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  1. #1

    Breeding Koi as a Career???

    I'm a young guy, 17, living in Ohio (USA). Up until recently I was 100% sure that I wanted to be an organic farmer and plant breeder. I knew that it wasn't going to make me a lot of money, that it was going to take a lot of work - but now that I've "walked around in the boots" of an organic farmer, so to speak, I'm not so sure that it will be enough to keep me financially healthy anymore (which is all I need, just enough). While I don't intend to completely give up growing and breeding plants, which is something that I enjoy - I'm looking for alternatives, a plan B, or maybe something to tie in with the farming idea.

    The first thing that popped into my head was fish, and in particular koi. Some of my fondest childhood (as in "pre-17") memories are walking through the pond supply store watching all of the koi and goldfishes with my parents, fishing with my dad, and going to the zoo to ogle the aquarium section. When I was really young I wouldn't shake my parents down for candy or toys, but ask to go to the aquarium section of the store to see all of the bettas and guppies. Fish are something that interest me, and I find the size and huge range of colors that koi come in fascinating. I am also interested in keeping waterways in the wild healthy and unpolluted, and plan on studying phytoremediation in college.

    My parents had a koi pond when I was very young which I was barely involved in, I have no actual experience when it comes to caring for koi. I have successfully bred things such as platys, tiger barbs, danios, and multiple species of tetra.

    Now that I've given you some background information -- can one make a decent living as a koi breeder? (Koi are popular here in the U.S. or at least locally.) I understand that this question isn't going to help me all that much due to local markets (this being an international forum) - but about how much money do you make on average breeding koi? Could I earn more by placing my breeding operation in a public aquarium sort of setup (unrealistic at the moment), or by breeding rarer types of koi? I can work out the math and convert euros to dollars, etc. If you do breed as a profession, how did you start?

    Thanks,
    SSScrub



  2. #2
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion Andy1671's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome to the forum. Its a big leap from keeping a few fish into koi breeding on a farm scale. i would suggest maybe working on a koi or fish farm to get to know what your getting into. Learn the ropes and see what the industry as a whole would involve.
    Good luck and keep us posted on how your getting on
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  3. #3
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Rokusai peter57's Avatar
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    Hi and welcome to the forum.

    There is some great information in the following links that should help answer your questions and give you a good idea of what would be involved.

    Cuttlebrook Koi Farm

    A Career in Koi Breeding

    http://www.koiforum.co.uk/breeders-s...g-project.html

    My project plan - Adam Byer - Koi Hobbyist

    Have you checked to see if there are any koi breeders anywhere local to you? Perhaps you could start as an apprentice/assistant there first to learn the ropes and see if it is for you.

    Good Luck!

  4. #4
    Hi SSSrub. Welcome to the forum. Good luck in whatever you decide to do. xx

 

 

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