Koi fish go way back in history and here you will find some very interesting information on koi and where koi fish originated from. Koi are one of the most popular fish for garden pond owners due to their excellent brilliant colour variations they come in. Koi are referred to as nishikigoi in Japanese for “coloured koi”. Koi truly make a nice addition to any garden pond giving the pond colour and life with there excellent growth potential as well.
Koi fish have been around for centuries where they were first seen throughout Europe and Asia. Koi also known as common carp come from the species name Cyprinus Carpio. The common carp is a fish with grey colouration. But soon after koi were seen in China and Japan where they were seen in streams and were discovered in the farmers rice fields as well. Back then the farmers seen that some carp had some colours to it and soon began to be quite popular with the farmers. Once they noticed this, they began to take quite a bit of interest in koi fish.
Koi are actually known in Japan as the warrior fish. They symbolize koi as a symbol of great strength. All throughout Japan and China koi became ever popular and people began doing paintings of koi as well. In Japan there consider these fish to be living jewels.
Koi go way back in the 17th century when they were first started to be bred by the Japanese. The Japanese are the ones responsible for the many popular varieties and colouration of koi fish that we see today. Through there interest in these carp they began to breed them and develop different varieties. In much of Japan developing koi began a family business as they strived to produce the best looking koi with different patterns and colours. In Niigata, Japan, koi breeding is highly known for and is where farmers really actually began breeding and developing koi fish.
It wasn’t till the 19th century when koi fish really took off in popularity. Many more farmers began producing koi and thus they developed tons of different varieties of koi. The most popular one was the kohaku koi fish which is very sought after today which is one of my favourites. The kohaku is a koi with white and red patterns. Some have very distinct patterns that are beautiful and koi fish enthusiast pay top dollars for these. These once wild carp were used as a source of food before now they have become a major interest for people throughout the world.
In the twentieth century is where koi fish really took off. It became popular throughout the world. It was here where some very popular koi varieties were produced. Through selective breeding process the Japanese developed pure bred koi, or pedigree lines such as ki utsuri, ginrin, and Showa sanke. These koi are truly remarkable of the excellent colouration and patterns that they developed. Koi popularity still began to rise and people throughout the world began breeding koi. Still today the best looking koi fish still come from Japan and China.
Breeding koi is not just the simple process of putting a male and a female together so they can mate. The Japanese have studied and learned the best selection process that produces the best looking koi fish. Breeding koi is an art that the Japanese have mastered. The top koi still come from Japan today and I have seen fish go for many thousands of dollars. Some koi enthusiast will pay big money for new varieties of koi being produced. Some people will pay $10,000-$20,000 for one koi. That’s crazy, how much these koi can be sold for. But remember these koi go through a major selection process and only the best koi fish are kept to grow out. I once saw a purebred koi go for $100,000. Now some people will pay that much for koi but that’s a little steep in my books. In Japan koi are sold everywhere’s, people even sell koi along side of the road. Koi is much in abundance here and many many families main source of income is from nishikigoi.
Koi are sold throughout the world today, you can get them at pet stores, local koi breeders or online koi websites much throughout the world. You can buy koi at pet stores starting around $10-$20 and up. On koi websites is where you will see many purebred koi being sold and they go for many hundreds of dollars. Koi fish is a hobby and your paying for perfection, but as I know as well as you know, every hobby has a price limit. You decide the koi for you. Koi fish are truly living jewels in your garden pond and really make your garden pond come alive.
