Gardens Meeting Room | Life and Day to Day things by a Pond Lover

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As is the usual custom, the Austin Pond Society held it’s October Meeting on the third Monday of the Month and was attended by close to 50 of its members with a couple of new members introduced to the group. The meeting place was the Zilker Botanical Gardens Meeting Room.

We started off with Spaghetti Bolognese with a tossed salad with desserts contributed by the members.The food was delicious as usual and there was enough left over for members to take some home. I jumped on that and got a couple of dinners out of the deal. Less cooking for me…

The speaker for the evening was a traveling Vet doing business under the name of Vida Veterinary. His name is Dr. Alfredo J. Geigel and he specializes in treating fish and so his was a long-awaited presentation. We all hoped that we would learn more about the health of our Koi and how to maintain and possibly treat any sick fish. For most of us, we can usually tell if a fish is getting sick as it will become listless and not swim about much. For us, that is usually the first sign unless there are obvious visible signs on the fish itself. Other times, the fish has already died and all we find is its lifeless body floating on the water and there still remains the mystery of why it died. In most cases, there are no visible signs of trauma and so we have to assume that it is an internal problem or the fish died a natural death (old age).

When re filming a running video, the quality of the pictures are terrible but most of his presentation was verbal. You have to listen a little closely as Dr. Geigel speaks with a very strong accent. At the end of his presentation, the members had many questions. All in all, his was a very interesting presentation. When asked his fees, I think that most of us decided that it would have to be a super extra special fish to have treated as it is cheaper to buy another fish than to treat the sick one. Just my opinion of course.

Following Dr. Geigal, Jeannie brought us back to reality with the small amount of business there was to do. This consisted primarily of reminding the members that at the next meeting on November 17, Blue Santa would be in attendance and for everyone to bring a gift for the children. Also that we would be voting on the Board positions of which there are three that still need nominations. Calendars are still for sale and will be available at this upcoming meeting and that we would be having a Thanksgiving Dinner provided by APS. Members were asked to bring deserts to share. Finally, the draw for the door prizes was held and the meeting was adjourned.

Just a reminder that the November 17 meeting will be the last for the year. The next will be on January 19, 2015, a brand New Year.

The first video is of Dr. Geigel’s presentation, again apologies for the quality.