Goldfish and Koi

[Prpaul1781]

Anyone have recommendations on where to get goldfish or Koi in Long Island NY?

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome to the GPF! I have no specific recommendations for your area, but I would encourage you to buy from a reputable dealer rather than a chain type pet store (no names mentioned!) While many of us have had the feeder fish that turns into a real beauty and becomes a favorite, pet store fish are often sick, weak or both by the time they get into the sale tank. A good fish dealer will have stringent quarantine processes that will give you a better chance of bringing home healthy, strong fish.

Do you currently have a pond? If so, how big? One thing to consider when choosing fish is that goldfish are much better suited to a typical garden type pond. Koi, while very beautiful, need lots of room to grow. You'll find that many of us love our shubunkins, comets, and fancy fantail goldfish as much as any koi!

 

[addy1]

You'll find that many of us love our shubunkins, comets, and fancy fantail goldfish as much as any koi!

And they are so much easier to take care of.

 

[JamieB]

Others on here may be in your area, and if they have a baby boom, you can often get fish free or much more affordable than from a seller. Patience. Also, if your pond is new, you want time for it to get established with all it will need to support fish. Start with just one or two, give it a week, then add one or two more, then another week, then three or four. A good rule of thumb is one koi per 1000 gallons of water, 60 gallons per goldfish, and expect babies.

 

[Prpaul1781]

Thank you guy! I like Koi because of its larger size, but i know my pond is not big to house more than two koi at 1000 per koi. How big do goldfish get? I am reading about 12inches?

 

[addy1]

Get shubunkins, mine are around 8-10 inches beautiful colors and so not fussy like koi are. I have a big enough pond I could easily have koi and refused. Here are a few of mine.

 

[Prpaul1781]

That is beautiful! Did you get them from a local breeder?

 

[addy1]

That is beautiful! Did you get them from a local breeder?

Yes we have a fish hatchery around 20 minutes from our house. They have koi, goldfish, tadpoles, snails, fan tails, etc. A lot of huge mud ponds they grow them in.

 

[CliffandJoann]

Beautiful fish addy!

The place to buy koi is Scherer and sons ..in northport

:: Welcome to S. Scherer & Sons, Inc. ::

 

[addy1]

Mine are all now pond bred. The only fish I have bought recently went into the hot tub pond, fan tails.

 

[Lin]

I love Koi the best. I have at least 20 Butterfly Koi, 2ft long, in 4000gal pond. They are healthy and happy. My understanding is Koi will get as big as the environment of their home will allow. I had a 2000gal pond and the Koi at full size were 12". I enlarged the pond to 4000gal and full size Koi are 2ft. long.

 

[Lisak1]

My understanding is Koi will get as big as the environment of their home will allow.

That, sadly, is a myth that leads to lots of trouble for pond owners. Koi will grow as big as they are genetically designed to grow, just like any other creature. I mean, you can stunt the growth of any animal (or human for that matter) by starving it of necessary nutrients and not allowing it to get enough exercise. But if you want healthy fish you need to have a pond that's big enough to house them.

 

[Lin]

Well myth or not, it certainly proved to me with my pond, the bigger the pond ,the bigger the fish.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Well myth or not, it certainly proved to me with my pond, the bigger the pond ,the bigger the fish.

A larger pond is a healthier environment for koi, and healthy fish will grow faster & larger, however that does not mean a small pond = small, but healthy, fish who will stay that way. Koi certainly CAN and DO outgrow small ponds.

 

[mrsclem]

A koi in a too small pond will end up with stunted growth and possibly bent spines.