Japanese Koi Fish

Japanese Koi Fish - Getting Started With the Wonderful World of Koi Fish (Freshwater Fish)

For many pond owners across the world, keeping koi fish is seen as a wonderful and enjoyable thing to do. It is true that koi make beautiful ornamental displays and certainly create a talking point for visitors to the home. However, it is important to realize that there is a lot of work and effort involved to make the display a success, here is a quick guide.

What is a koi fish?
Koi fish is a tropical fish and is a natural mutation species of the common fresh water carp. It has been bred for food for many years; most notably throughout the East or Asia. Over the years, the fish became more and more domesticated, which allowed them to be easily transported from country to country.

Color variations are very much a natural phenomenon, but it is only in the last two hundred years that koi fish have been bred for their ornamental display. Furthermore, it is only over the last century that these ornamental fish made their way into the West.

Research conducted as to where the true origin of carp in general has gone on for many years, returning no real results. But what we do know is that cross breeding has lead to wonderful color combinations, from white and blacks to yellows, blues and reds. There are a now number of different koi varieties available, the development of which continues across the world.

The red and white Kohaku remains ever popular, and is certainly a great place to start for the novice koi keeper. However, there are a number of other major koi fish varieties to be on the look out for, which can create some amazing displays in the right setting.

Some of the most popular are: Asagi, a beautiful light blue on the upper body with a red or yellow underbelly; Bekko, which can be red, white or yellow skinned, with tortoise shell black markings; Ginrin, a wonderful show fish with scales which appear to be metallic; Showa, a black skinned fish with red and white markings. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more wonderful variations to select from with the best suppliers.

How much does each koi fish cost?

The cost of a koi fish depends greatly on the lineage of the koi, it's size, patterns and whether it is domestic or imported. However the basic cost is how much it has cost the breeder and/or supplier to stock it. For example a young fish about three inches with no claim to known lineage (domestic) will cost around $3 to $5. Most of these koi fish are found at local pet shops and chain stores like Wal-Mart.

The cost then goes up as the size of the koi grows, so paying $60,000 for a koi fish that is three feet long and from a good lineage is expected. A grand champion koi of an All Japan Koi Show can go for as much as $150,000 to $300,000 and then there are some koi fish that are just priceless.
What equipment do you need to keep the koi fish happy and healthy?

Keeping koi fish is something which requires a lot of ongoing work and effort, and also needs

certain amount of equipment to make sure the environment is suitable. Other than having a suitably sized pond, you will also need some basic koi pond supplies.

Fish pond filters and pond pumps are required. Two type of pond filters are needed; a mechanical pond filter to remove the physical waste and debris, and a biological fish pond filter which will remove harmful compounds such as ammonia and nitrite from the water. A pond pump is necessary to move the water around, and aerate it. This not only provides a healthy environment for the fish, but also allows the pond filters to operate successfully.

Other pond supplies to have on hand are water testing kits and associated koi pond products like a good set of nets, buckets and transportation bags. Having a quarantine tank on hand is also a good idea in case you need to separate your stock or collection (the sick from the healthy).

Although getting the right water balance is essential to maintaining a healthy koi fish pond, there will inevitably be instances of koi disease. These are not always easy to spot so monitoring the activity of the fish on a daily basis is essential. A sign of koi diseases will be a lethargic fish, or unusual behavior. On closer inspection, the colors may also seem dull and the eyes cloudy. Depending on the diseases, scales may also appear distended or spotted with white areas. Should you notice anything untoward, the affected fish should be removed to a quarantine tank immediately, and the pond treated to clean the water.

Treatment of the affected koi fish will vary depending on what disease or infection it is suffering from. There are a good supply of antibiotics and treatments available for the most common diseases, so having these on hand is always a good idea. However should further treatment be needed it will be necessary to take the koi fish to a specialized vet.

What and when do you feed koi fish?

Feeding the koi fish is of course an essential part of keeping them happy and healthy, but overfeeding them can cause problems. There are specialized pellets for feeding koi, and these also vary depending on the age of the fish. Feeding them each day, little and often is a good idea, removing anything not eaten within 5 minutes with a net.

It is also important to feed them when the water is warm enough, or they will not digest the koi food well. Keeping the water around sixty to seventy degrees is good. As the seasons get colder, it could be an idea to introduce a water heater to maintain temperature, though having a thermometer on hand to monitor this will help you determine when to feed and when not to.

Become a Fan of Kohaku Koi Fish

Kohaku

If you happen to visit Japan or Japanese garden, then you should not miss a chance to see the Koi fish. Particularly the Kohaku Koi, the fish that is brilliantly white with attractive red patterns on it which appears as if an artist has carefully painted them. It is the most common variety that one would encounter in any show or among any hobbyists collections.

The expression, “The Koi hobby begins and ends with Kohaku” also indicates the popularity of this variety. Koi, are an ornamental fish that has originated from thr common carp. Kohaku is a Koi fish variety; it is one of the three primary types from which many other variations are derived from. Although no written evidence exists on Koi breeding culture from the ancient times, there is some history that was passed verbally through the families of the breeders that can be referred to.

Koi fish are a result of careful breading between Asian and German carp over centuries; Kohaku Koi are believed to be among the first varieties of carp that has been developed for ornamental purposes. They were created by breeding a red-headed female koi with a male that has patterns resembling cherry-blossoms; this resulted in Gosuke blood-line which is extinct now. All existing Kohaku blood-lines

Koi fish are specially bred to produce interesting patterns and colors. They come in a variety of color ranges from pure white, yellow, orange to red, also in blue, green and even in black. Now the colors/color combination availability is almost unlimited. Even among the many varieties, the Kohaku remains the most popular.

The Kohaku Koi comes in a variety of shades of white and red, but the highest quality or grade would have red patterns that match with the color of Japanese flag and the body color should be pure white like snow (Often, color pattern is more orange-ish than red.) The Koi fish should have well defined colors with fine edges that distinguish white and red regions of the body. To be highly graded, there are certain areas of the body which should not have any red spots or patterns, such as fins, around the mouth and lower portions below eyes. Body markings should be pleasant and must have aesthetic pattern. There should be a color break where the tail-fin begins.

What to look for

The female varieties have thicker body and have higher value than male varieties. The body from the top-view should be symmetrical on both sides of the spine. The group of red spots or patterns are called "steps" and the steps on the body are used as one of the primary grading factor. A top quality Koi will have a very smooth flow from head to tail with nice pattern and without any deformations in the body or fins.

The hobby of collecting Koi can be fun and sometimes it can be very expensive as well. Depending on various factors, the price of Kohaku koi varieties can be anywhere in the range of about $50 to as high as $50,000.

Become a Fan of Kohaku Koi Fish

It is said that every hobbyist's collection begins and ends the the Kohaku. The red pattern

is called Hi. The Hi should be thick with good edges. There are all sorts of different Kohaku patterns.
Some are broken up, some are large and sweeping. Look for a pattern that doesn't go down past the eyes and
and is well balanced.