My Koi Addiction....

[Gemma]

Hi Gemma. I miss my fish too Do you have any pictures of the new additions?]

I got a Hi Utsuri (looks like Ki but should deepen) Butterfly, a Benigoy (more likely Aka Muji) Butterfly, a Doitsu Kujaku, a GinRin Ochiba (said butterfly in the description but it doesn't look like to me), and a Doitsu Blue Matsuba Butterfly
Here are the pics of when I bought them almost a month ago, they are way better looking than it shows up on these pics

 

[CometKeith]

I got a Hi Utsuri (looks like Ki but should deepen) Butterfly, a Benigoy (more likely Aka Muji) Butterfly, a Doitsu Kujaku, a GinRin Ochiba (said butterfly in the description but it doesn't look like to me), and a Doitsu Blue Matsuba Butterfly
Here are the pics of when I bought them almost a month ago, they are way better looking than it shows up on these pics

Gemma. They are beautiful!! Congrats on the new fish!

 

[CometKeith]

I like the one with the black spots, but also I know knowing about koi. That is the one I would pick

Lisa, No I'm not buying either. I just like to look Okay the first one is being offered for $1000 by Kodama Koi. That seems really reasonable for such a large Koi and it looks like someone bought it since last night when I saw it for sale. The second one with the larger black spots is listed for $12,000!!!

https://www.kodamakoifarm.com/shop/live-koi/

 

[Gemma]

Gemma. They are beautiful!! Congrats on the new fish!

Thank you!
I know you lean more towards the "show" kind of koi , but I remember how much you loved your Lemon Hariwake, would you buy another "ornamental" koi?

 

[addy1]

The second one with the larger black spots is listed for $12,000!!!

Aww so I picked the right one!

 

[CometKeith]

Thank you!
I know you lean more towards the "show" kind of koi , but I remember how much you loved your Lemon Hariwake, would you buy another "ornamental" koi?

Hi Gemma. You are totally right. I loved how the metallic scales of my Yellow Hariwake made it so fun to watch it in my pond. I have been enjoying learning about the Gosanke Koi and how to distinguish more valuable and beautiful ones from others. It seems like a real art to know how they will develop and it really interests me how breeders are so good at identifying young fish that have the potential to be really beautiful. I think there is almost an endless amount to learn about that so that is why I fell into liking the sanke, showa, and kohaku. Other Koi are also nice but I think not as much to learn about. Pondwise probably the shiny ones like your GinRin Ochiba will be a lot more fun to watch. I'm curious and sorry if you already posted this what made you decide to pick the fish that you did? I know you have been talking about finding a Ki Utsuri and I know you mentioned liking the Kujakus before, but what made you pic the Matsuba, Ochiba, and Benigoy? Also why did you lean more toward the butterfly Koi?

 

[CometKeith]

Aww so I picked the right one!

Isn't it crazy that one is worth 12 times the other one!
By the way, I'm going to Oregon next week for a short family vacation. I have never been there and am looking forward to it We are going to Mount Hood, Portland and the North Coast.

 

[addy1]

Have fun! I was in Oregon many many years ago, did a camping trip out of my datsun station wagon. Beautiful beaches, parks etc.

 

[Gemma]

I'm curious and sorry if you already posted this what made you decide to pick the fish that you did? I know you have been talking about finding a Ki Utsuri and I know you mentioned liking the Kujakus before, but what made you pic the Matsuba, Ochiba, and Benigoy? Also why did you lean more toward the butterfly Koi?

In the beginning (almost 17yrs) I was only aware of "pond grade" koi and totally loved the Ogon family because they were the first and only Metallic I had seen, but had no idea they had a specific name and so back then I was at the mercy of whatever kind of koi pet store carried....in 2016 when I had my pond enlarged, I started researching and learned koi can be purchased online, after visiting NDK site it became my goal to own one of each of my favorite.
Up until that day, every Spring I had exchanged large fish and all known females, for new babies so I had the room to start building my collection, and so I made a list of koi I was out to find. After I learned that most Bekko in people's pond were once Sanke just like mine, I decided to stay away from the show koi and bought one by one all the fish on my list with the exception of these last 5 that I didn't have the room for once I stopped relocating females.
Fortunately my 3 large Matsuba and my two Shubbies were (are) male so that's why I have 9-12yr old fish in there, but the rest of them are all 2yr old or under even if they look older due to size.

I think Showa are beautiful but like the the Goshiki that is still on my list (and I almost bought recently) I don't know if it would turn on me like the Sanke did.

So to sum it all up, I buy the fish a buy, to have a school of very distinct and unique looking fish that are brightly colored.

The Butterfly Hi Utsuri was only added to the list this year, after I saw a large one at a koi show ....so beautiful!

 

[Gemma]

I know you have been talking about finding a Ki Utsuri and I know you mentioned liking the Kujakus before, but what made you pic the Matsuba, Ochiba, and Benigoy? Also why did you lean more toward the butterfly Koi?

Matsuba: This I chose because of the color Sapphire Blue

GinRin Ochba S., because I wanted a Chagoi out of curiosity but the solid color was not appealing to me so I kept an eye on the Ochiba for sale until I found this one...I've never seen a 7-8" fish this chubby, I' thinking it could be a girl

Benigoi: I fell in love with the one in a youtube video, I hope it has white tips (Aka Muji) like that one.

Why Butterfly: I actually like a mix of standard and butterfly fins in my pond, I think some koi look better with standard fins and some with butterfly fins so depending on the fish I chose what fins I want it to have, for example my Aka Matsuba and my kikusui would not look as good in a butterfly form.
I also recently discovered that I don't like the GinRin on Metallic fish

 

[Gemma]

Time to revive this thread.....Anyone looking to buy fish this year?

Any kind in particular?

 

[addy1]

nope

 

[j.w]

i'm having fish overload. No more fish allowed!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Gemma. You shouldn't have asked!! I'm addicted to looking at fish to buy. I look constantly.... maybe 1-2 hours a day!?! I think there are some good buys now, but I'm not thrilled about throwing them into frigid water. I have tried to research if it is really bad to put a fish into cold water and haven't come up with much. The one thing I have learned is the reason Japanese Koi live so long is they go through the natural state of winter in Japan where it gets very cold rather than some fish farms where they keep the Koi in warm water and overfeed and push growth 24/7. That said I still don't want to overly shock any fish coming from Sunny California, Hawaii or one of the warm southern states so I'm not sure how well any of those fish would adjust coming to Chicago in the winter. I have also looked at boarding. Some places will hold and store your fish until a certain date. Most typical is over the summer and sending you the fish in the fall, but I'm not interested in that. Kodama Koi had a really interesting program not too long ago. They were selling very high quality small Koi in the size range of 5.5-6 inches and would ship them to you in the spring when they were estimated to be about 13-14 inches. They expected the value of the fish to multiply by about 4 times in that time period ie $300 to $1200 but obviously couldn't guaranty it. I thought it was really interesting, but couldn't bring myself to spend that much on that size Koi even if they are worth $1000+ at the time they are shipped. I'm starting to look at upgrading my filter system and am pricing bead filter systems so that is keeping me busy lately, but still keep checking new fish as they come on the market. The main places I'm following are Kodama in Hawaii, Champion Koi in CA and Grand Koi in Georgia. Oh I should mention I'm going to Vietnam in the spring. I already have researched Koi dealers in Hanoi and HCMC (Saigon) in case it made sense to buy Koi there and found a good Koi dealer in HCMC. Just to show how addicted I am as I looked at Asia sources for Koi I stumbled onto a great source of Koi from Japan that will ship their fish here. The fish were much much cheaper than what they are sold for here. A small box of 60 Koi would cost about $1800 to ship. The savings would be maybe 75% over what they sell for here. Now I just need to decide what I could do with 60 Koi!

 

[CometKeith]

Time to revive this thread.....Anyone looking to buy fish this year? View attachment 118431 Any kind in particular?

Hi. i just answered you. See above!