Gary's Hungry

[Mikey]

Recently we have been hearing occasional loud splashes coming from the pond and when we look out we can see the disturbance but we didn't know the cause.  We had assumed it was the bull frog attacking something.  Today while outside looking at the pond I saw Gary, our 10lb or so koi, suddenly charge the surface where some mosquito fish were gathered and he jumped, creating a large splash as he broke water.  AhHa!  Now I know the true cause of the splashes we had been hearing.  We knew that Gary ate mosquito fish but his past tactic was to sneak upon them and suddenly start sucking in water.  Apparently Gary has learned a new tactic....

[Ruthie]

Our biggest koi (not nearly that large, he's still a baby) stalks the mosquito fish too.  I hand feed the fish earthworms and I was pretty shocked to see Cow Koi strike above the water's surface to grab the worm I was holding.  he will also jump on top of the hyacinth to get fish food stuck up there.  I keep trying to get  a photo of him doing this.  It's pretty wild.

I guess it is one way of keeping the mosquito fish population in check

[miguynmkoi]

 :'( I have no more mosquito fish this year. When I got a dozen mosquito fish about 5 years ago they multiplied so fast into the hundreds.  My koi and goldies were only about 1-1/2" max then.  As the years went by the squit population dwindled every year to nothing this year.

In the evenings I hear slurping sucking noises from the koi swimming out of the water and eating fairy weed in my small bog area in the pond.  I'm not thrilled about this habit so I cleaned out the fairy weed from that area.  Beached koi not something I want to see.

Koi = Pigs!

[Esther]

Good thought Annette. I had a 5 pound Koi get in the bog and lay there over night I think. In the end I had to euthanize him.

[perplexed ponder]

Mikey-
Maybe Gary has been watching the Discovery Channel! Some whales hunt fromt he bottom that way!!
Hmmmmmm, maybe that's why he's 10 pounds, do you have his pedigree?

[tranquility]

Them big ones can sure do things and squeeze into spots you would have never thought they could....our biggest girl is 26" long and looks like a mini-sub in the water...but, she can sit on top of the rocks that are just below the water surface and suck out any food that gets in between them....she has also been know to sit in the DIY skimmer which is a dog dish and suck up the food that gets in it....Them big ones will do just about anything for food....
Lawanna

[karen J]

Gary....... love that name. 

Your Gary is doing exactly what nature intended him to do, eat. 

Them big ones can sure do things and squeeze into spots you would have never thought they could

Ain't that the truth!

[Sandye]

Mikey, you need to feed that poor little, starving guy!   

I love the name, too!  A fish named Gary.