I had my first lesson on scraping a Koi today

[Cinnamon]

Ralph Bates and his wife Diane came up today. They had never seen our pond. I had asked Ralph to show me how to do scrape and what to look for under the microscope. We picked on "Albino Hercules" as I call him now. He was clear. Heiko wants to name it Peaches and Cream now :lol: I told him I would just call him albino :) We are going to a Koi Club meetin with them Saturday near Houston. It should be very interesting and informative. :smile:

[Merlin]

Well done Cinnamon, it is one of those things that is a must :wink: . I remember my first time, I was so worried that I would hurt the fish I nearly dropped it off the table, now I have lear'nt how to knock them out it is a piece of cake :).

[Jackie Ramo]

Good for you. We are all a bit nervous about handling our fish but sometimes it is necessary and better to practise when they are healthy than to practise when they are sick and really need you.

[Cinnamon]

Ralph was going to teach to knock one out but he said they were small and he didn't think we needed to knock them out. He also said there is always a chance they don't wake up. Now that scared me. But he went on to say that he has only one fish do that in ALL his years which is extensive. He did tell me how to do it so if I need to I can :) The hard part was catching him! He is fast fast.

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, the smaller they are the harder to catch they are. Big ones are quite easy to catch but watch out for jumpers. One funny story was one of the moderators on KV talking about his fish jumping over the net and hitting him and breaking his nose!!! I do admit to laughing when I read that!! :lol:

[Terri]

While Ian is the "expert" netter here I've been practicing my technic and getting better, thank heavens I've not had the broken nose issue(I remember that post, was quite amusing).

Good for you and Rembrant, and great that Ralph is teaching you. Knocking small(young) fish out isn't so bad, I've found it pretty effective - it's the bigger guys and gals that are somewhat harder to handle when it comes to a scrape(way more than a handful).

[Busy B]

Your fish are quite lucky. Learning all that entails to koi keeping, will keep them with you for a long time :wink: How nice to have a mentor that is willing to get you started! And a club in your vicinity will be quite handy. Nice to share the hobby with someone with the same interests.