Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

I have been looking at Koi as a possible income opportunity for an aquaponics system.

I did a search of Koi in the forums and there are no clear posts regarding anyone having success with them.

Has anyone been able to keep Koi successfully in their system? If yes, was there anything special that you needed to do outside the norm?

Thanks

Simon

did you want to breed the koi or just use them as nutrients for the veges?

I have read that koi are quite hard to breed with, but that is only heresay

Steve's got a good book about koi

Its better if they breed each other...

Just kidding. I never was able to get the color..

I was told recently that Koi are very easy to breed ...

(I always thought they needed pristine water ... apparently not!)

They get nice water cos Koi fanciers want to see their fish!

From what I know about AP .. clear water is NOT a problem... More Koi enthusiasts should consider growbeds rather than bioballs and amazingly complex filtration devices IMHO.

Apparently breeding Koi is about as easy as breeding goldfish .. all they need is lots of floppy hidey places... and one way I have been told is as follows ....

Soak some mopheads to get rid of any nasty chemical treatments (mophead being a floor cleaning implement) and wieght them down into the bottom of the pond ... Thats it!

Koi fanciers are really into markings ... and will pay top dollar for well bred and nicely coloured proportioned and marked fish ... (Similar to raising pedigree horses, dogs, Roses, rabbits, birds and cats etc. etc. )

I guess that there are koi, Koi, and KOI

Until you get really involved in understanding a particular animal pr plant, it is difficult to know what is "considered" to be a good or bad caracteristic.

My first canaries were awful, by show standards, but I had so much pleasure from them and took time to learn what was considered to be a good show bird, in regard to various strains.

There is a market for "mongrel" koi and goldfish ... Many of which are used as feed for carnivore fish ...

(I think some of the feeder goldfish I have seen are pretty in their own right!)

However you can pick up small generalist Koi fingerlings for 2 dollars or so from some breeders that would probably never ever make it to massive dollar standard but could be worth 50 - 100 dollars when a foot or so long. Koi are a cold water fish and grow pretty slow. Affordable to Mr. & Mrs average, not koi fanciers, but who want a speccie little pond in the backyard perhaps ...

I recently gave away three that were worth about $ 200 dollars each ...

If you want to grow very expensive fish, I guess you will need to invest in very expensive stock. But I reckon you could do OK or get a contribution towards feed cost by growing and breeding backyard Koi.

I have a friend who NEVER feeds his Koi. His pond is green ... but he has some amazing fish in it!

Apparently I was told the secret to breeding is mopheads, natural or synthetic...

(I will be trying this in 2008!)

Hope this helps

Johnnie

The house i just bought has a nice koi pond with about 10 koi in it, a couple of them over 30cm long and brightly coloured.
naturally the owner wouldn't part with them
mind you i just did an inspection of the place (tenants left) and the koi were still there, i know he hasn't got a place for them.. here's hoping he just leaves them!

Good luck timmy, if they're as expensive as J7 says it'll be really nice for you. Here's hoping...

I am just looking at options and opportunities.

I am looking at the benefits/potential income from Koi, SP, Red claw, etc. I am just curious as to whether anyone has had any success as there are a few postings about people who have had failures.

If I can get confirmation that they work in AP then I will investigate it further....

Psycho..... (and others)..... here the "Fisheries" attitude to Koi ....

Considering the areas surrounding you are relatively "Carp" free.... see attached map, blue areas are Carp free.....

I'd assume that fisheries would be actively discouraging anything to do with Carp/Koi... especially with regard to the possible impact on the fishing industry of systems such as the "Clarence"

Sale prices ...

http://www.auskoi.com.au/australf.htm

WA koi society link...

http://www.koiclubwa.com

I would love to do Koi but being in Melbourne I will have to settle for some pretty goldfish instead

As for breeding Koi. You have to hit a specific water temp to get them in the mood. Other wise they are pretty easy.. Mop heads, or just about anything that will allow thier sticky eggs to stick to will do inregards to helping them out.

raise your own brine shrimp to feed the babies and you are off..

Good luck

Shawn