High-Dollar Koi Fish Attract

WINTER PARK, Fla. -- They're brightly colored, graceful and some are worth tens of thousands of dollars. But they're not pedigree cats or dogs -- they're fish, or Koi to be exact.

"We show them," John Melz said. "It's very competitive and there's no end to the varieties."

Melz is vice president of the Orlando Koi and Pond Club and he says these fish have a very devoted following.

"It's a very big hobby and worldwide, it's very huge," Melz said.

More than 100 clubs are registered with Associated Koi Clubs of America, but Melz says there are literally thousands of unauthorized clubs across the country.

Koi were originally developed in Japan and are descendants of the common carp. These, however, are no ordinary fish.

"They are bred the same as dogs are bred or horses are bred," Melz said. "They're bred for specific varieties. They have a specific standard for showing. The color has to meet a certain standard. The pattern has to be laid out a certain way."

An individual Koi can be worth tens of thousands of dollars or more if it possesses a show quality.

"I can remember the first time I spent a hundred dollars for a fish and I thought 'My God, what am I doing?' And now I have fish that are thousands of dollars," Melz said.

Koi shows are similar to dog and cat shows and take place all over the world. The Koi are judged on such things as skin quality, body form and color pattern. That's why owners say care and pond maintenance are so crucial.

"You have parasites that you have to keep on top of," Melz said. "If a frog comes into your pond from a local lake, they can easily carry parasites with them, which can infect your fish. So you have to watch."

Luis Barroso is also a member of the Orlando Koi and Pond Club. He has three ponds and has devoted much of his backyard to his Koi. He says he never planned for his hobby to take on such an extreme form.

"I thought I was going to stay with 4- or 5-inches wide Koi," Barroso said.

But now, Barosso has moved on to fish that are 26- to 28-inches long. He has around 35 Koi in all.

The Koi's potential for growth sometimes designates them as less than desirable candidates for pets in the long term.

"People get fish, their fish outgrow their ponds or they decide they no longer want to keep these fish," Melz said. "The pond is too much work for them so we're always trying to find homes for pond quality fish."

There is no Koi rescue organization, per se, but Melz says the fish find homes through the extensive Koi club network across the country.

More often than not, Koi lovers say all it takes is one fish to get people hooked.

"I compare it with golf because I have several friends that take golf as a hobby and more or less the way they talk and act is like an addiction," Barroso said.

"It's a sickness," Melz said. "It's a disease that develops."

"AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) is lucky -- they have a 12-step program," Melz said. "We don't have that because we goad each other on."

Yet for those wishing to dip their toe in the water, Koi enthusiasts say the hobby doesn't have to be enormously expensive. A decent starter pond could cost around $3,000 or $4,000.