Best answer!!

OK...for ALL THE BLEEDING HEARTS that wanna save BUBBA...send us some money and when we catch him...we will ship him to you

Is he skillet size yet??

not quite...

A little background on me. I maintain and install ponds professionally. One of my high end ponds has two butterfly koi worth over 10K each in it. Because of a Costa infection I had to drain of 95% of the water in a 3000 G pond. I used Pro Form C to deal with Protozaoa and Prazi Pond to deal with Flukes and other worm type parasites. Needless to say I nuked the environment and had to add chlorinated tap water immediately. AMQUEL TO THE RESCUE! I know all about the biology of ponds. I also know filtration and hydraulic engineering pretty dang good. if you want a real challenge, try getting a clown fish out of a reef tank without tearing it all up. Or better yet try catching a rock hugging purple tang.

When I refer to draining a pond for the purpose of catching a fish I mean do it so that the back of the fish is just sticking up out of the water. You can refill with tap water as long as you treat it as it is added by giving it a splash of Amquel every once in a while. No other product does the job quite as good for dealing with Chlorine and Chlorine. I also use it to suppress Ammonia spikes as well. I have never lost a fish to my maintenance. There is no such thing as thermal shocking a pond fish unless you allow the water to get hot when it is drained down. Pond fish are temperate at best but really are cold water. Koi prosper in cold water. Shallow ponds (Between 18" and 2 1/2 feet) are nothing more than algae pits. A proper koi pond is four or more feet deep over 70 to 80 percent of its area. Unfortunately that also makes it hard to catch a fish that not only has left and right to go but up and down as well. If it is heavily planted like some of my ponds are then you have as much chance of netting the fish as getting struck by lightning. Unless you plan on hooking the fish then draining is the only way. The only way to effectively damage or kill a pond is to let it dry out. Once established it takes an act of god to destroy the biology.

I also do not like sand bed filtration at all! A lot of people swear by it but they clog up hard and when they do they are a stinky mess to clean out. They also can be part of the reason a bad bio bloom breaks out.

Since you are a koi owner let me give you something to watch out for because this happened to a customer and it killed four fish before the disease was successfully stopped. This shows on white koi much more visibly but if your fish get a sunburned appearance either in patches or over the whole fish it is a protazoan infection.

When you net the fish and look close you will see veins running through the scales. Usually it is Costa and it is HARD TO KILL. If you have Costa do not assume anything like it is the only problem you are having because you will more than likely have flukes as well (Look for pin holes in the fins, dead give away for one variety, gasping and difficult "breathing" for gill related. Also if they swim around with their gill plates open all the time they have gill parasites or the water quality is really crap). Remember these two medications, Proform C and Prazi Pond. Proform C deals with protozoan infections and Prazi Pond kills all worms. You will be doing a huge water change prior to using these medications and after. They are used together as well. The treatment takes a week.

Once upon a time Costa could be controlled with salt in the water. Not any more. It got resistant. Given a choice between sparing a pond's biology and saving thousands of dollars in fish, biology looses. I can always restart the biology.

Or, you might try plants. Give the little guys a little hiding room. Besides, they are cheap feed.

Bass are all mouth and subsequently all stomach with fins attached. Also koi are very destructive and eat plants. They graze algae when they get large. They also uproot and dig up everything. I have some potting tricks that keep them from doing that but they can displace large stones. Gambusa would only last a few minuets with a bass around plants or not.

Here is an excellent and comical set up for a pond. Make sure it has a boarder of plant life that overhangs the deeper water and put in archer fish. Put a drop of honey on the tips of the leaves and watch the fun on a nice spring day.



It is just like having a water fountain!


If you like watching birds buy it and even Herons will not screw with one of these...



The Jardini flavor (AKA Australian Red and Malaysian species) reach about two to two and a half feet long and eat mice and small birds. They can jump remarkable heights to catch birds. Hand a bird feeder over a pond with a couple of these in it. The picture is of the South American Sclaerophagus species and they can reach six feet long.

For something REAL big try out this one...



This is the South American Arapima and they reach 300 pounds adn seven to eight feet long.

Pesky Raccoons?

Illegal in the USA unfortunately but fun none the less due to their aggression levels...



Yep, that is a snake head and they can reach six feet long and are OUTRIGHT VICIOUS! Imagine the surprise on a raccoon's face when the fish are trying to eat them instead?

For a fish that is legal may I suggest one or two of these in your pond...




Muskelange! The Barracuda of the fresh water.

somehow makes my Beta seem inadequate

On a trippy side note about the snake head I take it many of you have heard of the African Walking catfish?





They are a serious problem in Florida as an invading species adn this picture is of one on a walk. They go on rainy days following waer trickles looking for new hunting grounds.

Snake heads do that too...



Making them a real serious invading species.

Want to see something way assed crazy?



The African Tigerfish...




Nice dentures!

There's just nothing sexier than a guy holding a fish...

I could do soooo much with that.



I wonder how Bubba is today? I wonder IF Bubba still is today?

Bubba's still in the pond, mosquita fish havn't arrived yet.


btw i got all kinds of plants in my pond...and they control the algae real well...especially the floating plants. I also have snails and I use Barley rolls. I would have liked to have my pond deeper...but it is still a nice size.

BUBBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yea!!!!! Bless his big mouth heart!!

Hey Twin,

Are you going to be able to get Peccy out on that big body raft thing this summer? Or is he still afraid of being Gator bait?

PECCY is terrified of gators...and SKEETERS...he keeps his ass indoors. He's a wuss!

Okay well the gator thing I get! But COME ON PECCY!!!!

This IS the SOUTH..it's gorgeous down here. You need to get out with your honey and enjoy! That picture by that gator sign last year was sooo priceless!

I want a pet Alligator! They actually are a lot smarter than people think but they are by no means a beginner pet. Raised with a lot of attention and fed properly (and keep in mind their jaw reflex is hinged to their tongue, if you so much as touch it with a single hair their jaws snap shut so no hands anywhere near its mouth!) they actually act a lot like big scaly dogs with a few differences. They know their name but fetch is only getting something to eat potentially for them. They also know who belongs and who doesn't. They also will keep the neighbor's kids out of your swimming pool. You also can house break them. they are smart enough to know better than poo anywhere they want to. They sure will not foul their own nests! I would name mine Fluffy as a joke.

I miss having big lizards! I had an Ornatis monitor that once I got him past his a@@hole phase he was not only litterbox trained but he also came running to me to see what tasty treats I had for him. he never bit me after I trained him either and I can tell you monitor bites hurt like hell even when they are two feet long! Mine was almost six feet long.

Yes I have exotic tastes! If I lived in Florida I would have me an alligator on a leash. Best part is they don't catch rabies so if it eats a rabid dog no prob! Best part is when neighbors let their dog crap on my lawn! If they don't pick the poo up Fluffy can take care of things for me. Alligators love eating dogs for some reason...

If Raptors were still alive I probably would be out trying to get a baby one right now. I always imagined myself riding one down the street or going to a horse race with it to see who is faster! I always wondered exactly how smart they were though...

Nothing like having a pet with a mind of its own like some dogs have...