I've been rewatching ocean terror videos recently. I wanted to draw Lonely Koi, because he's may favorite character. He looks so cute, but doesn't have much going on (imagine getting stuck in a cave, oof, couldn't be me). Anyways, this was supposed to be fanart, but I headcannoned this guy so much I feel like I turned him into an oc. Then I actually made a lonely koi based oc. I even made a backstory and stuff. This is now a drawling of my oc and LonelyKoi, because yes.
This was supposed to be fan art.
date finished: 9/15/2025
Alternates:
date finished: 9/15/2025
I'm probably gonna re-draw this and implant all my ideas. I'm gonna add a lot more scarring and spots. He looks too basic rn. I currently wanna keep him more pastel though.
You guys seemed to really have liked my oc/fanart abomination. It's my second most liked post.
I'm not too sure how I wanna change this guy's look, because he looks great, but he looks too much like lonlykoi (I wonder why). This appearance is more of a placeholder. I'm so proud of the hands. I had to redraw one of them like 3 times. I'm getting better at hands, yay.
date finished: 10/15/2025
I was originally gonna draw this guy bruised up and injured, but I'm bad at drawling injuries (that's why the background has "hurt" repeated).
How To Protect Your Koi From Predators While Still Looking Aesthetically Pleasing
requested by @gallusrostromegalus
Firstly, a quick point about netting before I start. Netting is a bad idea. Several predators (raccoons, herons, and otters) will simply pull it up and get in anyways, and depending on the mesh size you're likely to injure and kill juvenile koi, frogs, and other animals that you do want in and around your ponds. Also, leaves caught in it in the fall can impede water flow and create stagnant areas, damaging plants, preventing oxygen circulation, and providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Finally, you're very likely to have to cut out injured or killed predators from it; the last thing you want is to have to remove a very angry, half-decapitated cottonmouth from your pond. Netting is a bad idea, don't do it.
The best defense against aerial predators is making sure they can't see the pond in the first place.
Evergreen trees that can be trained to spread branches out over the pond, and aren't prone to fighting each other for space or breaking into the plumbing with their root systems, are good choices for year-round pond protection. Just make sure you know how big the root system is going to become and prepare accordingly- just because california redwoods can work for this purpose does not mean you will necessarily have a pond in 20 years if you use them!
This does mean that you're going to get needles, twigs, cones, and the occasional branch in your pond. With biofalls and a good filtration system, these shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as you're taking the time daily to clean things out (excepting mature redwood, but that's really just another reason not to use that species). You'll want to pick species that don't produce fruit or cones that the koi want to eat, because they will, even in winter when they can't digest food properly. Uncontrolled fruit bacchanals in spring and summer aren't necessarily harmful on their own, but will lead to massive spikes in ammonia and other waste products, which will in turn make your filter sad and give you a massive headache.
2. Land predators (cats, raccoons, foxes, also herons because it's complicated, etc.)
You're not going to be able to hide your pond in any meaningful way from these guys, so the goal is to make the koi as inaccessible to them as possible. A planted ledge before a sheer "drop" into the rest of the pond provides a lovely viewing point while keeping predators from having an area to hunt from. Ponds should be about three to four feet deep; as a rule of thumb, you want to be six or more inches below the frost line, or three feet, whichever is deeper. If you've got great blue herons, you want to be four feet deep at least, because they're lanky bastards.
Speaking of plantings, lily pads, irises, and cattails make beautiful additions to a pond while giving the koi hiding places. Planting cabomba on mesh shelters hides the appearance of the mesh, gives the koi a tasty treat, and provides shelter all in one go. And of course, smaller bamboo tubes or a nice plastic skull give the fry hiding places as well. You can also try duckweed, but many people don't find the appearance attractive, and koi are very good at de-establishing duckweed by eating all of it.
Otters, while land predators, are an exception here because the little bastards can dive and have hands. If you are getting otters in your pond, your problem is far larger than anything landscaping can help you with.
3. Aquatic predators (snapping turtles, water snakes, alligators, etc.)
Offer your koi plenty of hiding places. Otherwise? If you see one of these guys in your pond, you are just going to have to remove them. Put them in your car, drive them to a body of water you deem far enough away, and release them. That's all you can do.
This brings us back to the above point about netting; snakes will wriggle under or through the netting or kill themselves trying, and snapping turtles will just bull right through it. I don't know if netting helps against alligators, but I would not want to take that bet.
Bullfrogs are often considered aquatic predators. They will indeed eat juvenile koi. However, they're no more likely to than the adult koi, and the koi will eat juvenile bullfrogs, so my personal consideration is that it evens out. If you're breeding koi, your calculations are going to be different, but you should have a separate pond or indoor tank for raising the fry anyways.
(bullfrogs will also stop eating the juvenile koi if given regular meals of koi food, but I'm not sure this is healthy for them. I also haven't figured out how to prevent jeremiah from eating the koi food, so it's probably a moot point.)
I am so excited about my new project! Let me know what you think 🐦 . . #logosai #logoworld #logoinspiration #birddrawing #drawing #intricatedesign #bird #graphicdesign #graphicdesigner #illustate #hummingbird #hummingbirdillustration #arts_help #graphicdesign #logo #logonew #logolemon #logoexcellent #nature #naturelogo #illustration #illustratorsoninstagram #logoworld #koikoikoi #birdskeleton #skeleton #skeletonillustration
