KOI CLUB OF SAN DIEGONEWSLETTERMarch 2026 |
|
|
36TH ANNUAL KOI SHOW MARCH 7&8 2026 Del Mar Fairgrounds Bing Crosby Hall 2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard Del Mar, CA |
|
|
No March Koi Club of San Diego Meeting
|
|
|
Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 8, at 2:00 a.m., when clocks "spring forward" one hour to 3:00 a.m.
|
|
|
STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 11th at 7:00 pm (earlier if you are ordering food) ALL MEMBERS ARE WELCOME!
Dennys
2691 Navajo Road El Cajon, CA 92020
|
|
|
|
|
From the President's Pond
|
|
|
|
|
Super Koi Meeting.
What an outstanding way to kick off our February with a Super Bowl Sunday gathering at Lenore’s beautiful home! I want to extend a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who attended — your energy, laughter, and enthusiasm truly made this a memorable event.
We were thrilled to see such a fantastic turnout, with more members than we’ve seen at any February meeting in recent years. It was especially meaningful to have one of our founding Members Dr Galen Hansen and his lovely wife Maureen join us, bringing with him a vast collection of Koi USA magazines to give out for FREE to members. Their presence reminded us of the community and shared passion that bind us together over many years past.
Thank you to Lenore for graciously hosting and to everyone who contributed to the potluck and camaraderie throughout the afternoon. Thanks to Koi Jack for a quick talk about the loooong winter (chuckle) we have been having here in San Diego
I want to remind everyone there is no March general meetingdue to the 36th Annual Koi Show.
Volunteers Needed for the March Koi Show
Our annual Koi Show on March 7th & 8th is pretty much here and we can always use volunteers. This event is the highlight of our club’s calendar, but it takes a lot of hands to make it run smoothly—from setup (Thursday) and registration to hospitality and teardown (Sunday). If you can spare a few hours, please consider signing up. Reach out to Matt or Jill to get a spot.
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 |
|
|
JANUARY MEETING PHOTOS
Lenore Wade
by Jeanette Newell
|
|
|
|
|
WELCOME BACK RENEWING MEMBERS!
Steve and Alexa Ford Rick and Jill Leach Linda Pluth Will Vukmanic Robert and Janice Adler Carrie and Jack Story Jr.
|
|
|
KHA KORNERby "Koi Jack" Chapman |
|
|
Updated
Spring Time around Aeromonas Alley and Koi Skin Ulcers
|
|
|
Well spring is just around the corner and this winter has been the warmest ever for southern California. After our club’s February meeting a few members are reporting ulcers - so aeromonas is getting an early start due to elevated pond temps. I came home from the meeting and thought it time to update and try to combine my past articles on spring time as it relates to Aeromonas and koi skin ulcers. Little long in the tooth, but hope I don’t lose you or you abandon me. LOL So, time to update my last article on about one of the most commonly encountered koi bacterial infections known as Hole in the side (ulcer) or more properly referred to as Aeromonas Hydrophilia. This bacterium is an opportunist pathogen that usually takes advantage of injured, sick or otherwise immune weakened koi. For Aeromonas Alley a key factor about what’s going on in your pond and your koi is what is the pond water TEMPERATURE - and I like to know this both in the early morning and late afternoon. Just be glad we live here and not where it gets really cold for the winter months – can you imagine having to deal with snow and ice? However, it is important to know how low your pond temps get and for how long during each of our winter seasons. One of the things you need to be mindful of is the range of temperatures in which your koi are most vulnerable to what triggers bacterial infections again most often caused by Aeromonas and WHY it’s happening. Think pond temp and what’s going on in my bio-filter and my koi’s immune system. Yes, it’s a combination of factors. First Aeromonas bacteria is inactive at 39F and starts to become active at 40F – with each degree to about 60F it becomes exponentially more active as in reproduction. While at the same time, our koi only start to improve their immune system after 55F. For the science nerd in us all, this is measured by the presence of white blood cells (WBC) in a blood sample and there is a reported case study in the literature that showed zero WBC in some koi at below 55F. So between 40F and 55F, we got the bad bugs multiplying while the koi’s immune system is close to nonexistent. To make matters worse it has been reported that the bacteria that typically infect our koi thrive in harder water and at higher pH’s (hello southern California). Before you get upset – this is one of Mother Nature’s ways to weed out the weakest for the survival of the species. (Ref: MN rule book page 3) LOL. Additionally, their numbers severely increase with accumulated detritus and mulm on the bottom of your pond to flourish and – in the converse – their numbers are GREATLY reduced in clean ponds with goooooooood water quality and proper circulation!!! The temperature zone of most volubility to Aeromonas infections is 47F to 62/63F – what we like to call Aeromonas Alley. Note: At lower pond temps your koi are less active and sit on the bottom more leading to increased contact opportunity for body and fin rot from Aeromonas infections. Seventy-seven or 78F is generally accepted and been reported as the optimum temperature for koi metabolic efficiency - as well as the temp at which their immune system will be close if not at max. It is believed that the koi’s immune system is at about 25% efficiency when they emerge from Aeromonas Alley, and attain 50% around 70F. Now at the same time, the bacteria in your biofilter is becoming more active to handle the pond nitrogenous waste that will increase with feeding, decomposing organic matter and increased koi activity. Nitrosomonas bacteria activity, which converts ammonia NH3 to nitrites NO2, is reported to be at or close to zero at 40F and will reach 50% capacity at 60F and at 100% efficiency at 75F. At the same time Nitrobacter bacteria converts nitrites NO2 to nitrates NO3 (to complete the nitrogen cycle) but at a slower pace being reported as not active till about 60F but also reaching full activity at 75F. A word of caution for us in southern California -- with us not having to deal with real winter conditions, Aeromonas will most likely continue to populate (be active) in our ponds during the typical winter months (especially this past winter – hell as I up-date this article on Feb 7 at 11AM my pond is 61 F and we are running daily high temps in high 70”s and a couple days in low 80”s. BEWARE - if you start to feed your koi too often and too high in protein – it will exit your koi as undigested fish poop (mulm on bottom of pond) – OTHERWISE known as the best food possible for the bad bacteria at the worst time!!! Yes – as I like to say POOP WATCH TIME. All the above is just another good reason to remember to keep your weekly water changes at 10 to 15 percent and periodically check your water quality for NH3, NO2, NO3, KH, and O2. Spring is the most stressful time of the year for our koi and some pond owners alike. Got to have a plan and be especially observant of your pond and your koi at this time of year.
Now to expanding on koi skin ulcers to complete a better basic understanding of the kinds of things you need to consider when managing your pond to avoid ulcers. Also, a good thing to review prior to spring activities or even now with the new koi from Japan available for purchase. In 2025, I had more than the usual pond calls during spring and summer with sick koi and skin (scales)/fin/mouth disorders – a couple dozen over an eight-month period of time – maybe a record for me (2/3 club members) and most with different circumstances. About every 7 years or so we get an exceptional disease-causing species of Aeromonas. How bad you ask, well after a needed veterinarian visit to the Japanese Friendship Garden koi pond, which our club volunteers to maintain, we got to catch 24 koi and give two injections every third day for 5 treatments and we had 18 survivors. A few fluke parasites were also found upon microscopic examination and appropriate pond treatment completed (Kusuri – Fluke M) along with a couple potassium permanganate treatments a week apart to pond at a rate of 2.4 ppm to acquire a treatment dosage level of 2ppm for several hours – till turns brown. One level teaspoon (about 6 grams) per 790 gallons for a 2ppm treatment was the formula used for dosing. Potassium Permanganate usage requires its own article and not at this time LOL. When I get asked the question – What causes ulcers in koi????? - My answer is “just about everything!!” And yes I get some funny looks and are you serious expressions. I follow up with how much time do you have? – and with me that can be a problem as I love talking about koi as you all know LOL. While external ulcers are a very common issue with koi, to just say it’s a bacterial infection and maybe supported by a culture and sensitivity test and treated with antibiotics is simply not the end of the story! As a matter of fact, it’s just the beginning if you want to reduce the risk of future body/mouth ulcers and fin issues on your koi. An understanding of why koi develop ulcers can be a wealth of information and knowledge about your pond’s environmental system and the multitude paths that can lead to your koi’s reduced immune response which is the leading cause of koi illnesses, only one of which is body ulcers. When I do a pond call, I bring a collection of reference materials to share with pond owners while exploring the possible problems that they are experiencing with their koi and their pond, one of which is the best pictorial descriptions of the many possible causes leading to body ulcers on your koi. Also, I believe this pictorial description will provide the observer with the salient key points when thinking about areas of possible concern or better yet areas for future exploration, as we all progress (get smarter) as true koi hobbyists. As a side note: as we move through winter our koi slow their activity and spend more time on the bottom of our ponds. And they rest where they feel the safest (warmest) in less turbulence from water pond currents – so if your maintenance schedule or lack thereof has left debris (a buildup of pond waste material) collected on the bottom of your pond and your koi spend more time resting their body and fins within this material you may experience, after having no summer problems, external skin issues at this time of year and for next couple of months and even into summer. I encourage pond owners every couple weeks to look closely at each koi for any developing external issues. Yes, a list of all your koi can be very useful as a check off when completing this task. This is the single event in my pond practice that has led to the discovery of most of my koi’s early external issue detection and trust me it’s much easier on me and my koi to deal with these impending problems early on in their development. It also is the same time that I seem to notice individual changes to my koi that I truly love or not so much with their general overall development. The best pictorial for all this stuff that I’ve personally encounter looks like this - |
|
|
|
|
Reference: Koi Health Quarterly (Magazine of the Koi Health Group) United Kingdom – Issue 12 – Autumn 96: Article Titled “Ulcers at a Glance” by Tony Roberts – pages 40 and 41. I have acquired author approval to publish with proper credit.
Maybe next month we can explore ulcer treatments and kudos to those readers still with me!! This article was intended to sensitize the reader to the conditions existing within your koi and your pond during early spring as it relates to Aeromonas Alley and subsequent skin ulcers. Hope this encourages you to learn more leading to no ulcers and fin issues for you and your beloved koi! Stay safe and healthy! r/koi jack |
|
|
|
|
PLEASE VISIT OUR APPAREL SHOP!THANK YOU JAMIE KANES FOR YOUR BEAUTIFUL DESIGNS! |
|
|
|
|
Koi Person of The Year 2026 Cory Burke
|
|
|
|
|
Newsletter editor/ Webmaster: Julia Schriber |
|
|
Membership Chairman: Jill Leach |
|
|
Koi Health Advisor/
Librarian: Jack Chapman |
|
|
Club Historian: Dr. Galen Hansen |
|
|
Correspondence Secretary: Shirley Elswick |
|
|
Japanese Friendship Garden Liaison: Linda Pluth |
|
|
Koi Health Advisor/
Water Quality: Jack Chapman |
|
|
To Host a Meeting: Tony Martinez |
|
|
To Submit an Article: Linda Pluth |
|
|
Program/Activities Suggestions: Matt Rhoades |
|
|
This message was sent to you by {Organization_Name}
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe at any time |
|
|
|
|
|
