Grow-On Koi Harvest Update: Temperatures and Shipping

If you have grow-on fish here with me, this is where the harvest stands. It covers how we are bringing the fish out of their growing ponds, where temperatures are, when your review will arrive, how to get a shipment booked, and the option to keep your fish here over winter.

The scale of this harvest

A lot of the growing periods ended at the end of September. It has been a monumental operation. That first group came to nearly 250 fish. Since then the batch of Taniguchi Kawaris has also finished its initial period, which takes us to nearly 290 fish.

That is a very big operation, and I have to be incredibly careful with it. I want to give everybody the absolute maximum time, so we don't start anything until a fish's growing period has ended.

How we bring the fish out

Since the growing periods ended, we have been preparing ponds outside, cooling down temperatures and moving the fish as and when we could. We have tried to avoid too much mixing, and we are keeping stocking levels low to keep everything in the fantastic condition the fish are in.

It is not as straightforward as saying the greenhouse pond is at 20 degrees, the outdoor pond is at 20 degrees, so throw them out. That is not how we operate, and it is not how it is done professionally. There is a great deal to do. The growing pond environment is very different to the outdoor ponds, and different again to your pond at home, so even preparing the fish to come out of it takes work.

Some batches do get mixed intentionally as well. After so much time together in one place, I want to see whether mixing upsets them.

Where temperatures are now

The bulk of this work is now done. We are still dropping temperatures as much as we can to get the fish to around 18 degrees, and some may go lower in the end.

It is not an issue if your pond is warmer at any point along the way. A fish warming up to where it will be is not a problem. It is the other direction we really need to think about and be cautious with.

We are keeping all the pond temperatures updated, so you can see the temperature your fish is at. If you are within about 3 degrees of where we are, that really won't be an issue. But if you have any concerns whatsoever, please do speak to us.

Your review and size update

We hadn't quite got everything done in time. I was hoping every fish would be finished and all the reviews out. The reviews are a really long part of the process. It is a part I love doing, giving my assessment of what each fish has done over its growing period, but with this many fish it takes a lot, and a lot of talking to myself.

The updates are rolling out over this weekend and will probably carry on into Monday.

Booking a shipment

We missed this week's shipping cutoff. Next week we are moving to a slightly more manual process, because the prep work has been done and a lot of these fish are ready to ship.

If you have a shipment leaving next week, or you want one booked that week, we can do it. You will just need to contact the office, ideally through the support submissions, or by giving us a call. From there we can get a manual shipment booked if you are in a rush.

Keeping your fish here over winter

As each fish comes out, along with its review and size update, you will get an additional service offer. Everybody will be offered our azukari option to keep their fish here over winter if they want to, where we will keep it moving at a nice steady pace.

A very select few fish may have more premium options. All of this comes through on the review, which should answer any questions you have.

If your pond is unheated

We have systems with safeguards built in to make sure we are happy with each fish, and I am very happy with them when they leave. We do appreciate that the weather is changing quickly at the moment. If your pond is unheated, please reach out to us and we will do our best to accommodate you, wherever you are.