Craig, It took them 9-10 years to get this size. This is the first spring they've ever shown an interest in spawning. They didn't chase each other around, just kept wanting to go into the skimmer box and once I put the screening over the opening, they hung around it and spawned on the screening. It was nothing like koi or goldfish spawning. What I've read about them is that they prefer dark "caves" to spawn in (maybe that's why they wanted in the skimmer box) and must have moving water. Can't prove any of it by me cause this is a first for us. Jan

Depending upon the Fish and Game regulations in your state you may be able to keep a variety of game fish that might make a more interesting accent to your pool. Goldfish are fine but really do not pique the interest of that large mouth bass. use the goldfish to feed the larger predators. If you are far enough south I recommend Florida Flag Fish Wikipedia on Flag Fish-best I can find on the spur! as it is a vergetarian species, it needs a nice dense stand of underwater plants like stands of elodea (anachris) or anything comparable in which it can hide and breed. Pools in a sunny spot are best for it. A fish that does well in small pools-mine are in an old deep sink-are White Cloud Mountain Minnows. These Chinese natives can handle it cooler (Robyn's White Cloud Mountain Minnow Page) Both of these fish have breed for me. Don't know if the Flag Fish are alive anymore as their pool is overgrown!! The only fish I would NOT recommend are any species of catfish! These monsters get big and will eat anything. And if you have submerged plants these fish can loosen the plants up as they grub around. Only for large acreage ponds! For more info on native fishes check out NANFA. link below Here is a link that might be useful: North American Native Fish Association

You're right Ann. One spawn may produce 50,000 fry. They know from the breeding if the fry should be white or black (showa and shiro utsuri fry are black and get their colors later, most other varieties start out white) so they can start culling at 2 weeks discarding any offspring that isn't the right color. Then they cull again and again, until they have maybe 5000 left. Of those, most will still be pond grade but at least sellable. Some look pretty nice as 6" fish but do not have what it takes to go the distance, so they color them up really nicely with color enhancing feeds and export them. They get sold for as little as $10 each. The dealers here pay shipping and then mark them up (sometimes mark them WAY up) and sell them proudly as Japanese imports for up to $100. They may look great now, but will probably not look so great in a few years. the ones that the breeders see some potential....the ones with good patterns, good bodies, and deep beni (red) get put back into the mud ponds for a year. Then their price goes WAY up.....or sometimes when they are harvested their price goes down because what the breeder was looking for did not happen. So it is culled, exported and sold here as a nisai (2 year old). What a koi buyer has to keep in mind is ALL fish that are offered for sale were selected by the breeder to be culled because of something he did not like. The price depends on how close to perfect the fish is when it is culled. Although some things can't be seen in pictures (like skin quality and depth of beni), I'll be happy to look at your fish and tell you the good and bad about them. I am not a koi judge, but do have a pretty good eye.

It has nothing to do with being territorial. When Koi spawn, they get extremely active. I do want to warn you that keeping Koi in 90 gallons is going to be tough. Koi like space and during spawning season they sometimes leap out of the water. Essentially male kois will chase female kois relentlessly while forcing them against walls and objects to get the females to eject the eggs so the males can fertilize them. In TN - if you have raccoons, a 90 gallon above ground pond will be feasting grounds. (I've been there, so I know!) Also - above ground fish usually wind up having to come indoors in the winter because of freezing issues. Do consider all of this before you set up your pond. Plan now so you're not scrambling later on. Koi truly are cold water fish. They can survive in water iced over (as long as there's an opening in the ice for gas exchange and as long as the depth is more than 2 feet). They tend to get stressed in warm water conditions - and some folks in really hot parts of the country have a hard time keeping their small ponds cool enough to keep koi in the summer. Sexing Koi is fairly easy. It's the shape. If they're long and narrow, they're male. If they're somewhat rounder and fuller bodied, they're female. Certain parasites may also cause fish to flash. Fancy goldfish need warmer temps - which is why they generally are not kept with Koi. They move more slowly and sharing space with Koi usually mean they don't get their share of food.