Koi came from the word “Nishikigoi” which means brocaded carp. It includes both the dull grey fish and the vividly bright colored varieties. They are domesticated varieties that are solely for the purpose of ornamental decoration in outdoor ponds or water gardens.
They evolved from a common carp in Ancient China and were later transferred to Korea and Japan. From then on different color variety blossomed like blue, yellow, white, red, black, and cream. Carp fish popularity grew and was noted as a symbol of love and friendship.
The most popular among these varieties is the Gosanke, which is made up of the kohaku, Taisho, Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku varieties.
Koi carp varieties are distinguished by its color, color patterns, and scalation. Breeders have come up with specific numbers of category due to the unlimited colored varieties. Gosanke is the most popular variety.
Breeding for this type of fish can be alluring but quite hard since you need to have adequately large fish ponds. Koi fish carp has the possibility to grow big as much as 54 inches. You also need good parents to produce quality koi carp offspring.
What do you need to consider when breeding this type? You need to have high quality koi in order to produce the highest quality offspring in terms of coloration and color pattern. Remember that only a low percentage will become high quality fish from large batches regardless of the quality of parents. However, with higher quality parents will produce higher possibility of quality offspring.
Another consideration in breeding are the parent’s age. Young koi fish has the tendency to produce thin shells that might not survive while the older ones will also produce hard egg shells which the sperm may not be able to penetrate. The most commendable age for this fish breeding is 4-5 years, although it is still possible for koi fish carp to breed up to 15 years old.
This is how koi fish breeding should go – The couple should be separated from other fish for at least a month to get them into spawning condition. The couple should be well fed. Breeding is best done with pairs but you may have two males and never more to a female to prevent hurting the female koi fish carp from aggressiveness of the male koi. The best time to breed is most likely to succeed during full moon since this helps to trigger spawning.
Feeding for this type of fish is most active with temperatures in excess of 59 degree Fahrenheit. Though this fish can survive without food through the winter you may use heaters in your pond in order to continue feeding. Their body temperature fluctuates depending on the temperature of the environment usually remaining 10 degrees centigrade higher. As the temperature decreases their ability to digest also lowers down. During winter with temperatures below 50 degrees centigrade it is best to feed your koi fish carp with cereal diets which they can easily digest. High-protein diets linger longer in the gut and can cause severe problems. Summertime is the best moment to feed them with high-protein diet containing 5-40 percent of fishmeal;-based protein.
I hope this koi fish pond information answers your questions about koi and its varieties.
