Fish farming: What about koi?

[canuckamuck]

So this week I am reassessing my fish farm strategy. I have tried a lot of things this year and learned a lot, but clearly I didn’t break even. At this point my plan was to make a much larger investment. I know could start a new season and apply everything I learned, and more than likely, I will do much better. But perhaps I should think about something other than Tab Tim.

I noticed the Pla nin I raised this year grew better than the Tab Tim. And I know I can turn over Pla Suwai faster and with less concern over water quality. But I like Tab Tim because they all have unique patterns, they are colorful, and people seem to think they taste better. Other fish are kinda boring and hard to see. I mean how is it possible to enjoy watching a pond of catfish, no offense RBH. So now I am thinking why not go all the way over to the fussy end of fish farming, and have a try with Koi.

I know they are not an eating fish, but I also know that some of the prices these things go for are insane. It is not unusual to see 6 inchers going for 2000 baht a pop, and at the higher end of the biz you can change that number from baht to dollars. There has got to be some profit potential there, as well as having some beautiful fish to pamper.

So I am wondering if there are any of you out there who have some experience with breeding and rearing koi.

[HenkBeekhuis]

The koi's u see for alot of money dont come from thailand, here in buriram u can buy a 2 kg koi for 30 bath, so i dont think its a good way of making money, there are better aquarium / ornamental fish to be bred, giant siam carp, julien golden carp, red tail catfish, alligator gars, arapaima etc..

[teletiger]

A lot like those long eared Brahman.....the trick is to persuade the rich mug how "beautiful" they are.

Regards.

[canuckamuck]

The koi's u see for alot of money dont come from thailand, here in buriram u can buy a 2 kg koi for 30 bath, so i dont think its a good way of making money, there are better aquarium / ornamental fish to be bred, giant siam carp, julien golden carp, red tail catfish, alligator gars, arapaima etc..

Well none of the Koi come from Thailand originally, but they do well here and people do breed them here. In fact last time I asked about koi in a shop the lady had expensive ones from Thailand and really expensive ones from Japan. Never seen a koi go for less than 100 baht a fish though, your Buriram fish must be goldfish.

You are right, that there are a lot of ornamentals that can be raised here. What i need is some inside info. Thailand is one of world leaders in providing fish for the aquarium industry. What I would love would be an opportunity to talk to a wholesaler and find out some facts.

[cooked]

The koi's u see for alot of money dont come from thailand, here in buriram u can buy a 2 kg koi for 30 bath, so i dont think its a good way of making money, there are better aquarium / ornamental fish to be bred, giant siam carp, julien golden carp, red tail catfish, alligator gars, arapaima etc..

Well none of the Koi come from Thailand originally, but they do well here and people do breed them here. In fact last time I asked about koi in a shop the lady had expensive ones from Thailand and really expensive ones from Japan. Never seen a koi go for less than 100 baht a fish though, your Buriram fish must be goldfish.

You are right, that there are a lot of ornamentals that can be raised here. What i need is some inside info. Thailand is one of world leaders in providing fish for the aquarium industry. What I would love would be an opportunity to talk to a wholesaler and find out some facts.

We bought some very nice smallish Koi for ฿25.- in Buriram, now 6 or 7 inches long. Transporting live fish to Europe must cost a fortune. I heard that certain patterns (heart shape on the head, for instance) were going for thousands of Euros in Switzerland and America.

[canuckamuck]

Apparently the highest price paid for a koi is in the neighborhood of 250,000 euro. But it wasn't from Buriram.

[canuckamuck]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CoOf3M8k2X8

[waddy]

No serious koi keeper would buy off you they would want Japanese koi if you want to see high grade koi in Thailand there is a man in Bangkok who imports from the top koi farms in japan

http://www.koikichishop.com/ that's the website you will have a shock at some of the prices . If you did breed koi stick to one variety to master that or go down the route of selling cheap koi to people who don't know much

yours waddy

[canuckamuck]

Thanks for that Waddy. That is what I am thinking also, I would definitely have to put in a lot of time and investment to get any notice from serious fish people. But in the meantime the shops are full of koi for 1000 baht a pop and more, and I doubt they're all coming from Japan. The market exists for average grade fish, I just want to learn how to access it.

[waddy]

I f I was in your position I would probably try chagoi especially if you have a mud pond as these get big quick buy some tiddlers and you will be shocked how quick they grow

bought a 2 inch chagoi and grew to 6 inches in 3 months that's in cold England if your temperature of the water 23 c to 29c they will grow incredibly fast and feed them high protein food

you will be onto a winner good luck hope it goes well as probably buy some off you in 7 years time when i'm retired to Thailand yours waddy

Edited October 23, 2013 by waddy

[owl sees all]

On 10/23/2013 at 5:48 AM, canuckamuck said:

Thanks for that Waddy. That is what I am thinking also, I would definitely have to put in a lot of time and investment to get any notice from serious fish people. But in the meantime the shops are full of koi for 1000 baht a pop and more, and I doubt they're all coming from Japan. The market exists for average grade fish, I just want to learn how to access it.

Did you follow through with your plans?

 

I have kept koi in Thailand for 10 or so years.

 

Do you know of any koi carp breeding farms?

 

 

[canuckamuck]

2 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Did you follow through with your plans?

 

I have kept koi in Thailand for 10 or so years.

 

Do you know of any koi carp breeding farms?

 

 

I did not. It is still a dream. I have some fat old koi swimming around in pond, but they aren't anything special.

The only koi farm I know of is Shogun farms, they have a large store in Khamtiang Market in Chiang Mai. They don't have much of an internet presence though.

[owl sees all]

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

I did not. It is still a dream. I have some fat old koi swimming around in pond, but they aren't anything special.

The only koi farm I know of is Shogun farms, they have a large store in Khamtiang Market in Chiang Mai. They don't have much of an internet presence though.

The koi farms don't want seem to have utilised the internet as yet. It's all word of mouth between the Thai fish crew.

 

I passed a koi farm Tuesday and it was deserted. I bought 100 koi from them two years ago for 8 baht each. The biggest is now about 16 inches.

 

Had an idea to breed koi myself but in the last couple of years there has not been enough water. Did raise 20,000 pla nin for a commercial venture but I returned to England for a few weeks and they went walkies while I was away. That was 7 years ago. The wife was supposed to have been looking after them!!??

 

[canuckamuck]

Now you've gone and activated the koi bug in me again. That is going to cost me some baht.

[metempsychotic]

On 10/23/2013 at 5:48 AM, canuckamuck said:

Thanks for that Waddy. That is what I am thinking also, I would definitely have to put in a lot of time and investment to get any notice from serious fish people. But in the meantime the shops are full of koi for 1000 baht a pop and more, and I doubt they're all coming from Japan. The market exists for average grade fish, I just want to learn how to access it.

I got  9 lovely koi for 700 thai baht. 1 was abot 30 cm, 4 were 12 -15  cm, and 4 were fry they basically threw in for the hell of it. All mutts but beautiful nonetheless.

 

Koi rrquire mud ponds for growing out, google to see how it is done in japan.

[sirineou]

I have enjoyed reading this Thread, 

How about some pictures as we all know that me and words wave a strained relationship.

When we build our house in Khon Kaen, I included a coi/any type of fish small pond under the stairs.

It is only about two ft deep when filled. I don't live full time in Thailand yet, so I have not really done anything much with it, 

My plans are to install a filter on the right side of the pond where you see the white electrical outlet,and build a stone waterfall over it to return the filtered water to the pond.  

I realise that the ponds you guys are talking about are large natural types, but since I don't know much about the subject, other the home aquariums we all had at one point in our lives, I read all I can and try to learn as much as I can. Also , since you guys are living the dream, I live vicariously through you and dream. 

     I hope we  get a handle on this CoronaVirus thing soon so I can come to Thailand this spring.

Last I was there I threw a couple of goldfish, a few water plants,and   a bunch of fancy guppies in there just for the fun of it,  and a couple pf months later we returned to the US.

   a few months later I thought they all  were dead, living on their own without anyone there to feed the, Much to my surprise not only were they alive, but they were thriving and multiplying. If I was there I would have probably killed them all with love LOL.

As I said, Keeping an eye on that CoronaVirus , and there seem to be some good news, as far as Thailand is concerned, If it wanes, I hope to be there in a few months, I will install some Wifi enabled smart outlets to control the filter , water fountain and perhaps an automatic pellet food dispenser system from anywhere I am. 

In the meantime please post some pictures, as I said , "I live vicariously through you" and I am not very good with big words.( though i did manage to insert the word  "vicariously "  in there twice!!   Thank god for google and spell check LOL )   

Edited February 13, 2020 by sirineou

[owl sees all]

11 hours ago, metempsychotic said:

I got  9 lovely koi for 700 thai baht. 1 was abot 30 cm, 4 were 12 -15  cm, and 4 were fry they basically threw in for the hell of it. All mutts but beautiful nonetheless.

 

Koi rrquire mud ponds for growing out, google to see how it is done in japan.

The one that is 30cm was a fantastic buy. I've got some 10 year old fish and the biggest (big orange) is about 60/65 cm.

 

The Japanese kois are very traditional. The more modern varaties are very exciting. Israel fish are really exceptional and fast growing also.

 

Some Thai fish can grow big. The biggest kois in Prajek pond in Udon must go at least a metre.

 

All the kois in the Chinese quarter in Udon are the long fin (butterfly) strain.

 

I recently saw a fish that was black except for big golden scales. I,ll post some pics as soon as I get my new laptop. At the mo' I'm third in line for use of the daughter's mobile.

[metempsychotic]

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

The one that is 30cm was a fantastic buy. I've got some 10 year old fish and the biggest (big orange) is about 60/65 cm.

 

The Japanese kois are very traditional. The more modern varaties are very exciting. Israel fish are really exceptional and fast growing also.

 

Some Thai fish can grow big. The biggest kois in Prajek pond in Udon must go at least a metre.

 

All the kois in the Chinese quarter in Udon are the long fin (butterfly) strain.

 

I recently saw a fish that was black except for big golden scales. I,ll post some pics as soon as I get my new laptop. At the mo' I'm third in line for use of the daughter's mobile.

i love koi, and my pond has been going for about 5 months now, i posted some early pics a while back, but little reaction, pond is only 1600 litres and 35 cm deep but so far so good.

its built in in front of my bkk house and has only held guppies for mosquito control for years until i whacked in filtration and got the koi.

[toddmeister]

On 2/13/2020 at 10:33 AM, owl sees all said:

It's all word of mouth between the Thai fish crew.

 

Anyone ever looked into Arowana or similar? Stumbled across a few videos whilst in lockdown and some of the prices for quality fish make even the most expensive Koi look like goldfish in comparison. But again it seems very little info out there on breeding/farming?