My Koi Addiction....

[CometKeith]

I'm definitely not ready for winter! I love puttering around with my pond and watching my fish. Last year I bought a Koi and the weather turned cold just before I got it. The fish didn't make it through winter and I think it went into shock with such a big change in temperature from where it came from. This year I tried not to make the same mistake and let all my fish naturally acclimate in my pond as the colder weather set in.

 

[CometKeith]

I love this thread along with any threads where members show off their fish so thank you for bringing this back.
I don't know if mine is a true addiction because I prefer fewer fish in a pond than most ( I find it more relaxing, and I'm so afraid of overstocking ) but seems all my free time is spent online looking at koi videos or koi for sale...speaking of koi for sale what do you think of the quality of the koi sold by Koi to The World?

Hi Gemma. I think their Koi are fine for certain varieties. The only fish I can say for a fact that their quality is not as nice as japanese imported fish would be gosanke Koi like Showa,Sanke, and Kohaku, but then again they don't charge as much either! The problem is I have learned too much about these fish and understand what makes one fish so much more desirable than another. For one when you buy a good Sanke you want the black either very light or only as small dots because the black can get too strong as they age. Most of the Sanke on places like e-bay or KTW, etc have black markings which are too strong for my taste, There are also issues with Showa and Kahaku to look at which are important to consider as well and it just depends if someone has the money to back up their critical eye! I would think for certain varieties KTW would be fine if someone was buying a Ogon or something like that as long as you weren't hoping to have a 3 ft fish at some point. Then you would need to look for Jumbo Tosai!

 

[CometKeith]

Has anyone seen any of the beautiful Koi coming out of Japan with their Fall harvest? I wish it wasn't going into winter here or I would be very tempted to buy one. It seems a shame to spend a decent amount on a nice fish and then not really see it for the next 5-6 months!

 

[Tula]

Has anyone seen any of the beautiful Koi coming out of Japan with their Fall harvest? I wish it wasn't going into winter here or I would be very tempted to buy one. It seems a shame to spend a decent amount on a nice fish and then not really see it for the next 5-6 months!

I think you can leave them with the dealer for awhile, then you'd have to have a QT set up.

 

[Tara]

@CometKeith where do you view these fish? Would you be thinking of getting a larger koi, because maybe if it was small you could keep one inside till next spring.

 

[CometKeith]

@CometKeith where do you view these fish? Would you be thinking of getting a larger koi, because maybe if it was small you could keep one inside till next spring.

My favorite seller it definitely champkoi.com, but Kodama Koi has a lot of great fish too. I bought two fish from Champ Koi actually its Champion Nishikigoi and even though they were very inexpensive fish the owner called to check that it was okay to ship them when he did. I know in the spring they are happy to hold your fish until your pond is warm enough to safely put them in. In the spring they had fish in the $100-$300 range that were under 10" and that is more my speed because I'm fine with smaller Koi as I mostly have goldfish and am not looking to make a big "splash" with a new fish. I would love to visit both. Champ Koi is in San Jose and is close to where one of our daughters works in the Bay Area and I plan on going there at some point. I almost planned a trip to Hawaii last winter and wanted to visit Kodama. Kodama is known for their auctions. They actually had a $5 starting price auction not too long ago and a lot of the fish sold for around $100. I am signed up with them and get a e-mail almost every day with their specials and new arrivals. That's actually one e-mail I look forward to getting as it is fun and breaks up my work day when I see it. Both owners of Kodama and Champion Nishikigoi are in Japan right now for the Fall Harvest as a lot of other sellers of high quality Koi that are located in the US. Some offer to take buyers with them but that would be a whole different level which I'm not at. Also I did get some great goldfish from Kloubec Koi, but they are not selling goldfish anymore. They don't sell Koi imported from Japan. Their prices are a lot less if you are looking for some moderately priced Koi. They are a good alternative along with a bunch of people you see on e-bay like Koi to the World and Next Day Koi. Most of the sellers on e-bay do not sell Japanese Koi which generally are the highest quality fish, but It seems like there are more and more sellers there now selling Japanese Koi. One is Inland Koi. I have not bought from them, but assume they would be a good source too. I know Gemma has bought on line too. Maybe she will chime in with who she likes. This is a picture of how champkoi.com sells their fish. They have a group picture and labels their fish and usually will have a video of that group of fish swimming around. These are each 12"-13" fish selling for less than $500.

 

[CometKeith]

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

Gemma. Maybe you can add some additional sources of on line Koi for Tara!

 

[Gemma]

Gemma. Maybe you can add some additional sources of on line Koi for Tara!

That depends what type of koi @Tara is looking for and what quality (price) again I'm not into Showa, kohaku, Sanke etc but if I was, I 'd trust Beni Hanna Nishikigoi, I met Mathew and his wife at the koi show, I really liked the free private class, very friendly couple. I bought a beautiful lemon dragon from them. problem is as soon as they post fish online they are sold so it's not easy buying from them until the new page goes up
I recently purchased 5 new koi ranging from 7 to 14" , they were shipped overnight, acclimated and released. They went straight to explore their new environment without a sign of having just arrived .All 5 are still doing good, schooling around in the deep of the pond.
I got 2 from Koi to the world, two from Casteway and one from E-Bay I forgot who the seller was.
You also have to consider that most places share the same suppliers like Blue Ridge, kodoma, Blackwater Creek etc so not much difference in the quality of fish, it all depends on what price one is willing to pay I guess

 

[Tara]

Thank you @CometKeith and @Gemma . There is a place not far from me that import koi, and I did get some lovely Koi from them, however I had my heart set on a white butterfly, or a mostly black butterfly. The other one I would like is the Koi labeled E in the above photo, as I like the black and white. I'm glad I did not fully stock my pond this year, as I'm looking forward to my new additions next spring, and the searching for them, so hopefully the color I want will come up somewhere.

 

[Gemma]

@Tara knowing the name can help you search online for a specific fish....a Karasu butterfly is all black, if you want a fish all black with white tips on fins and tail then you're looking for an Hajiro.... A Platinum Ogon is metallic all white, and that marked "E" is a Shiro Utsuri

 

[Tara]

Thanks for the names @Gemma, it certainly narrows things down. Next year I plan to be on the ball early so I can get the Koi I would like. I will also have more filtration set up so I will not be worried about water conditions.

 

[Gemma]

Thanks for the names @Gemma, it certainly narrows things down. Next year I plan to be on the ball early so I can get the Koi I would like. I will also have more filtration set up so I will not be worried about water conditions.

Looking forward to pics of your new fish next year!

I have 19 koi and two huge shubbies. I will divide them up in the 2 ponds (9,200 gls) next Spring and unless one of my very favorite happens to die, I'm won't be buying any more

 

[addy1]

So glad I like shubbies! I could not pay that much for a fish, ever.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks for the names @Gemma, it certainly narrows things down. Next year I plan to be on the ball early so I can get the Koi I would like. I will also have more filtration set up so I will not be worried about water conditions.

Tara. Buying in the spring makes sense for most people. I'll probably buy a few more in the spring. Because now is the major harvest time in Japan even fish you see for sale in the spring are bought now by dealers and they are shipped and inventoried so they are ready for spring sale. I have seen it at Kodama that you can buy a fish in the spring with the agreement they will leave it in the mud ponds over the summer to grow and ship it in the fall. The growth can be tremendous and also you see much stronger colors a lot of times. If you are not buying japanese Koi they are harvested at different times so there is not as much focus on the Fall.

 

[CometKeith]

So glad I like shubbies! I could not pay that much for a fish, ever.

So Addy. Do any of your shubbies look like this? it's a beautiful Showa for sale in the Kodama auction now.