Follow the Manxman from South Korea

[Roxanne]

2 hours ago, John Wright said:

I know you were joking, in response to a typo.

Carp is nice. But, yes, tastes muddy, even after purifying. So does catfish, pike, perch. 

Carp was the Catholic fish of choice on days of obligation, Fridays, high days and holidays, when meat was frowned on. Every nunnery and monastery had a fishpond. Stocked with carp. They’re just big browny green goldfish.

Not uncommon to see them live in barrels, bowls, tanks in markets in Europe, just before Christmas , and not just eastern, but middle, Balkan and southern Europe.

 

I was only half joking. It was in response to the typo but I did also think they were poisonous. Thanks to you and others for the clarification. I used to keep carp. I couldn’t imagine eating any of them. 

[Gladys]

1 hour ago, Roxanne said:

I was only half joking. It was in response to the typo but I did also think they were poisonous. Thanks to you and others for the clarification. I used to keep carp. I couldn’t imagine eating any of them. 

The food carp are common carp not Koi, AFAIK, which can cost long thousands.  My ex used to keep Koi - boy, they could command some money. 

[Two-lane]

42 minutes ago, Gladys said:

My ex used to keep Koi - boy, they could command some money. 

Most ex-es do.

[John Wright]

On 9/11/2023 at 4:22 PM, Gladys said:

The food carp are common carp not Koi, AFAIK, which can cost long thousands.  My ex used to keep Koi - boy, they could command some money. 

Koi are a selective breeding from common ( edible ) carp. And very recently, 250-300 years.

So, no, Carp are not koi, different body shape, fins and colour; but koi are carp.

[Gladys]

7 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Koi are a selective breeding from common ( edible ) carp. And very recently, 250-300 years.

So, no, Carp are not koi, different body shape, fins and colour; but koi are carp.

We used to go to Koi dealers, just to look, I add.  They would have huge tanks full of all kinds and ranging in size and price.  But the really special ones were advertised by a photo on a noticeboard with eye watering price tags, tens of thousands some of them (in the 90s!).  It was all to do with the markings and colour.  

[John Wright]

13 minutes ago, Gladys said:

We used to go to Koi dealers, just to look, I add.  They would have huge tanks full of all kinds and ranging in size and price.  But the really special ones were advertised by a photo on a noticeboard with eye watering price tags, tens of thousands some of them (in the 90s!).  It was all to do with the markings and colour.  

It’s like the relationship between wolves and domestic dog breeds.

In Spain I’ve a large agricultural cisterna water “reservoir” in the orchard. Fed by a well. Originally to irrigate crops. Now used for goldfish who happily live there, with some human supplied food, but mainly insect larvae.

 

[Gladys]

Just now, John Wright said:

It’s like the relationship between wolves and domestic dog breeds.

In Spain I’ve a large agricultural cisterna water “reservoir” in the orchard. Fed by a well. Originally to irrigate crops. Now used for goldfish who happily live there, with some human supplied food, but mainly insect larvae.

 

They are lovely, fish are very calming.  Presumably the cisterna is very deep, they do better in a deep pond or tank.  The problem we had was an opportunistic heron.  The stone heron decoy next to the pond made no difference!

Koi, like any domestic animal such as dogs, sheep, cats, cows and so on are the product of selective breeding from wild animals, as you say. 

[Roxanne]

18 minutes ago, John Wright said:

It’s like the relationship between wolves and domestic dog breeds.

In Spain I’ve a large agricultural cisterna water “reservoir” in the orchard. Fed by a well. Originally to irrigate crops. Now used for goldfish who happily live there, with some human supplied food, but mainly insect larvae.

 

Lovely to see. I too kept them in the early 90's and I built a pond to keep them in. I used to save up for weeks for my fish and got them from the place in Jurby. I was never after any of the more expensive ones and I preferred to get the babies and grown them on. My favourite But least attractive) was 'Skeletor' the ghost carp. He grew to massive proportions. All of them were friendly and all of them fed from the hand. I adored them. It was the thought of eating 'Skeletor that made me ask the question about eating them.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Roxanne
to spell skeletor's name right.

[Roxanne]

9 minutes ago, Gladys said:

The problem we had was an opportunistic heron.

Herons need to wade in for fish. At least that's what they prefer. When I built the pond I really didn't want a big wall around it but it was the only way to stop the Herons from getting in. 

I used to work with the uncle of Paul Hewson (from a pop band whose name I can't remember). He came to visit because he also wanted to keep koi carp and his uncle connected us.  We spent the day talking about ponds and filtration systems and all things pond related. We had a great time. It was only years later that I discovered he was quite famous. You would never have known. Happy days.One day I'd like to build another pond and start again but I'm not sure I'd be able to afford koi again at today's prices. 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Roxanne
to remove an aberrant apostrophe

[Gladys]

2 minutes ago, Roxanne said:

Lovely to see. I too kept them in the early 90's and I built a pond to keep them in. I used to save up for weeks for my fish and got them from the pace in Jurby. I was never after any of the more expensive ones and I preferred to get the babies and grown them on. My favourite But least attractive) was 'Skeleton' the ghost carp. He grew to massive proportions. All of them were friendly and all of them fed from the hand. I adored them. It was the thought of eating 'Skeleton that made me ask the question about eating them.

We had a couple of ghost carp too.  

We also had frogs which spawned in the pond (it wasn't as deep as the really serious keepers had);  mating season in the pond was something to behold.  We moved the spawn to a feeder tank to give the tadpoles a chance of survival.  

A pond is a lovely thing to have in the garden.

[Roxanne]

3 minutes ago, Gladys said:

A pond is a lovely thing to have in the garden.

It's also more calming than a river. 

I've had both in mine and I know which one I prefer.

[Gladys]

3 minutes ago, Roxanne said:

Herons need to wade in for fish. At least that's what they prefer. When I built the pond I really didn't want a big wall around it but it was the only way to stop the Herons from getting in. 

I used to work with the uncle of Paul Hewson (from a pop band whose name I can't remember). He came to visit because he also wanted to keep koi carp and his uncle connected us.  We spent the day talking about ponds and filtration systems and all things pond related. We had a great time. It was only years later that I discovered he was quite famous. You would never have known. Happy days.One day I'd like to build another pond and start again but I'm not sure I'd be able to afford koi again at today's prices. 

Yes, I would like a proper pond too.  Have had small 'containers' to provide a watery place for wildlife, but nothing like the pond we had when I was married. 

We used to go on garden visits to look at koi keepers' ponds and fish.  There were some remarkable constructions, some of them in the rear garden of quite modest terraced houses. 

On the heron, he would stand on the side of the pond right next to the decoy, and there was more than one occasion that I saw the ex chasing him off as he flew away with a fish in his beak.  He became affectionately known as 'that f*cking heron'.

[John Wright]

24 minutes ago, Gladys said:

Presumably the cisterna is very deep, they do better in a deep pond or tank

It’s 5 metres diameter and 2 metres deep. It’s all above ground. It’s on auto top up with a floating ball valve device. Level falls, valve opens, pump starts.

It’s still used for gravity fed irrigation of the lawn, patio pot plants, fruit trees, soft fruit, grapes, and veggies. I’ve a filter cage to stop the babies being sucked out. The irrigation comes on for half an hour dusk and dawn, just timed motorised valves.

We get lots of dragon flies and swallows and martins skim drinking.

[Gladys]

That is lovely, John, nice to see a garden working with nature rather than against it. 

[doc.fixit]

What a very pleasant interlude this has been in a normally frenetic forum.😎