My goldfish pond

[Tula]

I would love a butterfly koi, I've never had one before. Their long flowing fins are beautiful as they glide through the water.

I'm trying to figure out why my large aerator is blowing huge bubbles from the diffuser. It's possible the membrane needs replacing, not sure. I kind of want a new back up aerator for winter....my Pond Master 20 his getting older and has been running and running. It's my Matala 40 I'm trying to source some parts for...lots of places are out of stock or say they've discontinued it.

 

[CometKeith]

I don't recall where are you ordering from? Sounds like they are a good company, fixing issues without complaints

Hi Addy. They are from Champ Nishikigoi. Their web page is champkoi.com I have ordered from them three times so far and been really happy with all their fish. They are in the Bay Area in California. They have more expensive fish but typically I buy either Tosai in the 6-8 inch range for $100 or 7-9 inch size for $150 and just wait until they grow. All their fish are imported from Japan. I have learned a lot about Sanke, Showas, and Utsuris and prefer the Japanese fish because they are the best examples of their breed. I just watched a video and it showed how a batch of baby Showas was culled in Japan from 3.5 million fish to 3500 saleable fish. Of that group most get sold as one year old Tosai (under 10 inches unless they are jumbo) and then some get sold as 2 year olds ( under 17 inches unless they are jumbo) Only a tiny percentage get sold as 3 year olds ( over 20 inches) and that’s why they are so expensive and beautiful. The new butterfly Sanke I bought was 14-17 inches so it is a 2 year old.

 

[Tula]

I notice on their website they carry Seaside Aquatics, which is where I get my koi food. Keith, what are you feeding your fish?

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Tula. I have been feeding them mostly Hikari gold lately but it’s pretty expensive and it seems like it is a little hard for them to digest Because they all stuff themselves when I first feed them then they are busy chewing it for the next few minutes. I also had some Koi/goldfish food from Tetra that was pellet shaped that they loved I’m guessing it’s not as good for them if they like it so much? Right now I just ran out of the pellet style food and want to get something else. I like to have a few kinds so their meals aren’t always the same food. I looked up the seaside aquatic. Would you recommend it and where do you think I should get it? Usually I either go to either Webbs water gardens, or Amazon.

 

[CometKeith]

I took this picture this afternoon. The new fish are acclimating well to the pond and other fish. It looks like my new a Sanke is best friends with my largest Showa. They have been hanging out together a lot and they are the largest two fish in the pond.

 

[Tula]

Wow, I can't believe your water lettuce, it exploded !! The pond looks great !

Re: koi food. I used to feed mine something from our local fish hatchery. For some reason I decided to try some Blackwater food and later they refused to eat the fish hatchery food. Tom Tran owns Sea Side Aquatics and offered a promotional offer on a food that was formulated for his company, so I decided to try it. After that, my koi would not eat the Blackwater food !! I decided to quite while I was ahead and stick with this food....my koi LOVE it. I order directly from SeaSide.

 

[addy1]

I buy either Tosai in the 6-8 inch range for $100 or 7-9 inch size for $150 and just wait until they grow.

sigh...................my fish cost around $2.50 to the most I have spent $5.00, my food for the fish around zero, they mainly live off the critters plants in the pond.

 

[CometKeith]

sigh...................my fish cost around $2.50 to the most I have spent $5.00, my food for the fish around zero, they mainly live off the critters plants in the pond.

Hi Addy. When I just had goldfish the most expensive one I had was $3.99 from Petsmart. Most of my goldfish were born in the pond so zero cost for those. You are going to get some pretty ugly Koi if the most you want to spend is $2.50!!

 

[addy1]

lol no desire for koi no matter how pretty they are! Most of mine are now pond born. I have not added fish in years.

 

[CometKeith]

lol no desire for koi no matter how pretty they are! Most of mine are now pond born. I have not added fish in years.

Hi Addy. I totally understand. I had goldfish exclusively for 10 years and am a big fan of them. I switched to including Koi in my pond because my viewing position is so much further away being about 20 ft from my pond and 2 and 3 stories up. When I had just goldfish at our last house I had nice chairs right in front of the pond where I could watch them but that is not really workable where we live now. Here are a few pics I took today. The first pic has the new Butterfly Sanke in the middle of the pic. The second pic has the Hi Utsuri in the middle (yellow and black). To it’s left is my new Showa with red, white, and a lot of black, and the Shusui ( red and silver) next to that. These three are just 6 inches so it will take them time to grow. The Showa on the far right came in the shipment by mistake.

 

[Tula]

Beautiful ! So happy to see your pond bringing you enjoyment

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Very pretty fishies!

 

[addy1]

Great looking fish!

 

[j.w]

So pretty!

 

[CometKeith]

I think someone needs addiction / intervention therapy!

So I think you might be right! Is there an 800 number I can call for an intervention? The place I buy fish from just got in some beautiful Jumbo Tosai Koi and there are several I have my eye on. They have Sanke, Showas, and Kohaku all in jumbo. So I have 6 fish 10-15 inch and 4 fish 6-7 inch for a 3000 gallon pond and bog give or take, not to mention 30 or 40 goldfish. Someone please tell me to stop buying fish! But the ones I’m looking at are sooooo nice! What should I do?