The Art of Keeping Koi
(Artfully lifted from the NI web board!)
Posted by James P. on 8/17/2002, 2:43 pm, on the Nishikigoi International Magazine's web board.

I have really enjoyed my back and forth with Pete M as we aired our opinions on ozone,UV and water changes. Very interesting and very enlightening. I guess the difference in opinion comes down to that phrase-the art of keeping koi.

We have not been blessed by too many true innovators in our hobby unlike our "cousin" hobbies of aquarium keeping, marine aquariums etc. Instead,we have borrowed concepts from those others freely and also from aqua farming.We seemed to use aqua farming techniques in those cases where aquarium technology was too limited due to scale or when outdoor influences on the ponds seemed more like fish farming that tropical fish tank situations.

What we seem to still be unaware of, as a group known as koi keepers, is that closed system koi ponds are unique. They really aren't fish tanks in the ground nor intensive food fish grow out ponds. This message gets confused by marketing, new people entering the hobby from other fish hobbies and again- that durability of the koi as a species.

So the debate rages as we try keeping koi as marine fish are kept, as catfish and bass are raised etc. The chemists want to add things to make water pure. The fish tank people want to inject technology to dominate water quality. But there is that phrase "the art of koi keeping" that keeps showing as haunting evidence every time we see a Grand Champion at a show with luster that makes the fish look polished, colors and skin that glow and patterns that float on white creamy skin. Guys like Waddy and Caddock, Bern W and Brett R, Chuck and Kimberli, Tom L, Steve C, Dick B. and yes myself, know this look. This look is the top of the hobby, the greatest success.

This Fall in Japan, like every fall before, the koi will emerge from the mud ponds. They will have tsuya and color intensity that has to be seen to be believed. It will fade somewhat no matter what is done. But to what degree?

In my time as a traveling koi health advisor, I have seen perfectly wonderful ponds. Filled with perfectly healthy fish. But the lack luster yellowed skin begged for better water conditions. Why? It isn't for lack of caring or spending in many cases.

The answer is always in the art of koi keeping.

As a former fish tank junky, I have used all the technology available. Depending on the species and circumstance, different technology can be beneficial and even mandatory. As an example, I was advising on a betta setup recently. This species likes warmer, slow moving water. It is also important that the air temperature above the water line be humid and warm. The fish also eat a complete protein diet. Perfect conditions for unwanted and possibly dangerous bacteria blooms. I suggested UV be plumbed in all the lines of circulated water. Yet I use my own UV very infrequently in the koi pond? It's all about application.

Maybe fifteen years ago I would have been content having my koi just LIVING and growing. I now expect more. The last 5% of koi keeping- the art of koi keeping -is where everyone ends up if they love the hobby and stay in the hobby for an extended period of time. For that group of advanced keepers, that 5% goal IS everthing. I'm not talking about winning shows or expensive fish or any form of elitism. I'm talking about the satisfaction of knowing you have created an environment that causes the koi in your charge to flourish and reach every ounce of genetic potential that God and that breeder put into it.

But I ramble--

JR

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