One of the most beautiful fishes in the world is big koi. You will certainly appreciate the colorations, patterns and scalations, with colours ranging from white, cream and black to red, yellow and blue. Before you can appreciate big koi, however, there are some important things that you must know.
Koi Habitat:
You must always make provisions for adult koi to live in a garden pond instead of an aquarium. Well, unless, you have an aquarium the size of, say, the “Monterey Bay Aquarium”, then it is best to construct a garden pond for financial reasons.
With that said, there are a few important things to remember about koi ponds. First, your koi pond must be sufficiently large and deep to accommodate the adult koi you intend to place in it. General rules as to keeping large koi in ponds include:
- 500-1000 gallons of water for every 24-inch adult koi is considered sufficient. Just keep in mind that it is always better to have a bigger pond if you intend to add more koi since reconstructions are expensive, not to mention stressful on the koi.
- Although koi can survive in shallow water, you must make provisions for deep areas since koi must forage at the bottom and must have protection from the sun during hot weather. At least 60-84 inches of depth is sufficient for big koi to thrive in.
- Filtration systems, both of the natural and mechanical kinds, must be installed. This way, your koi school will always have clean water to swim in, hence, preventing infections from setting in. Besides, you can better enjoy the view when the water is not murky!
- Always provide protection against predators like kingfishers, herons, cats, raccoons, badgers, foxes and hedgehogs. You can install overhangs and plant shade trees over the deep pond to achieve this purpose.
Indeed, you must acquire more knowledge about koi pond maintenance so as to ensure the koi’s survival into old age. In fact, koi can live for centuries when kept in the right conditions. The oldest known koi, Hanako, was said to be aged 226 years on her death!
Koi Feeding
Did you know that koi can be trained to gather around your hand on feeding time? However, you must never overfed them no matter how cute and charming feeding time can be since negative effects like excessive waste, obesity and death can set in.
With that said, you must feed according to the seasons and according to the koi’s needs. In spring and summer, a high protein diet is ideal while in the fall, a wheat germ-rich diet is best. During winter, koi will live off the fat accumulated during past seasons so feeding them sparingly is recommended. And only when the water temperature rises above 50 degrees Fahrenheit must you do so!
When you are enjoying the beauty of big koi in a garden pond, always remember the amount of loving work that goes into them. You will appreciate the big koi better when you do. Maybe, too, kids will not keep throwing rocks and other fancy things on the pond when you educate them about the hard work behind koi keeping.
