July 29, 2006 we (along with dozens of other pond fans)
headed east to the Amana colonies to visit the Kloubec Koi Farm.
LA
We arrived at 12:30 on the dot. Lots of other ponders were already
there enjoying a tour of one of Kloubec's holding buildings. They
were looking at the concrete holding facilities.
LA
This particular holding basin held this nice assortment of foot-long koi.
LA
The fiberglass roof lets in the light and breeze and helped mitigate the
90+ degree temp.
LA
Still under construction on the north side, we had no problem seeing the
outdoor ponds.
LA
From this main building, we trekked on over to the breeder holding
facility.
LA
Males were housed in two of these tightly covered holding facilities.
The coverskeep the males from bailing. This sealed building was hot
and humid.
LA
The females were uncovered so we could view them. We moved right
along because this sealed building was plenty hot.
LA
Exiting to another open-air building, we saw this vat of 6 to 8-inch koi.
They were marked "Not for Sale." However, ...
LA
Turns out some of them were for sale. Need a 100 or so?
LA
In the next vat, these foot longers were going for $125.
LA
In the hatchery itself, we saw several huge vats that were used to
incubate eggs. They "milked" the males and females to assure the
specific bloodlines they desired. This particular vat held 500,000
eggs from one six-pound female. We asked if he counted the eggs.
He didn't.
LA
The walls of the entire vat were covered with goldfish eggs. He said
they would get a 95% hatch rate in three days.
LA
Meanwhile, some of our party were sitting in the shade feeding the hungry
koi.
LA
Koi of all colors were battling for the tiny fish-shaped pellets.
LA
No telling how many were in this particular pond. They never stopped
eating. They consumed a 15-pound bucketful of pellets that
afternoon.
LA
This three-footer decided to sample my fingers. She was not
impressed.
LA
Following a brief after lunch break, several of us jumped on a hay-less
hayrack to tour some of their many koi ponds.
LA
Here we hopped off the hayrack to get a closer look at several of the
ponds. Our guide explained how the koi dig into the banks to eat the
plant roots. This makes the ponds larger as the berms between
gradually get narrower. The ponds must be renewed periodically.
LA
This particular pond housed some half a million inch-long koi.
Kloubec will cull out 95% of these little guys on the first sorting.
Surprisingly, there were several foot longers in the same pond. Our
guide said the big ones ignore the little guys. They do keep them
well fed -- some 500 to 800 pounds of koi pellets per day. The big
guys get fed once a day. The little guys get three meals a day.
LA
Prior to stocking the tiny fry, they enrich the pond with a high nitrogen
fertilizer to promote the growth of phytoplankton -- a tasty and
nutritious food for the tiny fry.
LA
The red koi (kohakus) grow redder in red clay ponds than in the other
ponds. They keep their blue koi in blue clay ponds.
LA
Here's some ponds "in progress" we saw on our return trip to headquarters.
LA
At one point, some of us had to get out and walk because the koi had
narrowed and weakened the dikes.
We left out much of the tour:
our lunch, our pond seminar (which I found hard to hear), some of the
buildings, their special foods, their display water feature, most of the
people from the various pond societies, and lots and lots of the various
koi. We headed into the sunset and enjoyed a leisurely trip home on
highway 6 -- much more relaxing and scenic than Interstate 80. LA

kloubec.com
© 2006
LA Productions
aqualandpetsplus.com
3600
Sixth Avenue
Corner
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Des
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