New member here, and need help

[KoiDave]

Hello everyone, before I get into my question, which I hope people can answer, let me introduce myself. I am a new Koi keeper and am currently setting up my own pond. Its definitley an investment, especially the fish. Thankfully the pond store by me sells starter fish.

Here is my question. I have a small pond in my backyard that has Koi in it that someone must have dumped. Or at least I think they are Koi, no matter what they are big. Can someone help me identify if they are Koi or are they just some carp that someone released.


Thanks:

Dave

[Bob Winkler]

Sure look tame.... or are you a fisherman too? Anyways, Looks a lot like a koi... barbels...How big is the pond they are in?

[KoiDave]

Thanks for the quick reply, yes I am a fisherman, but we net those since they are tame. The pond is about 26 acres and has a dam with a feeder stream. There are about 6 of them in there and we can only net half, the others are boat shy.

[Bob Winkler]

great scott! Does any one else think Mud pond? Dave, you have your koi's summer home all set up....cool! where are you located?

[tranquility]

Oh how kewl would that be...I would bet there are more than 6 in there....but,the small ones like to stay hid...probably were very tame at some point...untill whoever had them got tired of taking care of an ill made pond and just dumped them there....We have a couple of folks that I have started giving my culls to for their earth ponds...we had a drought a few years back and alot of ponds dried up...so they had no fish....and they weren't really wanting to fish it so I told them they could have my culls...can't wait to see some of them in a few years....I just hope they are as large as the one you are holding...
Lawanna

[Lam Nguyen]

Hi Dave and welcome to Koi-Bito! First of all, that's not a "small pond" in your backyard! In fact, it's huge! You are lucky to have such a pond in your backyard. As far as what you are holding, it's definitely a koi. In fact, I think that other people on this forum would agree that it looks like a ki utsuri. Again welcome!

[smithvillemike]

Welcome to Koi-Bito

Can you say private mudpond? It sure looks like a koi to me and as the others have said I am sure you have a lot more in that pond hiding.

[Nancy M.]

Quote: Originally Posted by KoiDave Hello everyone, before I get into my question, which I hope people can answer, let me introduce myself. I am a new Koi keeper and am currently setting up my own pond. Its definitley an investment, especially the fish. Thankfully the pond store by me sells starter fish. Here is my question. I have a small pond in my backyard that has Koi in it that someone must have dumped. Or at least I think they are Koi, no matter what they are big. Can someone help me identify if they are Koi or are they just some carp that someone released. Thanks: Dave

Hi Dave
Welcome to Bito, were are you located? is the pic you are showing your pond? if so how big is that baby....

[Lomaponder]

Well Dave,

Nice water hole. I thinking a maze fish trap to herd those "unseen" fish into would be called for (JMHO).

Here's a friendly note:

" The female koi deposits her eggs - approximately 100,000 per kilogram of her body weight"

For reference check out a video on utube - koi mudponds.

Get in contact with nearest koi club. And keep this board posted on your progress.

[KoiDave]

Thanks for all the replys, I am from New York on Long Island, and unfortuntely that is not me holding the fish, but my friend. I took the picture since I was the only one that was not so messy from trying to net it. That Koi went just over 7 1/2 on a digital scale, but we saw bigger, including a rather large gold/black one.

I wish that was my pond, no mine is going to be alot smaller and probably pre made. Now the pond behind the house is not private, there are several houses surrounding it. In fact its part of a bigger river system that was dammed. According to my neighbor, a bunch of years back the previous renter wanted to breed Koi, but when it did not work out, he dumped them. The one downside to the place is that it contains alot of gamefish that I would assume would eat the fry. In fact down around my section of New York, east of the city, its common to find large Koi in ponds/lakes, since its so developed and people think its ok to dump the fish.

Sorry if my original post was not that clear.

Dave