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[Viking <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Are the fish not breeding, or are the larger ones eating the smaller
ones?  Perhaps you could figure out a way to separate them by size,
maybe using the smaller pool or even a kiddie pool outside of the system
to raise babies in?
Perhaps you could put up a sign at the next farmer's market and sell
some of those larger fish.  People that buy organic veggies might be the
same people who will buy the koi. Large koi like that can be worth a
lot.  Take a few pictures, make a few posters, and see what kind of
interest you get.
Our local feed store has "fish day" twice a year.  People put in orders
and then pick up the fish, or have them delivered on a certain day. If
you could do something like that, get a breeding program going, you
might be able to squeeze more money out of the operation.  I think you
could go with both goldfish and koi...two separate markets...there are
people who want the status symbol of having a koi pond, and then there
are people like me who like to keep a few goldfish in a rain/whiskey
barrel....lol....

Bev

Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:
> From: "Viking" <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
>
> > Lynn Wigglesworth wrote:
> >
> >
> > > Yes, I'm still doing it. I have a 2000 gallon tank in my
> > > greenhouse. I still have goldfish and koi in the tank, since I
> > > can't really figure
>
> out
>
> > > what kind of fish I want. The fish are about 3 years old now and
>
> large.
>
> > Dimension wise, how large is that tank? Have you tried to sell any
> > of the fish? Out of curiosity, how much do you spend on fish food,
> > and approximately how many fish do you have?>
>
>
> The tank is a 10' diameter Easy Set pool (the kind with the
> inflatable ring). The pool is lower than the beds, so the water is
> pumped from the fish tank up to the beds, and gravity drains back
> into the tank. It's very understocked...maybe a 15-20 fish 8-10"
> long. I have another 15-20 smaller fish in the other tank. I go
> through 3 or 4 bags of floating fish food a year (25#, about $8/bag),
> but the cats steal some of it.
>
> I haven't tried to sell any of them yet. I'm not sure there's a
> market for goldfish. I was thinking of raising koi to sell for
> ponds. I was also thinking of raising tilapia (have to keep the water
> warmer), but I never looked into marketing (do they have to be
> cleaned?, would that require a lisense and processing facility?).
> There are not really enough fish to fertilize all the plants, so I
> spray with fish emulsion and add a little organic fertilizer once or
> twice a season.
>
> Lynn
>
>
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--
erthnsky AT bellsouth.net  BevanRon of EarthNSky Farm      NW Georgia USDA Zone 7
34.498N 85.076W