Yellow White

Breeding Koi: Knowing Your Fish’s Past And Future

The Koi (“Nishikigoi” for Japanese) are rapidly becoming popular in the United States for breeding. But only few people really know where and how they came to be. The first Koi resulted from the breeding of the Asian carp and the German carp. After years of careful selective breeding, different variations in color and pattern started to show up. The earliest patterns in color were recorded in 1805. To this day, thousands and thousands of color combinations and variations can be seen.

Popular colors include yellow, red, white, green, silver, orange, black and blue. There are countless possiblities of color combinations. Each Koi have their own name, and these names are based on their color and pattern. The favorite types may differ, depending on the location and country.

These fish are being raised for sale in a lot of countries, like Singapore, Israel, Japan and in warmer states in the U.S.. The Koi can be purchased at many local pet stores. If they don’t have the stock readily available, they can be ordered. By ordering, the advantage of this is that the buyer will have more options, since they don’t have to pick from the stock on hand. On the other hand, the downside of this is that the buyer will not be able to pick the specific Koi they want to have.

Unlike most of the other fish out there, they will continue to grow up to the point that they will reach their maximum size (and it doesn’t matter where they’re being placed). The young are 3 inches long, while the biggest ones can reach around 3 feet or more! Their most common size reach up to two feet long. They have been known to live up to 30 years old under the right conditions, the oldest of which lived up to 233 years!

The Koi are omnivorous, as they feed on meat and plants alike. And this results in the adaptability of their diet. They will eat almost anything that you feed them, and it doesn’t matter if its good for them or not. The owner should be the ones to control what and how much they eat, because they are incapable of judging what’s right or wrong for their diet, and the amounts that they should be taking on a daily basis as well. The healthiest treats for them are the natural food, like earthworms and tadpoles, and food like bread, lettuce, fruit and veggies.

Owners should take necessary precautions when feeding them with beans, corns and grapes, as these food contain an outer casing, which can be improperly digested by your Koi if eaten. Outer casings of these food should be removed before feeding.

The Koi are non-aggressive types of fish, and they are able to mingle with other fish like the comet and goldfish. Quick eaters as they are, they have the tendency to eat smaller fish, and this could be a problem! They don’t have teeth, which is why it’s quite okay for them to be feed through the hand (which can be a great past time for their owners too)!). For this, breeding is truly a fun hobby for fish lovers out there!

Pakito – Yellow and White