What Makes Koi Very Koi?
Koi are very popular fish bred and taken care of by hobbyists around the world. Koi is a Japanese word which means "carp" and covers the dull gray wild carp found in rivers and lakes for food, as well as the brightly colored varieties. It is the vibrant koi fish that are bred for their beauty. Although the proper expression for these "living jewels" is nishikigoi, most people, particularly those in the United States, call them simply as koi.
A Very Koi Story
The carp came from Central Europe and Asia where it was basically a food fish. It was the Chinese who started to propagate selected species of carp until they developed the gold fish more than a thousand years ago. The Chinese first brought koi as food to Japan in 200 AD. Looking at the gorgeous color mutations, Japanese farmers in Niigata, a prefecture in Honshu, bred them for aesthetic applications and produced a number of color patterns. The first kind to be established is the kohaku, the red-and-white koi.
The Niigata koi was first seen by the community in 1914 in the course of the annual exposition in Tokyo. The beautiful, colorful fish charmed all of Japan and many kept koi because they seemed great for their water gardens. It did not take long before the rest of the world caught up on the hobby. Nowadays, Niigata continues to be the home of the best koi breeders though you can buy koi from almost all pet stores. However, you have to go to specialist dealers if you prefer the higher-quality fish. Prices of koi vary according to the very koi-like feature of the fish.
Koi Attributes
You can find koi with various colors and designs. The typical colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue and cream. Female koi are generally plump while the males are more sleek with torpedo shapes. A matured koi can grow as long as 36 inches and weigh over 17 pounds. The koi are hardy and tough, and can live for many years based on their genetics and also living conditions. The oldest koi ever documented was "Hanako" that reportedly lived around 226 years.
The Koi are omnivores and eat almost anything including vegetables. It is very koi of the fish to look for food at the bottom of the pond. Although koi fish are really shy and will run away when disturbed, they often know the person regularly feeding your koi fish. It is common to see koi gathering close to their keeper during feeding times with some eating directly from the hand.
Varieties of Koi
There are several kinds of koi that are recognized by the color, pattern and also scales. There are a few hybrids like the Ghost koi or the Butterfly koi that have also gained popularity but are not considered as true Nishikigoi. One of the prominent varieties of the true Nishikigoi are the following:
- Kohaku - white koi with big red marks on top
- Taisho Sanshoku - resembles the Kohaku but has more small black marks
- Showa Sanshoku - black koi with red and white markings
- Tancho - virtually any koi with a lone red patch on the head
- Asagi - is colored light blue on top and red beneath
- Utsurimono - black with very koi marks of red, white or yellow
- Bekko - base colour of red, white or even yellow with small black marks
- Goshiki - black koi accented with red, white, brown and blue marks
- Shusui - doesn't have scales except for a single row of large mirror scales running down the dorsal area, from head to tail
What Makes Koi Very Koi?
Koi are very popular fish bred and cared for by hobbyists the world over. Koi is a Japanese word that means "carp" and includes the dull gray wild carp caught in rivers and lakes for food, as well as the brightly colored varieties.
Information Concerning How To Properly Take Care Of Koi
Many pond owners around the world choose koi for pond fish. It's because koi are colorful and have interesting personalities. In addition, Koi fish tend to live long, from 25 to 35 years. It has even been reported that the koi fish's ancestral predecessors lived as long as 200 hundred years.
Koi Supplies: Essential To Having Healthy Koi
If you want your koi fish to be healthy and vibrant-looking, you will need to make sure you have plenty of quality koi supplies. So what koi supplies are essential?
Preparing A Koi Garden
If you want to experience Mother Nature's beauty everyday right in your own backyard, you can do this by creating a koi garden. If there is already an existing pond in your property, why not add koi?
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