Page 32 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 1

ADAM BYER In the last 3 years, we have won 4 Baby Champions,
‘Weekend koi farmer’: new objectives set
THE STORY
SO FAR, AND
OBJECTIVES
ACHIEVED
Breeding tropical fish as a young boy was surely the
start of my passion for fish keeping, and for the last
5 years I’ve turned my focus to breeding koi. Such is
their glamour and majestic presentation in the pond;
they are often described as living jewels. And with
kohaku as the No.1 variety in koi’s ‘Go Sanke’, i.e. the
‘top 3’ varieties; that is where I have directed my focus.
The most popular variety and the biggest challenge.
We’ve been breeding koi for 5 years, and I reflect on the
first year – much experience gained, but after many
spawnings and a lot of effort, we literally had nothing to
grow on that winter. And this – our 5th year – we’ve
maxed out the potential of our fry ponds and produced
around 100,000 fry for first selection. The small 1 inch
koi being the start of our selection process. It’s been a
long journey, and as I write this note and reflect on the
journey, our tanks are full for this winter’s grow on.
My youngest daughter
helping with feeding I set the 10 year timescale to achieve my objective
the koi. which is to be regularly winning placings at competitive
koi shows in the small to middle sizes.
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1 Young Champion and many Best in Overall Size
placings in the small to medium sizes (BKKS sizes 1, 2,
3 and 4). There have been numerous placings in size
and variety in those sizes and this year, one of our
kohaku even placed in size and variety in size 5!
I have achieved my 10 year objective, in just 5 years.
With a secondary project objective to increase interest in
koi breeding in the UK, which I feel would enhance the
hobby here . . . I’ve shared my journey along the way –
the lessons learned, and the details of how I’ve gone
about things. I have no way to measure exactly what
impact this has had on the hobby, but hope that it’s
playing some part in disseminating knowledge and
information to other would-be breeders and other similar
minded people who just love fish-keeping, and in
particular, koi-keeping.
I still believe a greater understanding of how koi are
bred, and the immense challenges involved in that,
would enhance the hobby here, and bring greater
recognition to the major breeding feats that are being
achieved by the koi farms in Japan, and the top
commercial koi farms around the world.
As part of our breeding process, we also sell on fry and
excess stock and this helps to pay for the overheads of
the project. As we’ve improved as koi breeders – the
quality of the koi we release has gone up. And, so have
the numbers. And to keep our tank space free for the
breeding and rearing side of things, we’ve had to learn
how to move on our spare stock too – and with greater
volume to move on, it’s an area we are starting to put
more focus into.
When I was in Japan a few years ago, I had the chance
to speak to Saito san, the owner of Shintaro koi farm. It
was a hugely helpful chat, and even with Saito san’s
limited English – I was able to show him my blog, and
hear feedback on some of the koi I’d bred. He remarked
Netting and bagging the in summary of what we’re doing, ‘Weekend koi farmer’
fry for first selection.
and – that’s about the best description I’ve heard of
what we are doing.
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