×
Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Where to Buy Koi & What Ones to Buy?

More
25 Jan 2012 09:04 #1 by JamesG (James Gargan)
Hi Folks,

Belated Happy New Year to you all.

3 of my 4 fish have made it through the winter so far! Needless to say I'm looking forward to getting more fish this season. Has anyone any advice on what fish I should be buying? I don't neccessarily mean varieties but rather things to look out for. The one casualty I had this winter was a Japanese import which the shop told me was about one year old. Apparently the reason he was big was because they breed them in heated tanks and feed them lots. I'm starting to think that the shock move to my freezing back garden pond last September might have been a contributory factor to his demise! The three small fish I bought have made it through the winter no problem (so far!!!).

Is there a case for buying only fish breed in Ireland/UK?

I've been told that Paddy's Day is around the time to be getting new fish, is this correct?

As ever, all advice greatly appreciated.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
25 Jan 2012 17:59 #2 by ghart (Greg Hart)
JamesG,

I believe that one of the sponsers specialises in Koi and cold water fish.
I cannot remember which one it is.

You could pm the Site Administrator to point you at the web site.


Greg

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
26 Jan 2012 02:33 #3 by davey_c (dave clarke)
aquatic village do usualy have a good stock in also of koi and coldwater
ian even bred 1 of his prized koi last year :)

Below tank is for sale

my plywood tank build.

www.irishfishkeepers.com/index.php/forum...k-build-diary#137768

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
26 Jan 2012 08:30 #4 by mossy (gavin blanchfield)

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
28 Jan 2012 16:00 #5 by clearly aquatics (mark)
Hi James, Sorry to hear you lost your fish! For any breeder japanese/uk/israeli to rear young koi to large sizes they must be grown on quickly in heated ponds but this isnt done at the expense of a winter for the fish, The japanese breeders will keep there general grade young fish in slightly heated water over winter but this is more to keep there stock in good condition to be shipped late winter/early spring. They will grow tosai tategoi (1yr old high grade) over the winter but only in there first year from nisai (2yr old) and over they get a full winter.
We sell thousnads of one year old japanes koi to unheated ponds and the fatality rates over winter are no different to english bred or israeli koi kept in a well filtered pond.

The biggest mistake people tend to make in ponds over the winter is feeding when its too cold or not maintaining the pond/filters properly, The filters still need cleaned regulary and water changes done to keep the water in good condition.
How well the fish are looked after over the winter generally dictates how well they come out of spring and into summer!

Any questions please dont hesitate to reply here or give us a shout direct via email or phone :D

Thanks Mark.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

  • stretnik (stretnik)
  • stretnik (stretnik)'s Avatar
  • Visitor
  • Visitor
28 Jan 2012 17:51 - 28 Jan 2012 17:55 #6 by stretnik (stretnik)
Replied by stretnik (stretnik) on topic Re: Where to Buy Koi & What Ones to Buy?

aquatic village do usualy have a good stock in also of koi and coldwater
ian even bred 1 of his prized koi last year :)


Agreed.


I'd also check the listings on Koi in the Practical Fishkeeping Magazine.

The normal time for lots of things related to living organisms of Hobby interest is usually around March 17, it's the Date most Gardeners and Farmers get a shuffle on due to incereased hours of Daylight combined with rises in temperature. The same is with ornamental Fish, it's when they begin to get active in preparation for breeding.


Kev.
Last edit: 28 Jan 2012 17:55 by stretnik (stretnik).

Please Log in to join the conversation.

More
07 Feb 2012 09:23 #7 by smelf1 (Ian O'Toole)
I have kept 14 odd koi and goldfish for years in my pond, lost one large goldfish this winter but i would say from old age i had him over 15 years and he grew huge.

My fish dont really feed during the cold weather i usually feed every second day and during winter 90% of the food gets un-touched so i need to clean it out. I have air stones in the pond to keep it from totally freezing, but last year the top totally froze and all the fish survived. I also added weather loach to the pond as they seem to love digging about and cleaning the food etc that drops to the bottom.

I do the usual water changes and top ups, add de-chlorination formula and also some salt to the pond.

The filter i clean every so many months i put in a filter and pump unit that was suitable for larger ponds that way it is never overworked and causes no issues.

Please Log in to join the conversation.

Time to create page: 0.055 seconds
Powered by Kunena Forum