reconsidering Koi...

[sissy]

There is a fish farm in NC called courtiers nursery in Reidsville NC and a lot of fish on craigslist .I have 2 filters going and 2 pumps .

 

[Shdwdrgn]

It is very nice to see a thread where goldfish are something other then 20 cent feeders. It is odd to spend the bucks dig a hole and setup a system then go for 20 cent fish.

Now don't chew my fins off. I have seen a lot of nice 20 cent fish.

20 cents??? Wow you over-paid! My first comets were 13 cents, bought in 2007, and parents to most of the rest of the comets in my pond. I think mama must be flirting with the shubunkins, though, because I've been seeing some babies recently with a lot more interesting color patterns.

 

[HTH]

20 cents??? Wow you over-paid! My first comets were 13 cents, bought in 2007, and parents to most of the rest of the comets in my pond. I think mama must be flirting with the shubunkins, though, because I've been seeing some babies recently with a lot more interesting color patterns.

I have never purchased feeder fish to put in a pond. I figured out it was a bad idea back when I was keeping aquariums. It was sad really. People would be cycling their tanks and have the feeders drop dead. It had to be the ammonia or nitrite's right?

But people are free to do as they choose and that includes perpetuating bad ideas.

 

[DrCase]

Before the Internet I was happy when I started with a small pond 250 gal with 10 koi
Only makes you want to go bigger

 

[Sunshine]

20 cents??? Wow you over-paid! My first comets were 13 cents, bought in 2007, and parents to most of the rest of the comets in my pond. I think mama must be flirting with the shubunkins, though, because I've been seeing some babies recently with a lot more interesting color patterns.

My very first pond was a 90 gallon preform. My son had an Oscar that one of his feeders got too big for the Oscar to eat so he brought it over and threw it in my little pond. As we expanded the pond through the years and gave away fish each Spring, I always made sure to keep that one. It died this year, It had to be at least 15 years old. I have 2 Koi and the rest are Comets and Shubunkins.

 

[Mmathis]

Shubunkins and calico fantails are my favorites. Wakin and Watonai are high on that list.

 

[CometKeith]

I have goldfish and a few frogs in my pond. It is under 1000 gallons and works out very well. When you have larger fish it is more work and expense to maintain the water quality. You can see one of the frogs under the frogs are welcome sign. That's usually where they hang out!

 

[HTH]

Generalizations are always suspect Bun in general larger ponds have greater water stability are are easier to care for.

Water and electricity will cost more for the larger pond.

 

[cr8tivguy]

HI all.
I wanted to give you an update. I purchased 6, 2-inch Comets (Sarassa and Red). And 4, Koi. Two are small- about 2 inches. Two are 5 inches.

The pond water is doing really well. I had some NI spikes within an hour after feeding them. But it leveled off relatively quickly. The spike was only a slight shade to the test strip.

I got my bio filter (skippy-type) up and running today along with 4 2-inch air stones. The water is flowing through the bog at a slow pace and the waterfall is flowing EXACTLY LIKE I HOPED!

Thanks to everyone's input. It really helped.

Next home will have a yard that can accommodate a much larger pond-- maybe 6,000 gallons! OH YEAH! I'm hooked.

 

[CometKeith]

Here is a pic of a few of my goldfish I took today. I think there is more status to keeping Koi but goldfish can be just as enjoyable!

 

[Mmathis]

I was outside a little while ago and took a couple of not-to-great pics (well, it was midnight and the only light was from my headlight-flashlight.... on my iPad). This is a Shubunkin I got from Fishin4cars, maybe 6" long, not including tail. GORGEOUS fish, looks like a mini-butterfly [koi]. Sorry about the poor pics, you can't tell much. CometKeith's pic shows 'em off much better.

 

[HTH]

Here is a pic of a few of my goldfish I took today. I think there is more status to keeping Koi but goldfish can be just as enjoyable!

Don't say that to a guy who is into fancy goldfish.

 

[cr8tivguy]

I really love the Comets I got. The Sarasa variety look like little Koi. They also dart around and are very active. Fun to watch.

 

[HTH]

We have a recent thread here talking about other types of goldfish that can be used in a pond. Some are astounding. Does anyone have the link?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

I had to look up the Sarasa fish to see what they look like. I actually have a few with those same kind of colors and markings. My theory is that they are the result of a shubunkin fertilizing the eggs of one of my comets, because nothing I've ever bought has markings even similar.