KOI CLUB OF SAN DIEGONEWSLETTERJanuary 2026 |
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NOTICE Being a member of the Koi Club of San Diego does NOT permit free admittance to the Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum. The volunteers from our club are only allowed free entry while they do their volunteer work. So far that includes Lenore Wade on free Tuesdays, Jack Chapman, Rick Leach, Matt Rhoades and Linda Pluth (and anyone else on the filter cleaning crew). Any questions or problems with this, please contact Linda Pluth, Japanese Friendship Garden Liaison, lpluth@cox.net, 619-200-4146 (leave a message) or at a meeting. Thank you for your attention and cooperation. Submitted by Linda Pluth.
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36TH ANNUAL KOI SHOW MARCH 7&8 2026 Del Mar Fairgrounds Bing Crosby Hall 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard Del Mar, CA |
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Koi Club of San Diego Meeting
January 11th, 2026
Social hour - 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm
Meeting begins at 1 pm
Potluck, bring your own chair
OUR HOSTS WILL BE
Dan Goese and Monika Walch
7229 Almaden Lane Carlsbad CA 92009
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STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
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Wednesday, January 14th at 7:00 pm (earlier if you are ordering food) ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME!
Dennys
2691 Navajo Road El Cajon, CA 92020
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Koi Club of San Diego Ponder Profile
by Lenore Wade, photography by Bill Newell
Dan Goese |
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It is special for me when I get to meet great hosts and to see their world. All I can say is, “Be prepared to be awed and amazed.” From the time you walk down the driveway to the big brown door to your left, you might be thinking “another house, another pond”. When you walk through the door the first thing you see is a serpentine koi pond in front of you. It seems to go on forever. It is the most creative pond I have ever seen. It is about 35 feet long, 6 feet wide and 18 inches deep with 3 waterfalls along the way. There are about 25 large koi 8-10 little ones and a Red-Eared Slider named Rosie who is about 17 years old.
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Our host Dan Goese and his companion, Monika, greeted me with open arms. Dan has lived in the house for about one and a half years, while the fish have lived there for close to 20 years. The house with a huge backyard, pool, putting green and a large kitchen and entertainment area sits on the 14th hole of the North Course of the Omni La Costa Resort. Dan told me he is intrigued by the resort feeling of his own home and always feels as if he is on vacation. (Please, don’t be confused, the fish are in the front of the house, and the spectacular view is in the back.)
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Having been born in Milwaukee, he spent much of his youth in the south where his father worked before moving back north to the east side of Chicago. He earned a master’s in electrical engineering before moving to the west coast. It didn’t take him long to realize his true love was in marketing. He worked with Hewlett-Packard developing new printing products that people wanted and needed. During these years, he moved from Encinitas to La Jolla and, now, to Carlsbad.
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Dan is the fourth owner of this one level home which was built in 1976, and improved by the second owners in 2008. He bought the home in Spring 2024 from the third owners who have left many of the beautiful sculptures done by the wife, which are all around the house
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and yard. He is blessed to have also inherited Guillermo, who has helped to maintain the koi pond for the last 20 years.
While we were sitting in the living room, a Great Blue Heron decided it was time for a visit. It is the first one Dan has encountered. He went outside to take pictures. The bird was unphased and stayed for well over 5 minutes. Now, Dan’s only concern is whether the bird decides to venture around the house. |
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I hope you will all plan to come to the meeting on January 11th. Remember, we eat from 12:00 to 1:00 and then the meeting begins. You will want to allow yourself time to check out this beautiful home and pond.
It is a little deceptive as you drive down the street. The house sits down from the street and only has a regular driveway opening. Unless you are unable to make the short walk down the drive, please park on the street.
Don’t forget to bring a dish to share.
Also, a friendly reminder, please bring all those Christmas gifts you don’t want so we can have a successful opportunity drawing. |
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From the President's Pond
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Our most recent Koi Club meeting was a wonderful way to close out the year, and a big thank-you goes to Matt and Jill for so generously hosting us. They finally got to show off their new kitchen, and a very nice (deep) Koi pond to boot.
The potluck was a definite highlight, with members bringing an impressive spread of dishes. The ham and turkey were especially popular and made for a hearty, festive meal that everyone enjoyed. As for myself, I ate the pumpkin pie first, because life is uncertain, so eat dessert first! I also found a new liking for Russian Tea (I’m sure the Bourbon helped). As always, it was great to see members gathered around, sharing food, stories, which Koi in the pond was their favorite, and plenty of laughter.
We also held our annual Christmas White Elephant gift exchange, which was a lot of fun. There was no shortage of creativity, humor, and friendly competition—especially when the “stealing” began. The room was full of laughs, and it was clear that everyone embraced the spirit of the game.
As we wrap up the year, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Thank you all for your continued involvement and enthusiasm for the club. We’re already looking ahead with excitement to the Koi Show on March 7 & 8 at Bing Crosby Hall, Del Mar Fairgrounds (2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar, CA), and we hope to see everyone there as we kick off another great season together.
Here’s to a healthy, happy, and koi-filled New Year!
Until next time, keep your ponds clear, your koi happy, and your butt in a chair enjoying both!
Warm regards,
Cory Burke
President, Koi Club of San Diego |
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DECEMBER MEETING PHOTOS
Matt and Jill Rhoades
by Bill Newell
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS! Vard and Cheyenne Hunt WELCOME BACK RENEWING MEMBERS!
Jack Chapman Galen and Maureen Hansen Tony and Sasi Limvorapun
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KHA KORNERby "Koi Jack" Chapman |
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So, I was at a loss for a subject to talk about this month and was working inside due to the RAIN and I’ve had a couple request for info on the same subject. So, guess what I decided to write about: Yes, RAIN WATER and it’s now been close to 3 years since I wrote about this subject.
So what about rain water and your pond?? Got some general thoughts and not in any order of importance. - Let’s start with runoff water flowing into your pond. AVOID AT ALL COST!! Just think of all the _ _ _ _ that can come with the runoff water reaching your pond. The stuff you or your neighbors spray to kill bugs/weeds or grow bigger fruits and vegetables can kill your koi. And the county can and does spray fruit trees for some of the real bad bugs – I have notified the county that I have a koi pond so the fruit trees in my yard and my neighbors get pellets around the base of our fruit trees vice the county spraying – got fruit trees as close as 10 feet from my filter box. Any runoff reaching your pond will most likely cause some water cloudiness (first sign to watch for) and you should remove any debris from rain or wind at your earliest convenience. For the more serious water quality nuts out there (like me) you can additionally measure your ponds ORP (Oxidation Reduction Potential or as I like to call it the pollution index) and TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) before and after the rain to see just how much pollution was caused by the rain. These are the readings that will lead me to a larger than usual water change after a heavy rain – 25 to 30%. Oh - crazy note: I suggest your pets not swim in your koi pond (flea collar or any spray on or bath medications – just a thought). The other runoff of concern is from your roof or patio covers – think gutters. So final thought would be to eliminate any access for rain runoff or yard waste water getting to your pond!!
- Read number one again!
- Remember the smaller the volume of pond water the larger the possible negative effects of copious amounts of rain water could be to your water quality.
- You should have a pond journal with your past water quality parameters recorded.
- Rain water normally has a pH of 5 to 6 so it’s soft water (acidic) depending on where you live in the good old USA. SO - from my past records– at 2PM on 4/10/20 in El Cajon CA with a heavy rain falling collected in a big clean koi tub the pH was 6.21. I also checked the GH or hardness of the rain water and got little green at 2 drops or 35.8 – can you say very soft water. So one could expect a drop in pH depending on the volume of rain water and hope rain water in my area has not changed in the past 5 years.
- Now don’t forget rain water is devoid of calcium carbonate as the KH was zero at one drop and this will affect your water chemistry and further lower your pH to a point it could affect your biofilter bacteria – stops working around 40ppm and want pond to not be less than say 80ppm. Oh, guess I should remind you your KH reading is the pond alkalinity measurement but you knew that. If you are not testing your KH on a regular basis You Should… rain or shine! To increase KH… just add Baking Soda at a rate of 1 pound per thousand gallons will raise your KH 70 ppm. Maintaining the proper KH level will prevent the dreaded “pH crash”.
- As one might expect ammonia NH3, Nitrite NO2, and Nitrate NO3 were all zero.
- The oxygen levels were a nice 11.9 to 12.1ppm, which brings me to the unknown, as rain water forms and falls through the air it picks up the STUFF present in the air which it is falling through – so the existing air pollution becomes part and parcel to the rain falling into your pond. The pH is a direct result of this not to mention any nearby industry air pollution or agriculture spraying that can be found in rain water. A club member who will remain nameless lives a little uphill and directly across the street from a large cement plant – the normal air currents passed directly over his home –you could on occasion taste and smell the cement components in the air and his KH and GH were CRAZY high. SO solid roof cover (no run off issues) over pond as shade cloth would have worked until the first rain (I’ll let you figure that out LOL) and increased water changes and chose not to do continuous water changes.
- After a hard rain or over an inch do some water quality testing and remember the solution to pollution is dilution – love it!
- Lastly, when you have a pond liner you have to make sure rain water or yard water does NOT collect between the wall and liner as it will cause bubbles and collapses. They’re no fun to deal with.
Just a few random thoughts as it has rained enough lately for my pool to overflow to the patio drain. My overflow drain in pond is working great, thank you. Please stay safe and healthy both you and your koi.
r/koi jack
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PLEASE VISIT OUR APPAREL SHOP!THANK YOU JAMIE KANES FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS! |
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Koi Person of The Year 2025 Jill Rhoades
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Newsletter editor/ Webmaster: Julia Schriber |
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Membership Chairman: Jill Leach |
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Koi Health Advisor/
Librarian: Jack Chapman |
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Club Historian: Dr. Galen Hansen |
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Correspondence Secretary: Shirley Elswick |
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Japanese Friendship Garden Liaison: Linda Pluth |
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Koi Health Advisor/
Water Quality: Jack Chapman |
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To Host a Meeting: Tony Martinez |
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To Submit an Article: Linda Pluth |
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Program/Activities Suggestions: Matt Rhoades |
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