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Greg Stienstra and his wife Barbara thought that a pond on their property would be a nice addition, never imaging it would lead to a passion for breeding koi.
A few years ago, the Stienstras contracted with Garden State Koi in Warwick to put in a pond.
“In less than a week, we had a beautiful, 37-foot long pond with two waterfalls,” Greg Stienstra said. To make the pond complete, a few koi and other fish were added for color. With 9,200 gallons of water reaching a depth of more than four feet, the couple”™s new pets had plenty of room to roam. The Stienstras spent much of the summer of 2005 landscaping the pond and added a few extra touches, including a year-round filtration system Stienstra built himself.
The koi soon became more than just carp swimming around the pond. The couple both became interested in the breed and in the different varieties available. “At first, we started with the standard mix of koi, comets and shubunkins …after a while and after doing some research, we started looking at better grades of koi.” The Stienstras were soon hooked, line and sinker. Today, they have more than 400 in their original pond as well as a 12-foot round pool Stienstra put in his yard for the overflow. The comets and shubunkins are long gone. Koi is the only fish you”™ll find in the collection these days.
When it comes to the better grades, Stienstra looks to Lee Menszak of Washingtonville, whose Web site, www.thekoifarm.com, is a wealth of information. “Lee is also great when it comes to discerning diseases in the fish,” Stienstra said. “When I see one of them may have a problem, Lee is my doctor on call.”
Menszak is Stienstra”™s favorite fishing hole. “He is so knowledgeable and has wonderful, high-grade koi,” said the electrician. When Stienstra noticed his pair of platinum ogon butterfly koi was ready to spawn, he quickly separated them so the female could lay her eggs. “Koi have a habit of eating the roe, so as soon as the pair mated, we put them back in with the group and left the eggs to hatch.”
It didn”™t take long, in just four days, Stienstra had more than 300 baby koi, called fry, swimming in the separate pond. Even though both parents were the same type of fish, many of their offspring were of a different color and breed. “Breeding koi is not an exact science, like the mating of purebred dogs or cats,” Stienstra said. “You never know what you”™ll end up with.” Then Stienstra went to work, setting up tanks in his garage and moving the newborns indoors for the winter. “This spring, 25 of them went into the big pond. In July, I put up a 12-foot above-ground pool for the rest.”
Stienstra also got inventive when it came to keeping predators, particularly blue herons, away. “Blue herons can wipe out your entire pond. I installed a sprinkler system with sensors … if any heron or other animal tries to get at the fish, they”™ll get sprayed ”“ and poof! They”™re gone.” And yes, admits Stienstra, he has occasionally stepped in the wrong spot and got a soaking himself. “I do try to be careful about where I walk.”
Now that winter”™s nearly upon us, Stienstra”™s fish are getting comfortable at the bottom of both pond and pool. “Koi are a hardy breed, and while they don”™t actually sleep, they rest at the bottom during the cold weather; except for an occasional piece of algae that may float by them, they do not look for food and are, for the most part, dormant.”
While Stienstra has sold a few of his underwater flock, “the money goes right back into the care and feeding of my fish. I”™m not doing this for the money. I love raising them and trying to breed koi with beautiful color. It gives me a real sense of peace to come out and watch them, and I love feeding time. As soon as they see me, they come right to me. It sounds like a herd of ”˜kisses”™ coming right at you. Some of the species are so friendly they will literally eat out of your hand. They are, indeed, a very special breed.”
Although the oldest koi in Stienstra”™s school is only five years old, Hanoko, who has been passed down from generation to generation in one Japanese family, is nearly 200 years old. “Some people like dogs, others cats. For Barbara and me, these are our ”˜babies.”™” And over the winter, the Stienstras will be busy with their latest group of fry, who are living in tanks in the basement. “The tanks need to be drained, cleaned and re-filled each week.” Does the chore get tiresome? “Not at all,” said the electrician of 30 years. “I enjoy it and find it very relaxing.”
