Fish For Your Water Garden
Fishing for Facts
* Goldfish, koi, tench, orfes and mosquito fish are all capable of living in a water garden environment.
* Koi require more room, deeper areas and better filtration than other pond fish.
* Goldfish and koi can both breed in a water garden and can even cross breed, resulting in a greenish brown hybrid goldfish that is sterile.
* The number and size of fish a water garden can support is dependent on many factors such as pond volume, surface area, water turnover rate, filtration effectiveness and the quality of maintenance performed.
* Pond fish can survive Indiana winters in a well designed water garden. Of course, proper care is also necessary to ensure the health of your fish in the winter.
* Koi may reach lengths of 30" or more. Goldfish may grow to lengths of 8" to 14".
* Purchase fish from a reputable dealer who can document where the fish were raised and under what bio security standards. Avoid fish from any source that can't verify the breeder or location of the fish farm.
The Price Of Koi
For many first time koi shoppers, a visit to a koi dealer can cause sticker shock. Quite often comments are made along the lines of, "You want how much money for that fish?" What shoppers don't realize is just what factors influence the price of the koi in the tanks at the local water garden store.
Breeders have enormous expenses involved in bio-security and disease prevention along with stringent quality control measures that limit the number of koi that actually are made available for sale. Plus the cost of shipping often represents a 15%-20% premium over the cost of the fish themselves. Finally remember that the dealer has to house, feed and keep large quantities of koi healthy until they are sold.
Another major part of pricing is size. Larger koi represent a much bigger investment in terms of what it took to grow them on to that size and also the degree of risk a dealer takes should something go wrong and a fish is lost. Large fish command higher prices because the buyer is getting a koi that has already made it through the more vulnerable early stages of life.
Finally, each dealer determines the markup they feel their koi are worth and that is the last piece of the pricing puzzle. Do your homework and educate yourself on the attributes that differentiate grades of koi offered for sale. Ultimately price is about what you are willing to pay and if a specific dealer seems too expensive, shop around until you find the combination of healthy fish, good selection and fair prices you are comfortable with.
