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  1. #1

    Beginners question: Japanese/Israeli/UK/Other suppliers - differences?

    Hi,

    I'm about 1/3rd of the way through my pond build and so have begun thinking more about the specific fish I want to stock.

    My local supplier has fish from UK, Israel and Japan - in many cases the same varieties from those three locations, but at very different prices - the Japanese version being 3-4x the price of the equivilant UK variety with the Israeli equivilant roughly in the middle.

    The fish themselves are all small - under 5", and so I have not seen adults of the three geographies side by side. At such a young age there is essentially nothing visually different between the three countries when looking at the same variety.

    I was wondering if someone could give me an idea - very generically - of the differences that would be expected from the three different supply countries? What does spend more/less get me?

    I'm not being a skin-flint or being critical of the hobby - it's a genuine question as I've not seen what the adults will turn into.

    Thanks

    Steve



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  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlowSteve View Post
    it's a genuine question as I've not seen what the adults will turn into.

    Thanks

    Steve
    Think you've answered your own question there to some degree.

    You are paying for bloodlines with a proven track record of keeping their variety specific features.

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  5. #3
    Israeli..cheap and cheerful
    English...nicer depending on breeder. Feline will probably be a good bet to reply to this as I think she’s got a few Cuttlebrook fish????
    Japanese..posher and generally perceived as “the best”
    You could also go Polish which are worth a look IMO.
    Have a looksee at Maple Koi’s site
    Whatever you decide, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
    I’ve seen what I think are nice fish all over the place but there again, I’m no expert but always seem to pick out the most expensive when I look. Comes from years of fishing, I know a nice Carp when I see one


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  7. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Also bear in mind the British bred fish don't have to be shipped around the world and this will be reflected in their price.

    There are some very good breeders in the UK. Worth asking who the breeder is.

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  9. #5
    Stick to one dealer and one strain i.e. Japanese, British, etc, less chance of getting any problems of infection from going to different dealers.

  10. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SlowSteve View Post
    Hi,

    I'm about 1/3rd of the way through my pond build and so have begun thinking more about the specific fish I want to stock.

    My local supplier has fish from UK, Israel and Japan - in many cases the same varieties from those three locations, but at very different prices - the Japanese version being 3-4x the price of the equivilant UK variety with the Israeli equivilant roughly in the middle.

    The fish themselves are all small - under 5", and so I have not seen adults of the three geographies side by side. At such a young age there is essentially nothing visually different between the three countries when looking at the same variety.

    I was wondering if someone could give me an idea - very generically - of the differences that would be expected from the three different supply countries? What does spend more/less get me?

    I'm not being a skin-flint or being critical of the hobby - it's a genuine question as I've not seen what the adults will turn into.

    Thanks

    Steve
    Hi Steve,

    I asked the same questions when I first started out which was not that long ago, thank fully the ladies and gents on here were very helpful and have guided me well (along with 2 brothers with ponds)...… what I have found beneficial is to drive around as many koi outlets as you can and view the fish in their different stages of maturity, I think you will quickly come to your own view / decision as to what you will purchase once the time comes, its akin to buying a car there are other models available however one will in your eyes look the best in colour / shape / attributes to each variety of koi, beauty is 100% in the eyes of the beholder and you will in quite a short while become comfortable with an outlet and Country of Origin, does it matter if you like Japanese and UK for example - not at all, is one better than the other, I think so but others may not..... I have been to many outlets in the south east with my wife and we also went to the Koi show at Detling which really helped us to make our mind up what we are going to buy going forward, we have 2 outlets we will buy from and there are also some very good options online and some good options from some of the forum members who are breeding / selling on, our view is that all koi can wash out and completely change from what they look like when young so it is a gamble as to what they ultimately will look like a few years on, unless you are a real expert from what we can gather its how it is, some varieties do stay similar to what they look like when young apparently, so to give your fish the best chance to develop its best to buy knowing they came from the best breeding stock offering the best bloodlines from years of breeding obtained by the experts who know how, all we can do is look after them, feed them well and hope they mature nicely. ...…. good luck and enjoy Steve.
    Last edited by smartin; 03-06-2019 at 10:16 AM.

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  12. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Grand Champion andikoi's Avatar
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    i honestly couldnt tell where my koi are from as most are from other peoples ponds,so unless they start talking im stuffed lol,just happy with how they look to me,,,,andi

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