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General Koi Carp ChatKoi News and discussion
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Top Poster: markf1fan (3,497)
Hi, I have a 2500 gallon pond with only 10 medium size koi that i inherited last year. They have reached maturity and so will not grow into anything special. I have been thinking about buying 10 small (4-6 inches) japanese showa or sanke to grow on and keep the 2 best then sell the other 8 to my dad who has a lake with 40-50 low grade koi. He is happy to pay just over what the fish and food has cost me.
This is really just a way of me enjoying watching koi add good growth but not over stocking my pond in the end when they are large.
Obviously i wont even start looking for the fish until next year when the temps start rising.
Does this sound like a good or bad idea?
Thanks
James
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and i can only go my theory , and other members will say different on some parts , and agree on others ect ect .
firstly , whats your set up , what type of filtration ectect .
the answer to your question about buying koi and growing them on , will come down to your journey in koi keeping so far , and what you want to get from each koi you buy .
and again i can only say what i would do given water volume , it will also depend on your budget .
if your looking for koi to grow large and develop , you need to look at the koi's genetics , also water chemistry hard water V soft water , and other external influences .
budget , is another area , if your budget is a £100 per koi , i would go down to 5 koi , but spend £200 on each or better still down to 2 fish and spend £500 on each , the higher you go in the potential quality of a fish the more rewards you'l get from growing them on , and the more you'l learn as you go .
I don't disagree with what has been suggested in principle, but unless you are reasonably experience in keeping koi, have adequate back-up facilities, like a room with power and hot and cold water supply, a "hospital tank" with it's own filter and heater, (rather than just a bucket, net and torch), I suggest not spending too much money on a couple of koi, but rather choose a few that you like for their appearance rather than what is considered the best.
__________________ "I don't mind if you don't like my manners!
I don't like them myself, they're pretty bad,
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Thanks for the replies. As far as my filter setup, I have a shower filled with crystal bio and a pressurised filter both run separately off submerged pumps. I have recently invested in a 450 gallon a day reverse osmosis system. The pond is not heated but I am currently looking into this. My parameters are spot on now and TDS and KH are right down from what it was as I live in a very hard water area
I love my koi but am not thinking of doing this to get show standard koi or make a profit, just for the fun of watching small koi grow. I won't be going searching for perfect large koi just nice colours if you know what I mean. I don't have any Showa or sanke so I thought this would be a good way of getting a couple without the big price tag.
Growing small fish on is great fun and can also be a good way see how a particular breeders fish grow and come along from Tosai
The hard part is keeping the water spot on and giving them the best conditions for growing on. One thing you will need if you want them to grow is heat as otherwise you wont be able to feed them enough to get em growing.
I run a small tank around 500gls and love growing Tosai on and seeing how they develop and find it great fun but.........there is always a but although you say your not after show winners now you can still be disappointed when fish don't turn out as you would like...even with cheaper fish.
You have also mentioned Showa so your looking to start with probably the hardest fish to pick and develop as they can be full of genetic faults from day one If you looking at growing fish on i would say try to stick to a budget and if you have to buy less with the same amount of money to get hopefully a better potential fish and it may be worth trying perhaps a mixture Kohaku,Sanke and the odd Showa.
That sounds like great advice to me. I only have one pond of 2500gls so they will have to go in with the others. I guess I better start bidding on a heater then!!
Just one more thing.. When is the best / earliest time of next year that I can buy the tosai?
Many dealers have tosai throughout the year as some have them shipped over but you will be better getting them when the weather starts to warm up and the dealers come back from their March/April trips.
Growing on small Koi 
If you looking at growing fish on i would say try to stick to a budget and if you have to buy less with the same amount of money to get hopefully a better potential fish and it may be worth trying perhaps a mixture Kohaku,Sanke and the odd Showa.
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