Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have been doing a lot of homework, thought and study of which species I wanted to work with in upstate NY, and keep coming back to the Koi, so they are it, I will upsize the FTs for 300 to 400 or larger tanks, hopefully at least one much larger, and a few 300s for watching some up close and personal.

The Koi will work well to feed the GBs and require far less winter heating of the GH, and still let me have fun planning and doing breeding with a couple color varieties.

Next week going to NY to start looking for the right place, if all goes well will be putting a GH up before snow. And collecting FTs and GBs along the way.

Thats the plan, now to do it.

Good luck Yaacov!

Yep. And it's Koi that I'm considering for my UK venture. Which is just as well, as I come from a Koi breeding background (courtesy of my parents).

I think Koi are definitely a good bet for a coldish environment. Whilst some of them are edible (Crow Koi), growing good sizes and colours can more than cover the costs of raising them. Depending on what local laws there are, selling them as a commercial venture offers rich rewards.

Thanks, I think that they are the right choice for me, any obvious culls can be grown out for the table, and the better ones for pond stocking.

I will have a larger tank for viewing of pets but plan to buy, and select some good specimens of a couple color varieties for grow out and going on with, I have two color varieties in mind but leaving room for the significant other to voice her preferences, so will probably wind up with a respectable sized central holding tank. All will contribute to the GBs and veggies.

We should be able to support a pretty good GB array

Plans now are a proper GH, while accumulating FTs and GBs, hopefully it will come together before snow time.

Gefilte fish, anyone? You'd have to mix it with other fish, I think. I use salmon in mine.

Gefilte is a possibility for sure, mixing salmon in is a great idea , need to try that,

I have several colors of Koi I have always liked, the Kohaku is always on top, the Sanke slips in too, as do the Golds, will have a big growout tank with these. I have been surfing looking for some US growers, found several that look promising, one in NC and one in NJ, and hope to find some shows to hit over the next year. Any input on either of these is appreciated.

I won Best in Show at the BKKS show (about 1987-ish) with an Asagi. But yes Kohaku, providing they have clean lines, sell for loads... and are the only ones we have managed to sell back to Japanese collectors. Possibly because it represent their national flag. The Tancho Kohaku (white with a single almost pure round dot on the head) was the single most expensive fish we ever sold.

i got my yp from a farm near napolean oh, he had quite a selection of koi.. FinFarm is the name of the fish farm

Thanks Keith

I will google them, only 5-6 hrs from my area.

bump! for this thread.

I just added 10 comets into my small system, wondering what you guys thought about eating them? I know that carp are the most bred freshwater fish for consumption in the world, but comets, not heard if anyone has eaten them before.

comets can get up to 12", but i think most of what you find won't get that big..

If you live in a place with high winter summer temperature range then carp species and koi would be the best fish for powering a system. They are also vegetarian which is cool! I live far south and trout are cool for winter and summer nice and hot for tilapia but it makes life tricky. I want to get koi to power my system in summer. Problem is they are a bit pricey here. I need to find a breeder and buy feeder fish or something. Or scour the gumtree for giveaways.

Keith and Brian, thanks for that, vegetarian, excellent, but will they also eat worms and grubs?

Yes, it gets darn hot in a Canberra summer and freezing in winter, so ideal for trout in winter and carp for summer. Anyone eaten them though? Thoughts or suggestions?

Why would one chiose to eat Koi when he could just as easily have common carp? You could stock the pond half anf half, maybe? I know half of the world hates the idea of eating carp but in Europe it's pretty well-considered.

About comets, I couldn't imagine eating them, since they are generally considered a 'pet'. My advice is to go for common carp.
Plus, they can survive with very low DO which is good