Here, Fishy
Fishy -
Pond owners' pet names are as colorful as the fish
 A
koi named Quasimodo? Goldfish called Larry, Moe and Curly? Fish
names go beyond the standard Goldie and Spot, according to a recent
online survey conducted by The Water Garden. Respondents
to the poll submitted the names of their fish, which ranged from
the cute - Nemo and Dory from the animated underwater film "Finding
Nemo" - to the wacky - Big Rhoda and Monterrey Jack.
We wondered
if water gardeners named their fish the way people name cats and
dogs. We found that not only does it seem that people give their
fish names, but they're pretty serious about it - one pond owner
has 130 fish and has named every single one of them!
While Goldie
and Spot were the overwhelming favorites among those polled some
of the names submitted, like Filet O. Sole, were decidedly unique.
The movies
provided many fish names, like The Soggy Bottom Boys, who were
inspired by George Clooney's musical group in the film "O
Brother, Where Art Thou." A Western-loving water gardener
in Canada called his goldfish Butch and Sundance after the characters
played by Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
Even fast
food commercials influenced the monikers chosen by some people,
like Crunchy, Chewy and Cheesy, owned by a woman who let her youngest
son name three of her fish after the Taco Bell ad.
This same
pondkeeper also has a fish she calls Not For Sale - "When
we first tried to buy it, that's what the salesman told us,"
she said.
Some pond
owners went for themed names for their fish, like Liberty and
Justice for a pair of koi acquired over Independence Day weekend.
Several
water gardeners took the Japanese heritage of their koi seriously,
coming  up
with names they felt honored the origins of their fish. "We
have a 3-year-old male koi who's named 'Toshi' ," wrote one
respondent, "short for Toshiro Mifune, the '60s movie star
of Japanese samurai films."
Fish were
also frequently named in honor of favorite celebrities, including
Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Prince Charles, and even Mary-Kate and
Ashley after the Olsen twins.
While many
water gardeners name their fish for fun, one respondent noted
a more practical reason for christening his fish: "We find
names extremely helpful when noting the different habits and problems
a fish might have."
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clarity
of the water. This is just one type of pond filtration and the
one that requires the most time for maintenance. Mechanical filtration
can take several forms. For a small pond of one to two hundred
gallons this is most often a small in pond filter that contains
a sponge or similar material. While this will work well in trapping
small particles because of the small pore size it soon stops up.
You may find that you need to clean this filter every few days
to keep your water flowing and your pump from burning up. Larger
ponds of a few hundred gallons may use a larger type of in pond
filter. These often use a more open cell sponge or a fiber type
of filter media. This type of filter media is a good material
for this size pond as it does a good job of trapping larger particulate
while also allowing good water flow giving you more time between
cleaning.
and
the mechanical filter are the same. This could be a skimmer containing
filter media or an in pond filter. This means that we need to
clean the filter to remove most of the accumulated debris without
over-cleaning it, which would destroy some of the beneficial bacteria.
Larger ponds will use one of the methods of mechanical filtration
already discussed in combination with a biological filter. The
mechanical filter will be cleaned on a regular basis and the biological
filter should require little attention.
