ÿþ<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <meta name="keywords" content="Koi Water Garden, Pond Construction, Pond Maintenance, Pond Services, Surrey, Sutton, Epsom, Morden, Banstead, Croydon, Kingston, Cheam, Tadworth, Chessington, Worcester Park, Wallington, Koi, Japanese Koi, High Grade Koi" /> <title>Smiler - Koi Water Garden - Pond Construction &amp; Pond Maintenance in the Surrey Area</title> <link href="css/screenCss.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="css/darkGreen.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head> <body> <div id="container"> <div id="header"> <div style="float: left; width: 100px; height: 94px; position: static; margin: 2px 0 0 590px; background: #fff;"> <a href="http://www.koiwatergarden.com/shop/"><img src="images/online_shop.jpg" style="border: 0;" /></a> </div> <p class="headerText" style="background: #f9ff48 !important; text-align: center !important; border: 1px solid #fff000;"> <strong style="font-size: 18px; color: red;">SPRING 2012 JAPAN KOI</strong><br /> <span style="color: black; font-weight: bold; font-size: 13px;">Our Spring 2012 Koi are now in quarantine. Please phone for details.<br />To view Koi online <a href="koi_2012.php" style="color: red;">Please click here.</a></span> </p> </div> <div id="mainContent"> <h1>"Smiler" - The Biggest &amp; The Strongest</h1> <table width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="5"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top"><img src="phpThumb.php?src=/workPhotos/smiler/3.jpg&w=280" alt="Work Photo" /> <br />Andrew inspecting "Smiler" without anaesthetic.<br /> <br /><img src="phpThumb.php?src=/workPhotos/smiler/4.jpg&w=280" alt="Work Photo" /> <br />"Smiler" at the surface of her new indoor pond.<br /> <br /><img src="phpThumb.php?src=/workPhotos/smiler/1.jpg&w=280" alt="Work Photo" /> <br />Andrew administering a local bacteria treatment.<br /> <br /><img src="phpThumb.php?src=/workPhotos/smiler/2.jpg&w=280" alt="Work Photo" /> <br />Releasing "Smiler" after treatment. </td> <td> <p>The albino grass carp pictured in these photos, lovingly named "Smiler", measures a staggering 124cm (49inches) and is estimated to be nearly 30 years old.</p> <p>The fish is owned by Mrs French, a great animal and fish loving customer of Koi Water Garden s for many years. "Smiler" was purchased for her by her late husband in 1985 at approximately 8 inches in length. Shortly after this, she was moved to a new 800 gallon indoor pond. In 1992, Andrew took over the health care and then the maintenance of the pond and fish.</p> <p>"Smiler" grew to a staggering 39 inches (99cm) by 1999. What was even more amazing is in the same 800 gallon pond were 7 Koi, varying in size, from 20 to 32 inches, and several 12 inch goldfish, all living quite happily with both the Mrs French and Koi Water Garden s care. At around this time, "Smiler" developed a swim bladder problem which resulted in her spending the majority of the time under a decking walkway area around the edge of the pond with her tail out of the water. Such a problem would usually prove fatal to any fish within a few months.</p> <p>"Smiler" carried on "living" under the decking walkway until 2001, at this time it was decided the only way to improve her condition was to construct a new larger indoor pond of 11ft x 11ft x 6ft deep, containing 3,500 gallons to house "Smiler" and her fellow jumbo fish. When "Smiler" was placed in the new pond she had grown to 42 inches (106cm). She originally settled down well, but then her swim bladder problem took a turn for the worse, when she tried to swim to the bottom of a pond she would "bob" up like a football being held under water. This is very unusual form of swim bladder problem, usually swim bladder problems result in the fish being stuck on the bottom of the pond with pectoral fins spread out, unable to reach the surface.</p> <p>Andrew experimented with several types of treatment and had many discussions with his old friend at Lincolnshire fish laboratories, Paula Reynolds, one of Europe s leading fish pathologists, after several antibiotic injections and treatments "Smiler" gradually improved. Andrew and Paula decided at that point that "Smiler" would not benefit from any more treatments or antibiotic injections and that further improvements would be down to "Smilers" own inner strength.</p> <p>Remarkably "Smiler" again managed to turn the corner and made a good recovery and although occasionally her tail or upper body would slightly raise out of the water, resulting in mild bacterial problems that needed our attention she has continued to thrive and would be waiting at her favourite corner at the surface for breakfast everyday. By the Summer of 2009 she had reached a staggering 49 inches (124cm) in length and approximately 40 lbs in weight. If she were a Koi, she would be the longest in the world; we believe she is the largest albino grass carp in the UK and possibly the world.</p> <p>In November 2009  Smiler took a turn for the worst, her swim bladder problem reversed, resulting in her sinking to the bottom of the pond and turning on her side and eventually turning upside down, unable to right herself for the majority of the time. Occasionally, however she would manage to turn herself and remain that way for 10 minutes or so. Andrew and Phil gave her antibiotic injections, along with several treatments to try and rectify the problem, unfortunately without success. In December Mrs French took Andrews advice and sadly put Smiler to sleep. She survived amazing 10 years after the first signs of a swimbladder problem.</p> </td> </tbody> </table> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a href="index.php">Home</a></li> <li><a title="Koi for Sale" href="koi_2012.php">Koi for Sale</a></li> <li><a title="KWG Hall of Fame" href="hall_of_fame.php">KWG Hall of Fame</a></li> <li><a title="News" href="news_online.php">News</a></li> <li><a title="Membership" href="membership.php">Membership</a></li> <li><a title="Loyalty Card" href="loyalty_card.php">Loyalty Card</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Pond Construction" href="construction.php">Pond Construction</a></li> <li><a title="Filtration" href="on_site_services.php">On-site Services</a></li> <li><a title="References" href="references.php">References</a></li> <li><a title="Heating Systems" href="filtration.php">Filtration</a></li> <li><a title="Ultra Violet Systems" href="uv.php">UV &amp; Heating Systems</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Strata Organic Treatments" href="strata.php">Strata Treatments</a></li> <li><a title="Medication" href="medication.php">Medication</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Strata Organic Treatments" href="/shop/">Online Shop</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Contact Us" href="us.php">Contact Us</a></li> <li><a title="Seasonal advice" href="tips_and_advice.php">Tips &amp; Advice</a></li> <li><a title="About Us" href="about_us.php">About us</a></li> <li><a title="Find Us" href="find_us.php">Find us/map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Japan" href="japan.php">Japan</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Fountains" href="fountains.php">Fountains &amp; Statues</a></li> <li><a title="Waterfalls" href="waterfalls.php">Waterfalls</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav"> <ul> <li><a title="Other Fish &amp; Terrapins" href="other_fish.php">Goldfish, Trops &amp; Turtles</a></li> <li><a title="Filtration" href="aquariums.php">Aquariums</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="leftNav cushycms"><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Aquatic Centre Opening Times</strong></font><br /> <strong>Mon - Sat</strong><br /> 9am - 6pm<br /> <strong>Sunday</strong><br /> 10:00am - 4:00pm</div> </div> <pre id="footer"> <a href="index.php" title="Home page">Home</a> | <a href="about_us.php" title="All about Keeler">About us</a> | <a href="us.php" title="Contact us information for the UK">Contact us</a> | Copyright &copy; 2010 KWG</pre> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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