Blog Archives 12/6/10 - Goldfish for Ponds, Water Gardens 11/21/10 - Thinking Outside Can Include Gathering Global Ideas 11/11/10 - Café Olivia Adds Value, Volume to Store Traffic 10/27/10 - Pond Business Expansion - A Leap of Faith « All Editorial Blogs

Views from Across the Pond

An Introduction to Koi Fish

Blog post and photos by Trevor Cole

Kohaku koi fish are a personal favorite of mine.

A star at Across the Pond, Ochi is a friendly 39-inch-long Chagoi koi fish that allows visitors to pet and feed her.

In general, goldfish tend to be smaller and come in greater varieties with differnet body shapes and tail configurations. Conversely, while there are more than 100 varieties of koi fish, most of them have a similar body shape and can grow quite large. Koi fish are as different from goldfish as men are to apes. 

Koi fish are a colored mutation of the Japanese magoi, which is a popular food fish. Japanese rice farmers in the Niigata region used to throw magoi in their paddy fields to grow out during the rice growing season as a source of protein. The first color mutations were discovered in the late 19th century.

Intrgiued by the vibrant hues, the Japanese rice farmers started saving the more colorful ones. Over the years, the Japanese rice farmers perfected the mutations. 

Many newcomers to the pond hobby choose koi fish because of their vibrant colors and patterns. Beginner koi fish hobbyists usually start with domestic (grown in the United States) koi fish. Once hobbyists gain some experience, they might start to upgrade their koi fish collection with Japanese imports.

When hobbyists get serious about collecting higher-quality imported koi fish, it’s usually time to upgrade their garden ponds as well. Upgraded ponds take on a very different appearance to the orginals.

To grow and sustain high-quality koi, a pond needs:

1. An efficient filtration system capable of keeping the water clean and clear 365 days a year. Good water quality is the key to good koi fish health and good skin quality.
2. The absence of aquatic plants. Koi fish and plants cannot co-exist well in a single pond. Once koi fish grow to more than 8 to 10 inches long, the normally omnivorous creatures become voracious herbavores. They will destroy aquatic plants by eating them or by uprooting them in search of the tasty morsels hiding in the plant soil.

Collecting koi fish truly can become an obsession. I have a few customers who fly in to Huntsville once a year for a first crack at my annual koi fish imports from Japan or Taiwan. Some of these koi fish are high-dollar, in the $10,000 range.

Koi fish look particularly impressive when grouped together by size. For a dramatic effect, follow the miminalist adage, “Less is more.” This means smaller quantity and larger-sized koi fish.

Some of the more popular varities of koi fish include:

• Showa - Black koi fish with red and white markings
• Sanke - A red and white koi fish with black markings
• Kohaku - Red and white koi fish with no black markings (My personal favorite.)
• Chagoi - This alpha koi fish in any pond is large, docile, friendly tea-colored fish considered a sign of good luck among koi fish keepers. Every pond should have a Chagoi.

Ochi, our star performer at Across the Pond, is a 39-inch-long Chagoi that allows visitors to pet and feed her. Customers are mesmerized by her friendliness. Hundreds of customers come to our store to see Ochi.

« See All Editorial Blogs »

 Give us your opinion on
An Introduction to Koi Fish

Industry Professional Site: Comments from non-industry professionals will be removed.