back slowly (over a couple of days) whendoing 70% water changes.

Building a Quarantine Facility

If you have fish you value, you are putting them at ex-treme risk every time you introduce new fish that havenot been quarantined. Taking this risk isn’t necessarybecause a quarantine facility can be built at low costand it doesn’t take much space.

Sanjiv highly recommends that you quarantine newfish for at least 6 weeks before putting them in yourpond. You want the quarantine environment to be asmuch like the eventual pond environment as possible.

The key environment elements of a koi pond includingdepth, bottom drains, and skimmers can be repli-cated in inexpensive quarantine tanks by buildingthem out of 55 gallon drums.

Buy two 55 gallon plastic barrels, an inexpensivepump, some japanese mat filter material, an aerationpump and airstone and the requisite plumbing fittings.Place the barrels on 4x6s or such to elevate them sothat bottom drain plumbing will not contact theground. 1-1/2” PVC plumbing is adequate for the job.Cut 1-1/2 inch holes in the bottom of both barrels. Cut1-1/2” holes about 1 ft below the tops of both barrels.

Install flanges and right angle fittings in the bottoms ofboth tanks. Plumb from the bottom fitting of the fishtank to the inlet of the pump and from the outlet ofthe pump to the bottom fitting of the filter tank. Plumfrom the top hole in the filter tank to the top hole inthe fish tank. This arrangement gives water flow intothe filter tank which goes upward through the filtermat and out the top to be introduced into the top ofthe fish tank where it flow with the fish waste to thebottom drain, through the pump and back to the filtertank.

Total cost = cheap!

Treasurer’s ReportThe club remains in good shape financially.As usual, most of our income is from thepond tour and memberships. Both incomestreams are predominately in July. The restof the year, it’s mostly outgo, and thatmostly for rent on the meeting hall andprinting and mailing expenses for thenewsletter. December had extraordinaryexpenses for the Holiday Dinner and pur-chase of a new printer for the newsletter.

Dec 24,2008 through Jan 9,2009Opening balance $9,591.78Deposits 118.00Outstanding checks -200.00Expenses -1,987.42

-500.00Closing balance $7,022.36

Our appreciation goes to Julaine Mullaneyfor all the hard work she puts in as ClubTreasurer.

Board of Directors

November MeetingThe newsletter is now being produced in-house and the most cost-effective wayto print it is to buy a printer. Commercialservices are much more expensive. TheBoard authorized the expenditure of upto $400 to purchase a new printer.

LT note: The printer has been purchasedand is in satisfactory operation. It wasused to print this newsletter