Aug 29 2010
We put in a small pond this past month - mainly for a few goldfish and some waterplants. Pictured right is me tweaking the waterfalls. Summer is certainly winding down although it is still quite warm outside - it was 30 today
Clients are starting to book tanks for winter boarding and we have deicers on sale during September. Will be photographing one of this years larger projects next week. Planning lots of upgrades to the site this Winter |
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Aug 4 2010
We are just finishing up are first major project of the season. We had a very busy Spring with servicing and several smaller jobs. Notably, pond rebuild to incorporate a concrete collar. As 1 client said, it took 13 years but eventually his main waterfall stone started to tilt into the pond
Kevin called me back last week, apparently his fry are growing very quickly in the pond. His mature pond [lots of food] has a lot of plants with just a few large fish, so he isn't losing very many fish. We will try to pull the bulk out in the Fall |
July 5 2010
Well the heat wave has started here in Toronto. Need to watch the oxygen levels and it was a wake up call when Tony phoned me tonight to say his power was out and he couldn't get his generator going. The backup plan was the powerbox from Canadian Tire - everyone should consider having at least this if not a full blown generator
We should be starting a new pond build this week and I'm helping a client tape his pond folds tomorrow. Planning on visiting Ray Abels this November as I missed it last year after 4 consecutive years. Things are going well at the shop and we still have a good selection of Japanese koi available. We are now closed Mondays although still there and I had 6 people stop in today |
June 9 2010
Did a service call yesteray and spotted a ton of fry that look about 20 days old [pic right]. It is early this year for spawning, due to the exceptionally warm April. We have completed a couple of minor rebuilds in the last 2 weeks - installing a concrete collar was part of the scope. It took 13 years for the rock to tilt with one of the ponds, but tilt it did. Always best to go with a collar to begin with. Did some leak repair today, PVC liner no less. These type of liners should really be outlawed, along with anti kink hose |
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May 11 2010
Our shipment arrived in good shape with some really nice fish. Some fish have sold, but there are still a lot of solid fish available. More waterplants are coming in at the end of the week - although the recent cold weather will be hard on the hyacinths and lettuce. We have installed some lights above our new tanks to better illuminate the new fish |
May 4 2010
Renovations are essentially complete and so far the feedback is very postive. Many waterplants have arrived and more will be coming in. The Japanese Koi shipment will be arriving this Thursday, very exciting time of year. We are still quite busy with pond openings and a few small jobs.
The weather is great with the season about 3 weeks ahead this year. Not nearly as many dead fish as I thought there might be this Spring due to the long winter and false start to it in October of last year |
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Apr 4 2010
Renovations are almost complete and things are coming together. The exciting part is the additional water volume which will allow us to house more fish. We are currently ordering a lot of stock. Plants and fish will be in later this month and our large Japanese shipment the beginning of May. Pond openings are starting this upcoming week - we have had tremendous weather this year with some warm record setting days. Looking forward to an exciting 2010 ! |
Mar 7 2010
I'm currently busy renovating the back of our shop. Building 11 new tanks against the wall and rearranging everything for a cleaner more consistent layout. We will have about 3K more gallons for our fish stocks which will help greatly. Also, a large 250 square foot mezzanine to store product.
It's warming up and we are looking forward to getting back to work and starting another season. We have hired another respected koi enthusiast who is happy to lend a hand on weekends. This will help greatly during the spring rush having 3 people in the shop to help. In this hobby, most people want 20 minutes+ of your time, not 2 minutes. So this can lead to longer waiting times during the busy season but we hope to alleviate that with this new hiring
For those interested in ponds builds, please feel free to drop in to discuss your plans NOW. In May, we don't have a lot of time for this and would need to book an onsite meeting |
Feb 12 2010
Well I have just returned from the 41st. All Japan Koi Show. My koi will just never look the same. It was a great experience. We visited breeders for the 3 days and the show for 3 days. A lot of koi in a short period of time but it was great. I just created an outings page with some pics of the show. I will also create a page on some of the breeders we attended when I get a chance. There will also be a 20-25 minute video shot at the show available on our free catalogue / Video disc this year - just stop by the shop and pick yours up or place a mail order and we will include it
If you are thinking about going to Japan, just do it. but I would recommend going during the show rather than the during the Fall harvest if you are more interested in seeing than buying fish |
Jan 1 2010
Happy New Year. The final touches on the trip to Japan are in place and it should be a great experience. I will shoot a lot of photo's and videos. Also planning a major renovation to the back of our shop in February. It has become overun with product in the last couple of years and its becoming progressively harder to keep things tidy and organized. We will be constructing a bank of new tanks to give us more water and a better display |
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Regularly Updated pages: Home, Monthly Pic & Current Year Pics archive and this News page |
Aug 29
Added a new client to the clients page. I will be starting some general updating as usual this Fall |
May 22
Some minor updates and 2 new pics added to the stone page. This upcoming winter would like to get some major updates done, these past 2 winters I have been busy renovating the shop |
April 9
Some new info and pics on the aeration page |
February 12
A new page on the All Japan Koi Show has been created featuring 20 photos. Small addition to the Clients Page #2 |
January 1
I have added 2 new pages. One is on Koi Keeping Basics and the other is for the 2010 Pictures of the Month. Added a couple of pics to the Selecting Koi page. Planning on a few more pages before the Spring |
December 14
Several new pages and items updated. New pages include Portfolio 15, How To: Install Diaphragms and a photography gallery. Another video has also been added to the videos page, it features the Sakai of Hiroshima Koi farm. I'm also working on a how to video to illustrate aquadyne bead filter flushing. More updates are planned - including at least 2 pages featuring my trip to Japan |
October 31
I have tweaked the site and made some cosmetic changes. I'm also working on improving some pages which haven't received any attention for 2 years ! |
