|
When To Buy Fish
The first golden rule of fish keeping is if you have a disease problem in the pond then don’t add to it by buying any more fish. Sort out any problems you may have first and then set about adding more fish afterwards. The second golden rule is don’t add big fish to a pool full of small ones, because the small ones will get eaten. So, if you have fry in your pond, leave it for a year, or remove the fry.
If you want to add fish to your pond summertime is the best time to add them, most reputable aquatic dealers will run down their stocks in the winter, indeed some turn off their pond fish tank systems altogether. As the days warm up in Spring they will stock up again. Traditionally Easter is the first weekend of each new-year that fish are sold. This is because the warmer weather will mean that the fish are more active and will start feeding immediately. This is most important because they will have spent several weeks in starvation conditions during the process of being imported and they need to regain their strength.
When buying fish in mid summer avoid buying them on very hot days because it will be more of a shock to them and they will not travel as well in warm water with its lower oxygen levels. Most dealers have special offers in the Autumn to clear stocks, so then can be a good time to get bargains, but remember that you will lose some of them because they won’t have time to acclimatize before winter sets in.
A lot of Koi auctions are held in late Summer and Autumn, but be warned. Ideally such fish should be over-wintered in an indoor tank, garage, or even in a heated pond.
|
