Koi Care Basics Blog

Koi fish need to need to be cared for on a daily basis, but due to their hardy appetites their owners catch a break as to how, and how often they are fed.

It is important to keep feeding time a relaxing and enjoyable experience. Koi feeding is a very interactive part of the day for the Koi owner.

Koi need a well rounded diet, thus their feedings should include a variety of foods to keep nutrients in balance. Koi fish are omnivores which means they will eat meat as well as plant matter.

The environment and their owner are two sources of food for the Koi fish. Voracious eaters, they eat just about anything that comes their way and fits in their mouths! They eat foliage off of the underwater plants and this should be paid attention to as any plants left unprotected may disappear.

Insects getting into their range are also fair game, including worms, snails and crickets. Koi have also been known to pull themselves partly out of the water to gather up fallen acorns and nibble on the grass.

Owners can offer the Koi fish an assortment of delicacies that will be savored and enjoyed. Watermelon, peas, lettuce and corn can be offered as special treats. Getting the right amount of vitamins, minerals, fat, fiber and protein is important to their quality of life and feeding a special pelleted food will ensure that they receive it. The fish will rise to the surface to feed as the store bought pellets float on the surface of the water.

Feeding time is a good opportunity to check on their health. Check them for injuries, irregularities and see that they have good appetites. A healthy diet helps to enhance the coloration of the fish, making them brilliant and beautiful to watch!

Water temperature can also have an effect on their appetite, with 61-75 degrees Fahrenheit being optimal for them. Koi are most active during the summer months and should be fed a high quality diet during this period.

Feeding is not necessary during the winter months because their digestive sustem shuts down in cold water. When water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit any food left in their stomachs can become rancid. This can cause them to become very sick.

Highly entertaining and gorgeous, the Koi fish is a joy to own. They learn to recognize their feeder and gather round at regular feeding trimes. With patience they can be trained to eat right out of your hand! Never boring to be around, the Koi is a lively creature that will brighten up any backyard pond.

In conclusion, a balanced diet is extremely important, but there can also be plenty of fun and games involved.

Get your FREE 10-part mini-course and learn more about how to take care of Koi at my website KoiCareBasics.com

Alan Deacon

Water Koi, otherwise known as Koi or Nishikigoi, require proper care. Sometimes these vibrant fish become more lethargic and less playful than they usually are. This is when they need extra care.

Water Koi are known as one of the oldest species of fish and they can live to over a hundred years old but they are also considered among most delicate species of fish. These brightly colored creatures need special care. But if you do not know how to care for Koi don’t worry! It is not very difficult. To take proper care of them, you must pay attention to their maintenance.

Also known as Cyprinus Carpio, these ornamental varieties of Common Carp are known as symbols of love and friendship. These native Japanese fish are available in multiple colors including white, black, red, yellow, blue, cream and silver. Koi are slightly bigger than Goldfish and to take care of them, you need to be just as cautious as you are when taking care of Goldfish.

The preliminary steps of caring for your Water Koi include proper cleaning of your pond. In order to know how to properly care for your fish you need to be knowledgeable about Koi pond maintenance.

Your pond should be filled with water at all times and it should be both aerated and filtered.

Any sudden changes in temperature can cause problems for your Koi, thus you should monit\or your water temperature closely. These temperature changes stress your fish and cause suppression of their immune systems.

Debris in your pond must also be removed on a regular basis. You should keep the water as clear as possible. To maintain this clarity the filter should be cleaned daily.

You need to get special pellets to feed your Koi fish. These pellets contain all the essential ingredients that are important to keep the fish healthy, happy and active. They should usually be fed twice a day. (although this depends on temperature/season).

Other measures of  Water Koi care include gentle handling of your fish. These fish are very delicate so you need to be quite attentive and handle them very carefully.

Koi are covered with a protective slime. This slime should not be stripped. It helps protect them from fungus and bacterial diseases.

You must keep your other pets away from the pond, as the bright colors of Koi fish attract dogs and cats. These pets can easily make a meal of your prized Koi. Racoons and herons are also common pond predators that will enjoy making a tasty snack out of your fish!

Nets, motion detectors and even decoys can help to protect your Koi and having pond plants helps by giving them a place to hide.

You must remember that as your Koi grow they need more oxygen. They can get to be quite large so don’t be tempted to fill your pond with too many fish if you purchase them when they are smaller. Overcrowding creates a variety of problems in your pond.

Even though there is much more to learn these are some of the most effective measures of Water Koi care.

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

The key to feeding Koi properly is that feeding Koi depends on the season. Actually, to be more specific, feeding Koi depends on the water temperature.

If you are feeding Koi in heated ponds then they can have a regular, year-round diet. Koi kept in heated ponds do not have to adjust to changes in water temperature.

Feeding Koi properly during the summer months encourages growth, helps in tissue maintenance and repair as well as helping lay down fat deposits and providing nutients that the fish can store for use during the winter months.

When water temperatures are between 64-68 degrees Fahrenheit (18-20 degrees Celcius) feeding Koi should incorporate a high protein diet that will promote growth. Conversely, feeding Koi in cooler temperatures involves less protein as it becomes more difficult to digest then. Instead it is excreted into the water, which not only makes feeding Koi more protein a bad feeding plan, but also pollutes the pond water.

You need to assess feeding Koi in the cooler months of fall and spring when Koi appetites are subdued. During this time feeding Koi should involve a change from a high protein feed to a wheat germ based diet that is easier to digest in the cooler temperatures.

Feeding Koi at temperatures below 46-50 degrees Fahrenheit should stop altogether. In these twater temperatures Koi won’t feed at all and will rely on the nutrients that it’s already stored to get it through the winter.

When the weather begins to warm up again and your fish begin seeking out food you can start feeding Koi the wheat germ based diet again. Then begin feeding Koi by gradually mixing in the higher protein summer food as the water warms up.

Amounts for feeding Koi depend on their age and body temperature. Feeding Koi fry is different from feeding Koi adults. When water temperature is around 68 degrees Fahrenheit Koi up to 1 year old eat 5-10% of their body weight, Koi between 1 and 3 years of age consume 5% of their body weight daily and adult Koi (3 years and older) consume 2% of their body weight daily.

A good rule of thumb for feeding Koi is to offer as much food as they will eat within 2-3 minutes at each feeding. When feeding Koi you will notice a big surge of activity at the beginning of each meal, then as they start to get full they will eat more slowly. This is the point at which you should stop feeding Koi.

As far as the frequency of feeding Koi take note that at temperatures of around 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celcius) feeding Koi should be planned for 2-3 times per day. Feeding Koi in colder temperatures (50-59 degrees Fahrenheit or 10-15 degrees Celcius) is only required once per day.

As you can see, it is extremely important to note seasons and temperatures when feeding Koi!

If you are looking for an exceptional Koi food enter “Hikari Koi food” in the search box when you follow this link for feeding Koi!

Alan Deacon
You can learn much more at my site…
KoiCareBasics.com

Secrets To Successfully Raising Koi Fry

Successfully raising Koi fry begins with Koi eggs. You should make sure your fry raising pond is equipped with air stones or their equivalent as Koi eggs need well aerated water to develop.

During breeding some Koi keepers will use mechanical filters in their ponds, but this is not the best idea since when they can get sucked into the filter. This can be prevented by placing a fine net around the filter’s water intake. Microscopic food particles can become trapped on the foam around the filter. This attracts the Koi fry to the area and they become drawn into the filter.

You can forget using a filter altogether if you are willing to do frequent water changes. You need to replace approximately 20 percent of the water during the water exchange.

Koi eggs will usually hatch in 3 to 7 days depending on the water temperature. If water temperature is around 20 degrees Celcius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) Koi fry will hatch in about 3 to 4 days. You will know when the eggs are close to hatching because they will take on a special, shiny look.

Next you will be able to see the Koi fry wiggling and moving inside the egg, and a few hours later they will make their escape! Now you are ready to begin raising them.

As soon as the babies have emerged from their eggs they will attach themselves to the sides of the pond. Koi fry are equipped with a sticky pad that makes it possible for them to remain attached this way for 2 to 3 days. Providing plenty of oxygen is as important for raising the fry as it is for keeping the eggs healthy.

After 2 or 3 days of being attached the Koi fry will make their way to the surface of the pond to get some air.
When this occurs air passes into their swim bladder. Afterwards they will be able to swim happily around the pond!

At this point you will need to begin feeding them. Very small Koi fry can be fed newly hatched brine shrimp. Hard boiled egg is also a good choice in the first few days of raising Koi fry.

If you can’t provide them with this you can use a commercially prepared Koi fry food. Make sure to use only special Koi food with a high protein content and make sure to grind it into a fine powder before feeding it to your Koi fry.

After about 7 days you can start feeding a special Koi fry food consisting of fine powder pellets. When they reach 1/2 inch they can graduate to small pellets and as they grow you can gradually increase the pellet size until they are consuming the same food as their parents. Feeding is one of the most important components of raising Koi fry to be happy and healthy.

It is easy to overfeed your Koi fry and cause the water to become polluted. Young fry are very sensitive to ammonia. You must limit your feedings and provide a water change daily. The easiest way is to use water from your adult pond as long as your adult Koi are healthy and the quality of your pond water is good. You need to keep a watchful eye on water quality to prevent fungus.

If you observe these basic precepts you should have no trouble successfully raising Koi fry!

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

Although it began in Japan, today Koi breeding takes place all over the world. Many people enjoy Koi ponds and some may even consider trying their hand at Koi breeding.

With that in mind let’s get down to the basics!

The first thing you need to do is to determine the sex of your Koi. This is impossible to do until the fish becomes sexually mature which usually hapens when it gets to 10 inches or longer. Even sexually mature fish can be tricky to sex but in general a male Koi will be less plump than a female Koi because a mature female has filled ovaries that expand her body.

The sexually mature male Koi typically looks more slim and streamlined and often has larger and somewhat more pointed pectoral fins than the female. There are some exceptions to these general rules and it is possible to have a scrawny female or fat male Koi fish.

When Koi breeding season begins the male Koi will develop two white spots on his head and on the first rays of his pectoral fins. The breeding tubercles will look like small white elevated spots and can be hard to recognize. The Koi breeder sometimes becomes alarmed and treats their fish for itch when they notice the small white spots, but with practice soon learns to recognize them.

If you keep your Koi in an outdoor pond they will start to spawn in late spring and early summer as the water temperature begins to rise. A water temperature around 20 degrees Celcius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal to stimulate Koi breeding.

If you keep a lot of Koi together a so-called flock spawning will occur. A flock spawning will give you an abundance of healthy offspring but breeders try to avoid them because these fish often display less desirable colorations.

Thus, during professional Koi breeding, the fish keeper will select desirable parent fish and place them in their own pond. You will need one female and two to three males for a successful Koi breeding.

If you don’t want to dig a new pond especially for Koi breeding you can use a children’s swimming pool. To increase the chances of spawning you can change the water frequently and lower the water temperature somewhat.

Adult Koi eat live foods such as worms and flies and parents won’t hesitate to eat eggs as well as free swimming offspring in their own pond! During professional Koi breeding when a large survival rate is important the eggs are best placed in their own ponds.

Collecting the eggs will be difficult if you let your fish deposit eggs all over the pond. Most breeders therefore use spawning mops. A spawning mop can be made from frayed nylon ropes or pieces of cotton string that are placed on the surface of the pond.

The breeding fish see the mops as floating plants and will most likely choose them as a breeding site.

During the Koi breeding you will eventually notice that the males are chasing the female. This behavior usually goes on for several days before any eggs are released.

When the females deposit their eggs at the spawning mop the males will immediately go over and fertilize them. The spawning mops can then be removed and placed in a fry raising pond.

As you can see, though it takes some preparation and attention it is not all that difficult to perform a successful Koi breeding.

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

There are many excellent reasons that you should invest some time and money in Koi pond plants. They do involve a little bit of work but they provide many important benefits.

The first thing you need to know about Koi pond plants is whether or not you really need them. They do involve a bit of work but they provide many benefits.

First of all they help keep your pond clean, balanced and algae free. Pond plants feed on unwanted nutrients like fish waste and nitrogen. These are the same materials that feed algae and allow them to flourish. Since algae and Koi pond plants compete for the same food and pond plants are higher on the food chain, they starve off new algae growth.

The best combination for your Koi pond is: lots of live plants & good filtration & a minimal amount of fish = a healthy ecosystem…AKA a clean pond!

Some other reasons that you need Koi pond plants include:

1. They provide cover for your Koi, thus preventing things like sunburn (yes, Koi can sunburn!) and predation from birds. Birds, with their keen eyesight have no problem locating your colorful Koi and swooping in to scoop them out of your pond.
2. As already stated they help reduce algae problems.
3. Pond plants help lower the water temperature of the pond thereby also lowering the day-night temperature differential of your pond. This helps reduce environmental stress on your Koi.
4. Another benefit of Koi pond plants is that they help lower evaporation rates…
5. And they provide nice, shady areas for your fish to relax in.

6. The plants in your pond help also help keep your fish well fed. They do this in two ways. First, they trap some of the floating fish food, giving your Koi another chance at it before the pond skimmer gets it. Secondly, as Koi are voracious eaters, the plants themselves provide a “fresh food” source for them. No matter what you do you are going to have to plan on periodically replacing some of your plants. Your Koi won’t be able to resist them!
7. Pond plants also provide excellent cover for Koi fry (Koi babies). While you may not plan on raising any babies they will still be born and having pond plants ensures that at least a few will survive.
8. Some of the plants in your pond will (and should be) oxygenator plants. The best plant for fast growth and best water filtration is the water hyacinth. The oxygenator plants are the backbone of what aquaculture is intended for. They filter contaminants out of the water and produce new oxygen.
9. Last but not least, the plant life in your pond creates a beautiful backdrop for your colorful and elegant fish! Don’t underestimate the aesthetic beauty they will add to your Koi experience.

As you can see, there are many excellent reasons that you should invest your time and money in Koi pond plants!

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

Helpful tips for Spring And Summer Koi Pond Care

It is important that you have a checklist for spring and summer Koi pond care. The helpful tips in this article will ensure that you don’t forget any of the more important Koi pond care components.

Now that spring is here it’s time to begin your Koi pond care program. If you don’t already have a Koi pond care checklist in place you’ll find the important Koi pond care basics in the following paragraphs.

The exact same Koi pond care regime won’t apply to every single Koi pond, however there are many Koi pond care basics that must be adhered to.

As your pond begins to warm in the spring and you see it coming back to life it is time to implement an effective Koi pond care program. This will get your pond going in the right direction for the rest of the year.

The first step in your Koi pond care program is to un-winterize your pond. Anything you did to get your pond ready for freezing weather should be undone when the threat of freezing has passed.

Next on the list for your Koi pond care is to make sure you don’t forget about your Koi! As soon as the water reaches a constant temperature of 50 degrees Fahrenheit you need to begin feeding your fish. Make sure you feed a cold weather food until the water temperature reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit when as part of your Koi pond care routine you can move them on to a higher protein summer food.

If your pond has accumulated leaves and other debris over the winter the next step in your Koi pond care plan is to remove anything in your pond that might decompose and leave behind waste products that are toxic to your fish. There are both skimming and bottom scooping types of nets that will assist you in this aspect of Koi pond care. There are also other water treatment products available to help accelerate the natural decomposition of any leftover debris.

Another possibility in your Koi pond care program is the use of a vacuum to remove debris from the bottom of the pond. If there are an excessive amount of leaves and sludge then proper Koi pond care may require that you do a complete pond cleaning. This type of Koi pond care should only be done if absolutely necessary since it will mess up the balance of your pond and interfere with your algae control.

Proper Koi pond care includes keeping your filter clean. If you use a skimmer or pre-filter as part of your Koi pond care then you will need to clean those more frequently, possibly as often as once a week. However it will cut down on the frequency of your regular filter cleanings.

If you use a biological filter as part of your Koi pond care then make sure you do NOT over-clean it, and avoid chlorinated water. Koi pond care that includes over-cleaning these types of filters can destroy the helpful bacteria that has colonized on the media in the filter.

Another very important Koi pond care tip is to make sure you do what you can to maximize aeration of your pond. Warm water holds less oxygen. I strongly suggest your Koi pond care include an additional air pump and that it is running all the time.

By following the above tips you should be well on your way to good warm weather Koi pond care.

Alan Deacon
KoiCareBasics.com

The Black Koi is really only different from other types of koi due to it’s color. The Kumonryue first made a splash on the scene in the 1980’s. Of the many varieties of Black Koi it is the most popular. The inspiration for their name originated with this particular type of Koi’s resemblance to the dragons in paintings of centuries ago in Japan, in fact the literal translation of “Kumonryue” is “dragon fish”. These Koi, along with the Matsukawabe, can change their color.

In fact, one of the main attractions that Koi hold for pond owners is the great variety of colors that they display. An even greater attraction is the idea of owning a fish that can literally change colors right before one’s eyes as the Black Koi can!

Koi pond owners need to be careful since it is quite easy to fall in love with with the wide variety of colors that the Koi offers. That is why many owners will end up purchasing too many fish, thus overcrowding their ponds and negatively affecting their Koi’s environment and health.

The Japanese have been patient in developing the Koi. Over the years their breeding has produced numerous colors and more pattern combinations than can be mentioned in one short article. Using water temperature and diet they turned the common carp, with only one or two colors, into a glorious and diversly hued creature. It was an almost magical transformation!

The first Black Koi species that mutated were called Magoi. They appeared to be black when you stood above them looking down, but they were actually a bronze color. Magoi blood is being sought after for breeding purposes because of the Magoi’s larger size. Breeders are hoping to hasten growth and maximize size of their Koi through these efforts.

Seasonal conditions, diet and water temperature can fluctuate and affect the color of all the Koi species. The Matsukawabake Koi is a Black Koi with white areas on it’s body. This Koi has been known to change back and forth from completely white, to black and back to white depending only on water temperature. This is a thrill to observe as most Koi coloration will only dull or brighten as conditions change.

In Japan “Karasu” means “crow”. The Karasu Koi has a black body and fins and can also have an orange or white belly. It is also one of the most ancient species.

Koi fish are popular in both indoor and outdoor ponds throughout the world. Their life span is generally from 25 to 35 years although some have been recorded to have lived as long as 200 years!

People seek out Koi because of their ease of maintenance, the colors they offer and the relationship that grows over time. The Black Koi is particularly popular primarily because of their ability to change color right in front of your eyes!

To learn more about how to get started with Koi fish visit us at
KoiCareBasics.com

Alan Deacon