What You Should Know About Ornamental Ponds

Plants and rocks are a feature of ornamental ponds and, once everything has established itself, these ponds look very natural. Although fiber glass can be used successfully in irregularly, shaped ponds, it may be more convenient to use a butyl rubber liner.

Butyl stretches well to fit unusual shapes, but folds or creases are almost impossible to avoid. Small fish can hide in these folds and occasionally fatalities occur if they are unable to get out.

Detritus can also accumulate in these folds, making cleaning difficult. Given careful design, fiber glass is probably a better lining in order to avoid these potential problems. Many ornamental ponds are in ground and do not lend themselves to hand feeding koi.

The presence of water plants makes cleaning the shelves and pond bottom time consuming, as well as awkward. Any plants in an ornamental pond will need protection.

Koi are natural bottom feeders and will grub around in plant pots and eat the plants as well.

Unfortunately, they do not just nibble at the leaf edges, but suck them into their mouths and then snatch their heads to tear off the leaves. This often means that they take much more of the plant than they can eat and the remainder falls to the pond floor.

Under these circumstances, the plant is lost and depending upon design, uneaten remains could block a pipe or pump impeller, with potentially disastrous consequences. However, if small koi are placed in a pond with established plants, the plants may survive.

To avoid this problem, most new koi ponds have plants around the edges rather than in them. As well as giving you an almost uninterrupted view of the koi, this method has the added advantage that plants soften an otherwise harsh pond edge. And they do give the koi something to nibble at if there are overhanging leaves brushing the water surface.

All About Asagi Koi Fish

In most parts of the world, pond owners prefer to get a koi fish as a primary decoration for their ponds as they are easy to take care of and that its beauty helps accentuate the beauty of their ponds through its wonderful and vibrant colors. Among all the koi types, a lot of professionals and breeders choose the Asagi breed because they claim that it is finest and most elegant type of koi.

Asagi koi is defined by its blue-colored back and belly. Its fins and gills can sometimes be covered with the same color and often embellished with red markings on the side of its belly.

They have a net-like pattern and it is known for its scales. Its scales have white edges, making it look like a net. This is the selling point of the fish as it entices collectors to get it because of its uniqueness.

Asagi koi is can be distinguished by its net pattern which makes a perfect line in their scales.

If this pattern is somehow crooked or imperfect, the value of the koi is depreciated.

Its primary color is blue, and it goes up to its lateral line. Its scales have a red coloring from its underside that continues to its side. On some occasion, the red marking is also evident on its fins, gill cover, and mouth which highlight more of its beauty and elegance.

There are times that this type of koi can also have a color variation. This is because of the type of breed that they are crossbred from. They can be dark-blue and can also be blue-gray. The most liked variation though by the breeders is that of koi with light blue color.

If you intend to collect this koi type, here are some tips that might be helpful to you when you get one.

A younger koi of this type has a lighter net pattern, but do not worry since it will go darker as the fish matures.
Make sure that the net pattern is that of a straight row as this has a higher market value.
Do not get just any kind of blue. Try getting an indigo kind of blue since this is considered to be itsperfect color.

As always, when you choose to get an Asagi koi fish or any koi type for that matter, make sure you can give all the love and care that it needs.

Facts About Koi Fish Colors

In the beginning there was the ancient Carp, the Magoi, dark and uninteresting, a vital link of the food chain in China, however destined to be the forerunner of the magnificent "Living Jewels" we enjoy nowadays.

 

Fast forward to the early 20th century, where the color potential of these fish was discovered by the Japanese, more by accident than by design, and manipulated into the exquisite specimens nowadays recognized as Nishikigoi - literally meaning "Brocaded Koi".

 

Bred for their artistic splendor, modern day Koi come in a multitude of colors, patterns and varying degrees of brilliance, making them breathtaking additions to the home garden fishpond. Well treasured for their ability to instill calm and inspire a sense of inner peace, Koi are also much loved for their plentiful and diverse personalities. Not being particularly shy, they are normally very happy to be hand fed and will readily rise to the surface to greet you once they settle in.

 

The always increasing range of Koi colors was once restricted to Red, Black, White, Orange and Yellow, but now includes shades of Indigo, Blue, Grey, Green and Cream.

 

For a beginner to entirely appreciate Koi, one must begin with a basic awareness of the Japanese nomenclature for describing the traits of color, markings, shape, scalation and brilliance.

 

This can be a bit over-whelming to start with but it's not long before the method behind the naming becomes easily comprehensible.

 

Starting with colors, it's always important to note that there are often two or more Japanese words for the same color, simply because one relates to a base skin color and the other to the colored markings on top. For instance, the Japanese word for "Red" can be "Hi" indicating the red markings on top of a different color, or it can be "Aka" meaning the continuous red base skin color. The classification name results from the combination of theappropriate descriptors.

 

Vocabulary of Japanese Identification Words:

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Ai  -  Blue or Indigo color

Aigoromo  -  Blue or indigo colored Goromo Koi

Ai Showa  -  Blue or indigo colored Showa Koi

Aka  -  Red - pertaining only to the base color of the fish

Asagi  -  Blue pertaining to koi with a bluish body and red markings on the underside, pectoral fins and cheeks

Bekko  -  Solid base color of red (aka), yellow (ki) or white(shiro) with black markings (sumi)

Beni  -  Dark red color

Budo  -  Grape color

Cha  -  Brown color

Chagoi  -  Brown variety of Koi noted for its splendid growth

Doitsu  -  German carp - either scale-less referred to as Leather Carp; or having a line of large scales along the lateral and dorsal lines referred to as Mirror Carp

Fukurin  -  Area around the scales of a metallic koi that displays more luster than the other areas

Gin  -  Silver (white metallic)

GinRin  -  Pearl-silver reflective scales

Goke  -  A fish scale

Gosanke  -  Group of three major varieties of koi -  Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa

Goshiki  -  Japanese meaning "five colors."  Refers to a koi with a white base color, a black and blue appearance, overlaid with red markings

Gotensakura  -  Kohaku variety of koi with an abundance of red spots

Hageshiro  -  Mostly all-black with head and snout patched with white or brown

Hagoroma  -  Particular variety of Aigorormo

Hajiro  -  Mostly all-black with tail and fins edged in white

Hariwake  -  White, metallic koi with gold or yellow markings

Hi  -  Red - pertaining only to the colored patches of the fish

Hikari  -  Shiny or metallic

Hikari Moyo  -  Metallic with platinum and either red or yellow

Hikari Utsuri  -  Tri-colored metallic koi with black markings - metallic versions of Showa andUtsuri

Hikari Muji  -  Single colored metallic koi including Ogon and Matsuba

Inazuma  -  "Lightning" pattern most associated with Kohaku variety

Kabuto  -  Japanese meaning "helmet." Refers to Koi with head color different to body color

Karas  -  Japanese meaning "Crow" - old variety with black fins and jet black body

Kawarimono  -  Term applied to Koi that cannot be classified into standard types

Ki  -  Yellow - relating only to the base color of the fish

Kin  -  Gold (yellow metallic)

Kin Rin  -  Pearl-gold reflective scales

Kiwa  -  Edge of a patch or marking

Kuchibeni  -  Lipstick

Matsuba  -  Term for scales with a pine cone or net pattern

Midori  -  Green color

Mono  -  Type

Moyo  -  Type of pattern

Muji  -  Single color

Nezu  -  Gray color

Orenji  -  Orange color

Rin  -  Shiny Scale

Shiro  -  White - relating only to the base color of the fish

Sumi  -  Black - pertaining only to the colored patches of the fish

Tancho  -  Single strong red spot on the head only

Yamabuki  -  Pale yellow form of the Ogon metallic koi

 

Interesting Facts About Koi Colors

With "Color" being high on the list of favorite attributes, it is important to examine the quality of a Koi's color when making a selection. Not only is the vibrancy of color an aesthetic choice, more importantly it's an indicator of the Koi's state of health. I the red or orange is anything but brilliant, if the black is dull, or if the white is not "snow" white, then this possibly will indicate poor health. This can be a result of poor diet or poor water quality.

Some varieties of Koi in fact change color as a consequence of temperature changes instead of poor health. Matsukawabake is one such breed.

 

Koi Color can in fact be improved via dietary supplements.  Foods withhigh concentrations of carotenoid pigments are very beneficial and food supplements such as Spirulina (a green algae), Shrimp, plankton, daphnia and marigold are ideal. Carotene affects the red pigmentation, but if used in excess, can ruin the Koi's colors.

 

From time to time a Koi's colors may be less than splendid purely because it hasn't yet reached its full potential. Young koi will frequently look a little dull throughout their early development as the initial focus is on the perfection of the body shape and form instead of the improvement of color. At a specific point in their maturity, the colors will start to develop more vibrancy.

 

Koi colors can also be enhanced by providing good quality living conditions. Waters abundant in green phytoplankton can help develop strong yellow and red colors. Black coloring may be enriched in hard water with a pH level of 7.5-8.5. Take care however - changing the pH and hardness of the water can produce toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite.