Those two reasons alone make them enough to fall in love with Koi fish. If you are considering purchasing Koi for your garden pond then this article is for you.
The first thing that's recommended for you to do is to acquire as much information as you possibly can about Koi fish. This information could be acquired from your local pet shop owners, a reputable breeder and even online.
The staff of the breeder and pet shops should be knowledgeable about Koi fish and should be able to answer lots of questions for you. One of the questions you may need to ask is if the Koi Fish are imported or from a local source? Of those two choices the imported Japanese Koi fish is usually going to be the highest quality.
If it is at all possible for you to visit fish farms, where Koi are raised, that would be an excellent thing for you to do. While there check the conditions at the farm.
See how well the fish are being taken care of, how they are maintained and the overall general cleanliness of the farm. The Koi fish farms ponds water should be clean and odorless; their supplies for sale should be of excellent quality.As you probably already realize Koi fish come in unique stunning color patterns with no two Koi ever being exactly alike. Each Koi has all of their own unique colors and markings. Did you know however that the young Koi will change as they grow more mature? As they mature and grow their colors will usually darken so remember this when shopping for your new Koi fish.
Koi fish are generally very social creatures and will normally be seen socializing and swimming with other Koi. If by chance you see one or two swimming alone off to themselves then I would recommend avoiding these fish.
Chances are they are not healthy fish.A healthy Koi fish will swim effortlessly and glide through the water with ease. They should have no jerking type motions and no twitching when swimming. Their gills should move at an even pace andrhythmically together. If you do happen to notice that they are only breathing through one gill or if they have any redness around their gills this is also a sign that they could have an infection called gill flukes. This would be another sign that they are not healthy Koi.
When observing a healthy Koi's body it should be gently tapered, well defined and thick. There should be no visible signs of damage, any ulcers or spots of discoloration on the fish. Their scales should lay flat against the fish with no lesions of any kind.
Experts cannot agree on the amount of Koi fish that should be kept in a garden pond. The best answer really is that it would depend upon the size of your pond as well as the efficiency of the filtration system.
Your garden Koi pond should be at least 1000 gallons big with a minimum water depth of 4 foot. As excited as you are to go out and purchase your new Koi it is very important to make sure your pond has been built and has an excellent filtration system already working. After these things have been accomplished then your pond is ready for all of your new Koi fish.
