My Koi Addiction....

[Tula]

If I was going to buy a koi, I'd buy it from Russell Peters at PSKoi.com. He recently moved to northern IN from CA and set up his business. He just took shipment of a lot of koi from his buying trip to Japan

I believe @audioenvy has purchased from him.

 

[Gemma]

Why not rehome some of the males? Are you trying for a single gender pond? I’ve been watching my fish to try and guess which ones are female, no sign of breeding activity yet.

I like males, so I don't have to worry about unwanted babies.
I usually re home the females as soon as I'm certain they're females ...but I have another 2yr old koi that has not been chased by the males, yet judging by the growth I would bet money is female too, but that one is a metallic (Kin Kikokuryu) koi and I don't think I'll be able to part with...so I guess my days of having only males will soon be no more

 

[JamieB]

Ok. maybe you need a female only pond... since my filter plan failed, I’ll try not to add any more fish, I was trying for a bigger stronger home made filter so I could add a koi.

 

[CometKeith]

If I was going to buy a koi, I'd buy it from Russell Peters at PSKoi.com. He recently moved to northern IN from CA and set up his business. He just took shipment of a lot of koi from his buying trip to Japan

I believe @audioenvy has purchased from him.

Tula. I looked at their website. They have really beautiful fish! I don't have the money to spend that Audio is spending so I am looking at buying smaller Koi in the range of $100-$200. This is dealer that I keep going back to check out because they have so many in the price range I'm looking at. http://www.champkoi.com/koi/bowl/set/SET-D but they have so many to choose from it will be really difficult to make a final decision. Ideally I would find a Doitsu Sanke and Gin Rin Showa but who knows. Also at one time I was mostly interested in butterflies but it seems like the colors I'm looking for don't always come in butterfly.
Gemma, Re females and males... at one time I had mostly male goldfish and the females got pretty beat up during spawning season. A few even died. As I added more fish by either purchasing them or by them being born in the pond eventually the male-female ratio evened out.

 

[Tula]

@CometKeith , I understand a budget ; however I know Russ has had fish in your price range...not always, but occasionally....and they're not always posted. If you are active on Face Book, you should join KKONA ( Koi Keepers of North America ), lots of good information and pictures. Recently there was video posted of Russ's new shipment of tosai. He also has his own website.......wouldn't hurt to ask him if he could keep an eye out for what you're looking for and your budget.

Kevin Pham is another dealer who will look for a specific fish for buyers

The site you posted has some beautiful koi, I'm jealous ha ha!

 

[Gemma]

wow! pricey!
I'm so glad the kind of koi I like best are ornamental and not show koi

 

[CometKeith]

I have been looking at Koi lately. Kind of leaning towards getting one Showa and maybe something else. These fish aren't too bad cost wise because they are only 7-8 inch. That will give me time to work on my pond filtration before they get too big. I was thinking about A and D. A is a Showa and D is a Kohaku. I think they will both be very pretty as they grow. The shipping is the same whether I buy 1 or 2 fish. I want the fish to be bright enough that I can easily see them from our 2nd floor deck so I definitely want some white in them. Any comments?

 

[Lisak1]

Personally I love a showa - that black adds so much interest. But you know you're gonna get 'em both!

 

[Gemma]

I know nothing about koi quality I go with my personal preference and say: A and D are nice choices!
(E looks too slender, maybe it's just the angle or it could be a male) My very fav is A

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks. The problem is they have like 100 Showa to choose from. I don't really want to buy any now in this cold weather, but I'm afraid a month from now there will be a lot less choices because the spring shipments will be sold out. Here is another fish I saved to my shopping cart from another dealer and it's about the same price as one of the ones above but shipping is more expensive or I have to go to the airport to pick it up.

Oh, and here is a much larger fish available. it's the same price as two of the smaller ones! Decisions,decisions...
oh oh, now it's gone already. it was a beautiful Showa 14 inches long. I think I'm going to need to act pretty quickly on what I want!

 

[Gemma]

uuuuu me like that one!... I'd pay more for shipping!

 

[CometKeith]

Re judging Showa quality...My understanding is if you would take the black out it would be a very pretty kohaku ie red and white spotted fish. if you would leave the black and take out the red it would look like a ki utsuri ie black and white spotted fish. It's not easy to judge showas and I think a lot of it is personal preference. Obviously I'm not getting a show fish but I want something nice. Thanks Gemma. That fish is from a small dealer. They are asking $150 which isn't bad. I'll probably get at least one more if I go with that one because the shipping is almost as much as the fish!

 

[Lisak1]

$150... "not bad"... don't tell my koi they are from the wrong side of the tracks! I don't think we paid that much for the whole pond full together!

Beautiful fish @CometKeith... I mean KoiKeith. haha! Can't wait to see A FEW in your pond!

 

[addy1]

wow! pricey!
I'm so glad the kind of koi I like best are ornamental and not show koi View attachment 109100

I am glad I like shubunkins!

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

I am glad I like shubunkins!

Me too @addy1 i just picked up three shubunkins that are about 8 inches in length each for $55 total (plus tax). I was hesitant to pay almost $20 a fish but went ahead since they were so big.