UKNishikigoi has now been open for 1 year. It’s been an amazing year; so much has gone on since we first moved into the facility.
We would like to say a huge thank you to customers and dealers who have been to the shop, and of course purchased fish and other products. You have made our first year of business very special and I thank you. The support has been tremendous.
A big thank you for people who just came to see what we were doing here, and I hope in the future you will feel the need to visit us again. It really has been a great first year and it will keep getting better and better.
We have now finished the main poly tunnel. We now have enough room to do what we need to do when we bring in our new stocks. We can fully separate them all into different tanks for different breeders. Making our bio security even stricter, Cefas made one of their visits in June and were very happy with the condition of our Koi.
Planning permission has now been passed on our 200,000 gallon (900 tons) growing-on pond which will be the largest of its kind in the UK by far. We are now in the process of getting people to design the structure that will house this huge pond. Since it will be totally covered, we can get temperatures to compete with the Japanese breeders. We will have at least 6 months of great growing conditions for the very few fish we plan on putting in. Length is our main aim for the Koi going in the pond, and we hope to achieve this with the clay base, water movement, and of course high quality food. Keep a check on the website for updates throughout winter on the progress of this pond.
We have just returned from a fantastic trip to Japan. We have bought some really good Koi to add to our already healthy stocks. The Koi in Japan this year were excellent and we have bought some seriously great tategoi. Koi from Yagenji, Igarashi Kazuto, Shintaro, Yamazaki, Yamamatsu, Torazo, Isa, Marudo and Isawa Nishikigoi Centre (Matsunosuke). We have bought these Koi with our 900 ton pond in mind, so we looked for Koi we thought would grow well and come on in this pond.
We also checked on our Koi which we left to grow in Japan from spring 2009. We had very special Koi from Shintaro and Matsunosuke which we saw harvested this October in Japan. As most people who visited the site to check on our daily pictures from Japan, will know we were extremely happy with the outcome of these Koi. The 2 koi from Matsunosuke were out of this world. A Sanke and a fantastic Showa were harvested from his #1 mud pond. They just shone, it was great to watch. They will of course be staying in Japan for another season and to be entered in the All Japan Koi show in Tokyo in the New Year. Watch the website for the results.
The Koi will arrive here in early November and will be put straight into our purpose Quarantine facility. This is only accessible to UKNishikigoi staff I’m afraid. We believe we have the best possible quarantine facility in the UK and the less people who come into contact with them the better our Bio Security is. We will be sending samples away to Cefas, and will also be getting an inspection from them to check our Koi. We estimate the Koi will be in Quarantine for 4 to 6 weeks depending on the Koi and how fast the samples get processed. I know it will frustrate many people by not being able to see the new arrivals but we do this for the customer and so we can sell the absolute healthiest Koi available. When they have been fully quarantined, and we are happy with the Koi they will be moved into the main retail facility where they can be fully viewed and purchased.
Koi bought to go into the 900 ton pond in early spring will go into a 7500 gallon heated pond until they are ready to be added to the big pond.
Customers wanting to buy Koi from the new harvest will also have the choice of over-wintering it here with UKNishikigoi. They will be kept in heated ponds and looked after very well until it is warm enough for them to go into the clients pond. There will be a small charge for this service.
We hope to see you all soon down here at UKNishikigoi. Come and see what we are trying to achieve and to be a part of it.