Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I got mine from various places around Perth, Woodvale, Swan Valley, a little place up near wangara sort of where the new Ocean reef road has been cut through to gnangara road. All of those places had pretty good stock all similar prices. I just bought little ones as they were cheaper, they grow pretty quickly. I would recommend getting from different place as they all have different colours and types. (ie. Metallic or long fins or just different colours.)
These ones in pic I got when I first started my system a bit over a year ago.

Be careful when choosing in that you should keep a good look out for deformities. Two of my original lot are deformed as far as wonky head and tail. I have been told they will live long and happy lives but it still kind of guts me a bit.
This one I bought as a bit bigger one for 50$, I must have been feeling rich that day.

I would also recommend getting goldfish to go with Koi as they seem to get along fine and can be nice to look at. Commets and similar have been good for me.

About Koi..

Yes be careful when choosing Koi Look for the deformities one of the most common one is around the mouth..
- Look at the shape of the fish, "the Lines" as you would say..
I'm no expert on koi I just know what I like..

I'm not 100% sure about WA. but I do know that in NSW if you join the KSA you can get access to Koi Auctions, and maybe even some of the fish that some people consider to be get rejects or second or third pass fish for a reasonable price..

Try to stay away from pet shop Fish you don't know what you get..



On a side note some of the favourite fish[KOI] happen to be --- Asagi, Hi Utsuri, Soragoi, Lemon Hariwake, Chagoi

I saw some great varieties of these fish while travelling thru the USofA..

Juergen

Great photos skipd. Nice healthy looking fish you've got there.

Love the second pic of the bigger koi about to snort that pellet down. Kinda looks like its got a smiley face in the red patch on its side if you squint a bit.

Cheers for the advice, I think I will keep buying small ones for now and keep an eye on gumtree etc. for any cheapies.

Yeah, nice looking fish Skipd

Can you breed Koi? ie do they breed in a normal system, or do you need to do special stuff*.

*romantic lighting, softer, warmer water etc

I don't know about breeding only that they need to reach a certain size, sorry not much help there.
I agree don't go to fish / pet shops as they are way more expensive than the Koi farms.
I googled the farms at Woodvale and Swan valley. Yes there is a Koi society in Perth that has meetings where you can purchase Koi. I also googled the details for that.
Just thought i would put in another pic.

It does not seem to be that hard..

You need the right conditions..
they are fairly prolific breeder, but do you want thousands of Baby fish..
Mind you Koi are illegal in all states bare WA and NSW..

I do remember something along the lines of a farm in SA being fined Big money for having koi in large numbers.. they were a fish farm..

So all I can say is no no if you are not in the right state..

One thing you will get is a huge ammonia spike if the koi Breed.. Highly recomended that you do a water change asap..
or if you are breeding for purpose, do it in a seperate tank and remove the fish back to the main tank after the business is done..

Now the fun would start..
I have seen one setup that Impressed me..
The breeder pumped water from his large pond up into his tanks of eggs/fry and flowed back into the main tank.. The Filtration from the main tank kept all the fry viable.. it was an impressive system.. it impressed me in its working's..

And his fish where Huge..



Look not the best photo but you get the idea.. From that pond he lost 1 fish[female] over 3ft long and weight over 10kg due to egg bind.. He does happen to have 2 of the daughter in the pond.. At the time I was there they were about 3ft long and just huge..
- the pond if you want to know is about 20,000g+ in volume..




FINAL one thing.. I'm not suggesting that you breed koi, I know it can be done fairly easily and to do it right take. experience.. Do I have that experience, NO I don't, I like to read alot..


Juergen

Ps, thanks for kind words about nice healthy looking fish, Faye and chrismo, They must be of good stock as I have given them plenty of obstacles since they moved to my tank. Hopefully I have learned from my mistakes and they can live more comfortably or at ease.
Hay jergen, that's some great looking koi there, I have not quized the places I have been to re breeding. I would like to get mine into some larger sort of pond one day when they outgrow my tank, or does tank size determine koi size

It wasn't something I was wanting to do, just interested.

I want fish for the plate, but I've always enjoyed a Koi pond.

I had no idea they were banned here. I wonder how the Japanese garden in the city gets around that.

Well according to the Byap magazine issue 10, koi were originally farmed for eating.
Not to sure how the pretty ones taste but you shouldn't get to sick I guess.

Looks like my water is clearing up, I think covering the Ft was the changer. Ran continuous flow for awhile but not much change. Just over a week of covering the tank the water has all but cleared up.
I also was not liking the pump being on full time as it doubles power consumption. I am still running 50 50 and seems fine. Ie, 30 min on 30min off.

Covered tank.

Some tomatoe seedlings that I sowed from seed in GB.