QUALITY IMPORTED KOI

All About Koi

History
Koi, or Nishikigoi, are the national fish of Japan. "Nishiki" describes a colorful fish in Japanese, and "Goiro Koi" means carp, so Nishikigoi can be translated as "colorful carp."

Koi are thought to originate in the Middle Eastern region now known as Iran from a species of fish called Magoi, the common carp. Over a thousand years ago, Magoi were widely traded as a staple food source, exported to Japan, China, and Western Europe.

Koi were first bred in Japan in the 1820's, initially in the town of Ojiya, of the Niigata prefecture. While they were still being bred for food, these brown fish occasionally produced red and blue mutations. Through selective breeding, the red and white variety was eventually perfected - recognizable as the modern ornamental Koi - in 1870.

More than a 100 color varieties have been bred from this single species of fish, including a glossy-scaled variety in Germany now known as the "mirror" or "German" carp.

Care & Feeding
The ideal set up for Koi is a pond of at least 3500 liters with a fine gravel substrate, rocks and hearty plants. They like to eat the roots of plants and will dig to get to them, so provide large rocks around the base of the plants to protect them. Adequate filtration should be provided in order to maintain proper water conditions.

Lifespan
Koi can live over 200 years, but the typical lifespan is 25 to 35 years.

 

Japanese koi fish are specifically bred for both coloration and form. The ideal environment for koi is a pond of at least 4000 liters with plenty of cover and adequate filtration. Koi are very resilient fish that can winter in a frozen pond, provided a hole is maintained in the ice with an airstone or floating heater for gas exchange.

Before adding your new fish to your pond, we highly recommend quarantining them for two weeks. This will allow you to observe and condition the new fish before introducing them into the display pond.

Assorted Koi - Local

Originally from Japan, Local Koi are bred in fish farms in Southern Africa. Assorted Domestic Koi are available in a variety of colors and patterns, but are most commonly white, yellow, orange, or a combination of these colors. If you are interested in specific colors, color forms, or varieties, please check the selection of Japanese Koi. While Domestic Koi can live longer than 200 years, their typical lifespan is 25 to 35 years.

Assorted Koi - Butterfly

Butterfly Koi originated in the mid-20th century as a result of an effort to increase the hardiness of traditional koi. Japanese breeders interbred wild Indonesian Longfin river carp with traditional koi. The resulting fish had longer fins, long barbells, pompom nostrils, and were hardier than koi. These were known in Japan as "onagaoi" or "hire naga koi", or translated in English "long tail koi". Randy LeFever, the son of Wyatt LeFever, a noted breeder of koi, is credited with suggesting they looked like butterflies, a trait for which the breed is named. They are also sometimes referred to as Dragon Koi.

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