My current kois (japanese) were bought from a local koi auction that had unsold koi from the auction. I bought the tosai (from what I was told) from the unsold batch, everything I bought was $15.
I am holding off buying more koi until the local show in Sept., because the quality japenese koi available here isn't cheap. I am applying the same approach in Sept., get bargains from visiting vendor looking to get rid of their inventory on the last night. But, I doubt I will get more $15 bargains
In short, I have no problem not adding koi anytime soon. Also, I don't want to spend alot of money on koi at this point (until I develop a good eye), but I don't want to waste my small pond space on junk.
I will cull some of the koi when my knowledge of the hobby gets better.
Your right Mike, I have seen a 1600 gallon pond with 3 18' koi in the past, the pond size seemed barely adequate.
My goal in the end 3 kois or sell all biggies, keep getting fingerling every year
Thanks everyone for the advice. This board has reputation for being tough, but i'm looking to learn!