We’ve had a hot go of July this year. My plants are holding up pretty good though and my koi pond is a hot bed of activity. I had a run in with swim bladder disease and I want to tell you about it.

I’ve introduced new babies!

I was fortunate to receive 5 new baby koi, well, they’re about a year old, from a friend of a friend. Lucky me! I say lucky me because I haven’t had much luck in the baby koi department lately. I bought 3 new koi fish back on June 5th and they died the next day! I suspected something before I put them in the koi pond, so thankfully I had released them into my inside aquarium that doesn’t currently house any fish. I think they were all diseased. They didn’t have swim bladder disease, but ick or something like it.

I snatched up those 3 from Walmart (above). Yes, I know… Walmart isn’t the first choice for premium koi pond fish, but I was desperate! My koi are about six years old now and have never produced any babies. So I resorted to buying them. It didn’t turn out so well. In my defense, I tried to buy them from reputable pet supplies stores, but they were out. I must’ve missed the boat or they just didn’t have many this year. Most years, there’s a guy who sells fish in a parking lot and advertises in the paper. I never saw it this year.

So, after sharing my sob story with my girlfriend she told me about being offered some babies and said I should give them a call. I did and now I have 5 new ones and I’m so happy!

They’re all doing well with the exception of one small white one. I knew the second we caught him from the donators pond that something wasn’t right with him. With a little research, I found that he most likely has swim bladder disease. I found a lot of information about it on a go to site for me called “The Pond Guy”. Turns out you can take them in to the vet (uh… no.) or you can try and treat the poor fish yourself with peas. Yes, I said peas. Apparently, they are backed up from the dry food. So after a few days of trying to catch this poor fish that can’t swim and therefor not able to get to the food, I finally caught him. For being a crippled fish, he sure could get out of the way of a net!

So I removed him from the koi pond and sequestered him to his own large container with a pump that would make bubbles so he didn’t suffocate. Feeding him just a pea a day at first I was hoping for the best. He didn’t eat it while I stood over him and watched but when I came back to check on him, it was gone. I really didn’t know how long to do it, so I kept him about a week cooped up in a big red bucket. He got to where he ate the pea right away in front of me and so I’d give him another. He was up to 4 peas a feeding and after 3 days of eating good I noticed he was swimming better and I decided to put him back in the koi pond with the others. I felt I had nursed him back to health! Now I watch over him like a mother hen. I still try to give him peas, but the other fish are fast and I think he may be a little stupid.

I did learn that you have to take the skin off the pea or it will float. Swim bladder disease has something to do with the organ that contains gasses I think and it affects their buoyancy. He wasn’t able to swim to the top while he was sick or swim very well at all really. Now, after the pea treatment he can. Before he just sank. It was so sad. I’m so thrilled now to see that little guy swim with the other fish. They had stayed away from him while he was sick. After I treated him and put him back in the koi pond, he swam right up to the the other fish close to his size and they accepted him! They all swim as a school now, it’s so cute.

Now, I’ll share with you now just photos I’ve taken of pond today and a few older ones. Some are close to the same, but the fish are in a different position. I love to watch them swim, it’s so relaxing.

I zoomed in a bit to see one of the larger babies

My view each day as I walk out on my deck and look down.

Look at all the different sized fish. I love it!

Hey I noticed my white waterlily has bloomed, yay!

I snapped this last week of a new elephant ear I bought this year. It’s called Madeira Tropicools. It’s supposed to hardy to my zone 6! We’ll see. It’s a beauty.

“Madeira” elephant ear

I took this video today. So peaceful… I hope it helps relax you like it does me. Come back soon, I’ll show you all the daylilies that are blooming.

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Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page in the menu at the top. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery.

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