HELP!!! I want to start keeping koi, how????
Most of us koi keepers had a goldfish pond first. Suddenly you see a beautifully colored fish and you MUST have in your pond .. And then you're addicted to koi, you will chuck in 15 of these beautifully colored koi in a pond ... and then shit hits the fan.
The Koi in a small pond, with small or non excistant filtration, get to much but bad food, no water changes, koi will grow, get sick, die and the fun goes away.
My advice, Build a proper pond the first time, after much thought, and having won lots of good advice. this advice is from internetforums, experienced koidealer and hobbyists near you. This way you can benefit from there knowledge and learn from all their mistakes so yous don't have to make them. and trust me there are many to made if you are not carefull.
When you've made your plan, put it on a koiforum and see what fellow hobbyists still have for comments and tips and talk with the koi dealar about your plans.
Only after all this you should start building.
Do not save money on your filtersystem ... you need a big budget to build a good pond and you'd better save one more year in stead of cutting corners for you will have to adjust them within two years anyway.
Remember that koi grow incredibly fast. When you design you must take into account the number of koi you want to keep and take in your calculations the maximum length of 80cm per koi. That way, your filter is not to small within two years.
When the pond is finished, you immediately go to the store and buy 25 small koi for a tenner each .... Wrong! unfortunately it is what almost everyone does but believe me, everyone comes back from it.
Within 1 year you will learn much about (better) koi that you have and 13 of the first 15 do not really look like the ones you want anymore. Moreover, you actually have 20m3 and therefore do not want to have more than 10 large koi??
How should it be done?
Buy only 1 or 2 koi per year and then buy the more expensive (better quality) koi that can be enjoyed much longer. Use the budget you wanted to use for the 25 smaller ones.
After the first year you will have now learned so much that you want much better tosai or even nissai giving you a little more predictability about how the koi will be a few years from now.
Unfortunately, with koi the same truth applies, (almost always) the more expensive koi are also of better quality.
After this good start of the hobby, what now?
-Take some basic courses on water quality and fish diseases such as learning about the various parasites.
-Make sure you have a good quarantine facility where you can take care of sick / injured koi (and screen new koi for KHV) within a year or two.
-Go to a large koi show at least 1 time and wonder about the quality koi that can be found and owned..
-DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR FILTER FOR THE WINTER!
And learn another 100 of these simple tips from hobbyists and koidealers as soon as possible.
Enjoy the fantastic Koi hobby in your own way, whether it be through sitting along your own pond, or get into the world of showkoi, pathology, or breeding youe own, no matter what.
Have fun!
The Koi in a small pond, with small or non excistant filtration, get to much but bad food, no water changes, koi will grow, get sick, die and the fun goes away.
My advice, Build a proper pond the first time, after much thought, and having won lots of good advice. this advice is from internetforums, experienced koidealer and hobbyists near you. This way you can benefit from there knowledge and learn from all their mistakes so yous don't have to make them. and trust me there are many to made if you are not carefull.
When you've made your plan, put it on a koiforum and see what fellow hobbyists still have for comments and tips and talk with the koi dealar about your plans.
Only after all this you should start building.
Do not save money on your filtersystem ... you need a big budget to build a good pond and you'd better save one more year in stead of cutting corners for you will have to adjust them within two years anyway.
Remember that koi grow incredibly fast. When you design you must take into account the number of koi you want to keep and take in your calculations the maximum length of 80cm per koi. That way, your filter is not to small within two years.
When the pond is finished, you immediately go to the store and buy 25 small koi for a tenner each .... Wrong! unfortunately it is what almost everyone does but believe me, everyone comes back from it.
Within 1 year you will learn much about (better) koi that you have and 13 of the first 15 do not really look like the ones you want anymore. Moreover, you actually have 20m3 and therefore do not want to have more than 10 large koi??
How should it be done?
Buy only 1 or 2 koi per year and then buy the more expensive (better quality) koi that can be enjoyed much longer. Use the budget you wanted to use for the 25 smaller ones.
After the first year you will have now learned so much that you want much better tosai or even nissai giving you a little more predictability about how the koi will be a few years from now.
Unfortunately, with koi the same truth applies, (almost always) the more expensive koi are also of better quality.
After this good start of the hobby, what now?
-Take some basic courses on water quality and fish diseases such as learning about the various parasites.
-Make sure you have a good quarantine facility where you can take care of sick / injured koi (and screen new koi for KHV) within a year or two.
-Go to a large koi show at least 1 time and wonder about the quality koi that can be found and owned..
-DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR FILTER FOR THE WINTER!
And learn another 100 of these simple tips from hobbyists and koidealers as soon as possible.
Enjoy the fantastic Koi hobby in your own way, whether it be through sitting along your own pond, or get into the world of showkoi, pathology, or breeding youe own, no matter what.
Have fun!
