Submitted by Dot Wilbanks
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JULY 2010
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APRIL 2010
Ron Goforth hosted the April meeting at his home in Friendswood where Shigeru Mano of Dainichi Koi Farms in Japan comes annually to bring Koi for us to purchase. This year we invited the San Antonio club, the Dallas club & Lone Star of Houston to participate. Ron had 4 quarantine tanks set up in his back yard to show & display the amazing quality of each koi that was purchased. Since this is April of course the rains came but it did not dampen anyone’s spirit for koi. The meeting was moved inside the garage where tables had been set up with an amazing array of food that everyone brought to add to the buffet table. Then Ron & Shigeru gave a presentation on Sanke and Shigeru told of his success with the new Sanke bloodline that he is developing in Japan. He said he examines approximately 5 million Tozai, culls down to 1,500, then each one is judged individually & after that process he selects the ones that will come to Ron’s for the big koi sale each year. He also stated that the male is more important in the spawning process, which surprised most of us. He showed photos of gosanke & the parents of the koi he brought. We had so many knowledgeable people in attendance from the Southern area of Texas along with our honored member from Chicago but each one stated that they learned something new from the discussion.
Ron Goforth has decided to step down from the position he has held for the past 18 years as ZNA District Chair Person. The club president, David Waller, presented Ron with a beautiful hand selected bonsai plant as a memento from our club for his devotion & hard work in ZNA. Ron has a collection of different bonsai plants but he said he would cherish this one because it means so much coming from his own club members.
There were approximately 45 to 50 koi enthusiasts that wandered in & out of the back yard to see the superb koi that Shigeru brought this year. Once again our president, David Waller, invited us to his home for the lst meeting of the year. Each October before C-mas he sets up his miniature village of Christmas in the City that takes him about 2 months to assemble & then the same amount of time to take down in February. It has now developed into 5 tiers with the newest addition being the Empire State Bldg. He also has a Drive-In Movie theater, do-nut shop with police cars, 2 working railroads & an actual replica of a working trolley. There are lots of working red lights & miniature fountains that would have to be seen to be believed. David’s 4,500-gallon pond is home to 17 beautiful koi. He has crystal clear water so we could see the beauty of colors on his koi. Ron Goforth presented a program with the topic being Asagi that he learned from the Asagi master/specialist in Japan. There are two major lines that are called Gunjo and Narumi. The main difference between the Gunjo & Narumi Asagi is based on understanding the difference in the fukurin. There is also a newer type that is called a Reverse Asagi. One of our members, Tom Tran, just returned from a trip to Japan & he brought all of us some brochures from the Dainichi Koi Farm. Shigeru Mano will be coming in April to bring some fantastic koi for us to purchase. David served cold drinks & desserts (with all calories removed) to everyone present. We had a good turnout considering that it was a cold wintry day here in Texas.
JANUARY 2010
Jim Prappas, the Director of Animals for Landry’s gave our club a private tour of the Aquarium Restaurant & issued lots of personal behind the scene information. We can all remember Sept. 2008 when Hurricane Ike roared thru Galveston/Harris County leaving massive amounts of destruction everywhere especially if you were located on or near the water.. When the floodwaters finally began to recede the employee’s of the Aquarium in Kemah on the Boardwalk were doing what they could to remove debris. When the hurricane came down the channel they lost electricity & huge objects from the other buildings that were destroyed took down an entire back wall & did horrific damage to the alligator area where a couple of the gators were lost but thankfully soon found. There was 8 feet of water inside the Aquarium itself with a storm surge of 12 feet. It has been completely redesigned for more interactive experience with the stingrays. The difference in several years of technology has been amazing so the remodeled Aquarium has doubled in size & been redesigned from the top to the bottom. All new tanks were brought in with fresh water & all the tanks are now self-contained. Fresh water stingrays have been around a long time & they are now breeding the spotted stingrays. There is an open exhibit where we were able to actually hand feed the stingrays. What a wonderful experience that was. Also, they have new exhibits of piranhas, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, turtles & tons more. An added feature is the Gorilla & Elephant animatronics. The filter room had to be completely replaced as everything was totally ruined & Jim showed us the protein skimmer that is used to clean the water. We were also taken to the Lab & shown where water is tested. Also we saw the Food Prep. Room & the Diving Room where all the equipment for the employees who dive in the tanks is kept. They have installed Solar Panels on top of the Waterfall at the Rain Forest Restaurant to regenerate the batteries & they are working so well that they will soon be installed at the Aquarium. David Waller presented Jim Prappas with a beautiful fish plate for all the wonderful & exciting things he does for our club. Jim’s son was having a birthday party that day but he took the time to come & give us this never before seen tour.
May 17, 2009
We had a second meeting this month at Diane Caulk's home. This was a joint meeting with Lonestar & approximately 25 people were present, the weather couldn't be any better with it being rather on the cool side for May. Ron spoke about the importance of having great water quality in koi keeping, emphasizing that water in Japan is soft thus the need for us to match the same water parameters to keep our koi's skin young and colorful. He talked about the quick & easy testing method he uses to measure the water parameters as well as the desired amount of each. Many on hand learned alot from this meeting.
May 2nd, 2009
Ron Goforth hosts the annual koi sale each year when Shigeru Mano and his wife Erico come to town the first of May. Shigeru brought spectacular Dainichi Gosanke that was hand selected by Ron & Shigeru during Ron’s Jan. visit to Dainichi Koi Farm located in Ojiya, Japan. This year was a new breed of Kohaku called Rikidozan named after a famous & very powerful wrestler from Japan. Our club was the first people outside of Japan to get to see this new koi. As they improve the bloodline the price will of course increase also. Some of us pre-ordered our koi so Ron & Shigeru could handpick them. Everyone I talked to was thrilled with the choices made on their behalf. At noon when we could tear ourselves away from ogling & enjoying watching the koi we had a champagne toast with a special cake made for Shigeru’s birthday. Ron gave him a gag gift of converting metric measure to inches since he has a problem doing that sometimes. Ron also gave him a handmade beautiful koi plate that he will treasure for years. David Waller, president, presented Ryan Vo, our webmaster, his Koi Person Of The Year certificate. He is well deserving of this honor & recognition. Also in attendance was Junichi Kayano originally from Japan but now living in CA. who stated that he had never seen this quality of koi in the States before. Others were Donald and Nguyen from ZNA North California and Lam Nguyen from the Portland Oregon ZNA Koi Club. Michael Cox of Koi Nations was also present & brought enough magazines for everyone to take one home. Thanks, Michael, we appreciate that donation. A long-standing member, Bob Pehlke from Chicago, also made the trip to see this new breed of koi. Everyone brought a dish for the Texas Bar B Que buffet table that served approximately 50 people coming & going all day long. Ron had a video playing continuously of the Dainichi Koi farm that gave us a better understanding of how things work over there. Ron & Shigeru gave a presentation after lunch explaining the workings of the koi farm & how they decided on the name of the new breed of koi, Rikidozan. This was also a “question & answer” type of seminar where we could ask anything pertaining to koi & get the answer immediately. David Waller kept us all laughing by kidding Billie Emanuel about the “John Deere” shoes she was wearing that day. She has a great sense of humor & enjoyed the teasing.
The first meeting of the new year was held at David Waller's home. The weather was sunny and cool but not cold, perfect for a koi meeting outdoors. Ron was in Tokyo for the All Japan Combined Koi Show so we had a guest speaker for the meeting. Unfortunately our guest speaker was MIA, so those of us that were at David's enjoyed each other's company and discussed David's koi and his filtration. For those that have not seen his pond, it is 15 years old and is about 4,000 gallons with many nice koi. He showed us the filtration system and the maintenance regimen. David could have talked about the topic that day since his water quality is top notch. He also had his annual Christmas Village displayed for us to enjoy as well as an excellent lunch for those that were there.
December 2008
Brett Rowley of Brett's Fish Farm in Danbury, TX hosted our last meeting of the year in December. This was a joint meeting between 4 different koi clubs including Moto-Kara, Lone Star, San Antonio & Dallas.
The only non-Japanese ZNA fully certified koi judge, Ron Goforth, gave a presentation on koi appreciation. This consisted of a judging contest like they have in Japan. There were 5 kohaku’s in a tub & we were supposed to judge them on highest & lowest quality Hi & highest. Then we were to give the koi 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in total appreciation. After we completed the forms Ron then explained why he & Brett chose the top rated koi that they did. Of course it was then obvious to us & we all learned a lot about koi.
Brett had pulled up a lot of his beautiful koi for sale that he has worked so hard to spawn all year. Everyone said they were more exquisite than words could describe. There was live music presented to us by Preston Brown & his One Man Band from Angleton. He brought fresh fruit & veggies from his garden & 2 of his famous homemade lemon pies.
Brett also provided hayrides for anyone who wanted to participate. . As Brett always says “Kids & dogs are welcome” & it’s not over ‘til the last person leaves. Vance Schultz, guest longfin breeder of Tank Hollow Fisheries was present also to show & sell his world famous longfin koi. We then had hot dogs with all the trimmings served to all members & guests that were in attendance. As always, thanks again Brett for hosting such a successful & enjoyable meeting.
Thomas Tran hosted this meeting at his luxurious home in sugarland today. We had a great time discussing his 3 year old gunite pond and the Nexus and Answer system employed for it. For those who were unable to be here, his pond is gunite and about 6000 gallons with a dimension of 10x14x6ft deep. This guy truly does not believe in overstocking his pond like alot of us. He has great Dainichi koi bought from Shigeru since 2006 to now.
Ron was in Japan in September for Shigeru's wedding and returned with one of only 2 recently created DVDs showing the Dainichi koi farms and its operations. This DVD will be shown on Japanese television very soon. We were fortunate enough to enjoy this viewing and had a great Q&A regarding Dainichi Koi Farm. Everyone was amazed when we saw the beautiful koi produced by them.
Both MKK-ZNA and Lonestar members came together at Diane Caulk's home for this meeting. Over 40 people showed up for this get-together to admire Diane's home, ponds and koi. If you've never seen her koi, you're missing out on some magnificent giants, many are over 36 inches.
Ron spoke about feeding koi as it relates to water temperatures and what makes a great kohaku. We're fortunate to live in a sub tropical climate but the high summer temps are stressful on koi if not fed correctly. This subject was an eye opener for many that attended. Thank you Diane for opening your doors to all.
MKK-ZNA's June meeting was held at the Downtown Houston Aquarium. Jim Prappas, a member and the Director of Animal Husbandry for the Aquarium, invited us indoors to keep cool for this summer meeting. This year, Jim personally gave us the behind the scenes set up and tour of the Aquarium. He went into great details about the aquatic animals and their living habitats. We saw everything from giant freshwater prawns to deep sea groupers as well as tarantulas, anacondas, octopus, snapping turtles and white tigers. There were so much more, you had to be there.
There were a few special viewings this year for us. We were invited "to the back" to see where the quarantine fish were kept and the shark tunnel over the rail road tracks. It was a close call for us since that train came in while we were mesmerized under the sharks and paddle fish. After this Jim and his staff gave the MKK members access to closed doors of where the white tigers are kept. They demonstrated the techniques of how the white tigers are trained. Boy, those kitties are HUGE. One of the tigers really love Ron!
Afterwards, we went upstairs to the dining hall and David Waller, our club president, presented to Jim a beautiful crystal shark statuette in appreciation for inviting us and his hard work. We all then ate a delicious lunch together and Jim gave us tickets for the rides at the park. All in all this was a very educational and "cool" meeting.
APRIL 19, 2008
Once again, Shigeru Mano of Dainichi Koi Farm in Japan honored us with his presence.
Shigeru brought over special certified female ake nisai and show quality tosai for us.
This year’s selection was nothing less of Dainichi but as an added bonus Shigeru brought
over the offsprings of Sakura and we were the first to acquire them. For those not familiar
with Sakura, she was the 2007 All Japan Grand Champion bred by Dainichi. 
Shigeru did not travel alone this year, he brought with him Eriko, his fiancée, for us to
meet. What a sweetheart and beautiful lady and the perfect complement to be by Shigeru’s side. We toasted to Shigeru and Eriko’s future and presented them with gifts from the club, which is a time-honored tradition. The really impressive gift was candleholders
created by Oleg Cassini with their names engraved on the base. Shigeru also received a beautiful glass fish to add to his collection.
Ron and Nancy hosted this meeting & were proud to show off their new 24,000 gallons
koi pond. The pond has the best filters, aeration, and UV lights to keep the koi in perfect
water condition. Shigeru brought over three of Ron’s koi that have been boarded in Japan
for the last few years and they now live in their new home in Friendswood. Many thanks
to Mrs. Goforth (Ron’s Mom) who was up at 4 AM to prepare food for this annual event
and she gave us a great lunch. Our buffet table consisted of savory Texas BBQ brisket
and all the trimmings, none of the forty plus members and guests that attended
went home hungry.
Our wholehearted appreciation to Ron and his incredible talents for the organization as we
all know “without him, doing the thing he does best, it would never happen”. Let’s not
forget all the extra efforts put forth by some of our members to make this event possible,
people such Tommy Emanuel who flew to Dallas to receive the koi from customs, Bob
Johnson, David Waller, and Bob Pelke from Chicago.
March 2008
This meeting was at Brett's Fish Farm in Danbury, Texas. We had excellent weather with lots of sunshine, not a drop of rain and just enough wind to keep everyone cool and happy.
Four years ago Ron Goforth put his prized koi in Brett's mud ponds for safe keeping until he could build another pond at his new home in Friendswood. Ron's pond is now close enough to completion so that he decided to bring his fish home where he and Nancy could watch them grow. With the help of our koi club members they did a seining at 2 different times during the day to get his koi out and put safely into a holding tank. Ralph Bates, our koi representative gave us the latest update from the ZNA meeting he attended. We then had hot dogs, chips, dip and all the trimmings to round out a fun day for everyone involved.
Billie & Tommy Emanuel were elected Koi Persons of the Year by
unanimous vote. Congratulations, as you both deserve it & do a
tremendous amount of volunteering in the koi club. On a much sadder note we lost one of our beloved members in March. We did a champagne toast to Buddy Caulk & all the memories we share of his past deeds. He will definitely be missed by all who knew & loved him as we did. Our deepest sympathy to his wife, Diane, his sons & family.
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January 2008
After all the cold, wet rainy weather Texas has endured this year the weatherman gave us a break for our lst meeting of the year.
David Waller hosted our January 2008 meeting so we could see his fabulous collection that is artfully displayed in his dining
room. An entire miniature village of Dept. 52 houses, shops,
hotels, etc. a working trolley car & water fountain just to name
a few. He has been collecting for over 25 years and it is a fantastic display of ingenuity & dedication just like his hobby of koi
keeping. David’s koi pond is 15 years old & still working just fine. He makes a 25% water change every Sunday & he must be
doing something right as his koi are healthy & beautiful. Since we had such a beautiful & unexpected nice day we opted to have the
meeting outdoors. This enabled us to watch Brett Rowley check the water quality & clarity during the progress of the meeting. Brett in turn complimented David on the fact that everything in his pond was as it should be.
Ron Goforth & Brett Rowley then gave us a very comprehensive
analysis of what it takes for us as koi keepers to get the most out of
our koi. Strong currents in our ponds help to exercise & build up
the body structure & along with lots of aeration helps keep the koi
healthy. Everything works together to help us produce strong blacks, redder reds or Hi , whiter white & of course the beautiful skin we all try to achieve. As the discussion was coming to a close everyone wanted to know more about the problems & solutions of high or low alkalinity, nitrites & nitrates We all brought a covered dish to add to David’s buffet table & then continued to enjoy his pond & backyard.
