Aquariums

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i've bought koi and had them shipped before too. most will ship them overnight and yes, those shipping costs can be crazy unless you get a lot of fish at a decent price to ship together. just make sure to ask questions about testing for certain diseases before you buy.

i like one of my local pet stores. the owner used to own one of the best places to get fish. about 15 years ago he sold it off to someone who ran it into the ground and ruined the reputation. a few years ago the guy decided to go back into business and is much closer to my home. he travels down to the supplier and is allowed to hand pick the fish he wants or you can put in special requests and he will see what he can get.

 

[Jared77]

That is one thing I want when I'm older and the are older kids don't need the yard to play, and I can train the dogs around is a nice sized DEEP pond with koi. I had a small one with Sarasa comets that were really nice but eventually we had to move. That small pond was the only thing I miss about that house.

There's a place about 30 minutes away that is a pond specialty store. They hand pick a lot of koi for sale. Some of them are crazy expensive too. They have those big blue drums with a 1" PVC pumping water into it and Koi cruising around in them in the spring and summer. Each holding tank has its own pattern or color so you can shop by color but they can be different sizes. There's a price list on each tank with a description and prices based on size.

I was perfectly content with my Sarasas though since I knew koi would outgrow that pond. I did drive the poor guy at Petsmart nuts because I'd have him catch one and Id ask him to lower the cup down so I could see it from above. He kept trying to give me a side view and I kept asking for a top view even after I explained that they' be in a pond and we'd be looking down on them. This fact was somehow lost on him but he did as I asked. I ended up keeping a strawberry pot in the deepest part of the pond and the fish would learn to take shelter there from the herons and the coons that would visit looking for an easy meal.

My folks went to Japan some years back and I'll never forget my Mom telling me that they toured a garden next to a temple. You could walk over the bridge and stand in the middle of the bridge and clap your hands a few times. Then the koi would come up to the surface looking for food. The monks that tended these gardens would give each guest a small handful of food to feed them. They trained them to do this so people could see their beautiful colors and the monks could monitor how the fish were doing without having to catch them each time to see how they were. Pretty creative if you ask me.

Its on my eventually list so I have something to keep me busy till I have grandkids to spoil. Though the good thing is thats a LONG ways off.