My Koi Journey

[yonny]

So I have a day in the diary next month to measure, weigh and photograph all my koi to track their growth over the next year and beyond. I'll take the opportunity to post some pics of the good'ns on here.

Water temps up to ~13.5C now so I'm slowly upping the feeding. A couple of them are looking mahoosive. 'Whopper', the big white one, is clearly pregnant so I have some spawning brushes on the way. I dread to think what spawning will look with 16 males smashing her to bits in a pond 🙈

[greekskii]

4 hours ago, yonny said:

So I have a day in the diary next month to measure, weigh and photograph all my koi to track their growth over the next year and beyond. I'll take the opportunity to post some pics of the good'ns on here.

Water temps up to ~13.5C now so I'm slowly upping the feeding. A couple of them are looking mahoosive. 'Whopper', the big white one, is clearly pregnant so I have some spawning brushes on the way. I dread to think what spawning will look with 16 males smashing her to bits in a pond 🙈

Where’s my invite?! 

[yonny]

1 hour ago, greekskii said:

Where’s my invite?! 

I already have all mine and my brothers families asking to be present 😂

[elmoputney]

7 hours ago, greekskii said:

Where’s my invite?! 

I'm first on the waiting list 😬😳 

[commonly]

So, i just brought 5 young ones for my sons pond.

Im guessing that's me signed up for a lot more pond maintenance?

@yonny would you be so kind as to send me a link for decent feed?

Its interesting watching them settling in with the goldfish 

[commonly]

Ive got permission to show pictures of these ones

[yonny]

On 02/05/2026 at 14:16, commonly said:

@yonny would you be so kind as to send me a link for decent feed?

Very wise of you to ask mate.

Don't get any feed from the local garden centre. Most of it is absolute rubbish.

Naturally you can spend whatever you want on koi food.... some of it costs a fortune.

I use the stuff below. The spec is right up there with the best feeds but it's a third of the price of the major Japanese brands.

Koi Premium and Colour Food Pellet Mix -koi food - Orchard Fisheries

Edited May 5 by yonny

[yonny]

I had an angler mate round on Saturday. Probably the first other proper dedicated carp angler to have seen my koi. He put 33+ on Whopper (the big white one) and 30+ on Big Bad Barry (a big white mirror with plated black scales who, like Whopper, was named by the kids 🙈). I can't wait to get them all weighed next weekend to find out.

There's a big common in there too which 2 local koi pond experts have told me is a chocolate coloured Chagoi. I'm not convinced.... I'm pretty sure it's just a dark coloured common carp (and a proper banger at that). Looking forward to finding out for sure.

[greekskii]

1 hour ago, yonny said:

was named by the kids 🙈

Big Bad Barry from Ben and Holly! 

[yonny]

44 minutes ago, greekskii said:

Big Bad Barry from Ben and Holly! 

I had to Google this but you're right that will 100% be where they got it from!

[commonly]

Ordered, thanks buddy.

Mine are only 6-8" so just went for the small ones. 2k.

More expensive than my boilies

[yonny]

14 minutes ago, commonly said:

More expensive than my boilies

The best stuff is called Saki Hikari and 2kg costs 45 quid or 50 quid for the all-seasons version! 😂😂😂

The Orchard Fisheries stuff you just bought is not a million miles away in quality but a fraction of the price. You should see great results.

[elmoputney]

Big Bad Barry, What a name. 

Glad @greekskii knew what it was from because i knew it was from something. That would have sent me round the twist trying to remember where I knew it, 

I can't wait for my ticket to come through now, the buzz is real. 

[yonny]

On Saturday we got the koi out one by one to measure them (koi size tends to be expressed in length (cm) rather than weight which I struggle to get me head around!). We have 4 over 70cm, biggest 75, 5 x 60s, 5 x 50s, 4 x 40s and a couple at 39 cm. Weight wise, 31 and 30 lb are the biggest.

It was actually a bit of a stressful operation. When you net the white ones you can see them going pink as the blood vessels expand with stress. This just makes you want to get them back as quick as possible. Obviously you don't see that when you catch a normal carp as their colour hides the pinkness.

The koi are in a right mood after the ordeal. They're feeding but nowhere near as well as they were. I even bought them a load of dried shrimp/silkworm as a treat and even that stuff's not getting them excited. I suspect it'll take a few days for them to get over it properly.