To Koi or Not?

Japanese kois for Japanese?

ai goromo, goshiki, kohaku, maruten, shiro utsuri, showa … if these names are alien to you, so are the Japanese kois. They are the favourite among all but most useless as a role player in pond management. High maintenance, disease prone, domesticated cross-bred fish. They are like masters that demand time and tender loving care. So, do you want to koi yourself?

Koi or nishikigoi hobbyist can trade their homes for a pricey piece. This fish was first noticed of it mutation somewhere in the mid 1800 and hobbysit spawned them into an industry in the early 1900.

For most common people, having kois in their collection is more for pride or luck (feng shui). Other than these, nothing much they know about keeping kois. If they know too well about kois, today most keepers will be educating kois seller rather than the other way around.

I have came across an owner, Japanese, who were not allowed to feed his kois because he was not in good mood after a mild misunderstanding with his wife. He was not allowed to cut sushi either. One koi lover I met in Taiwan can ‘feel’ the quality of water with the kois in it. He knows by touching the pond water wheather there is any complains from his masters, the kois, about the water quality. He talked to them.

I believe if you just want to have kois in your pond because your neighbours have them too, I would suggest just let your neighbour have them. To keep kois, you must be their master not they become your masters. Learn about them from their life at birth to their sex life if you are to succeed to master koi keeping. Good luck.