Many koi pond keepers strive to keep their water looking crystal-clear at all times, but this isn’t always possible for various reasons. Any garden pond that gets at least a couple of hours of sunlight each day is bound to go through periods when algae will bloom. Depending on the algae species, this natural process can give the water an unsightly brown or green color. Terrestrial plant debris that decomposes at the bottom of the pond can result in tea-colored water. Then you have the issue of excessive foaming on the surface, which can be explained by other reasons and is generally easy to take care of. Spawning Koi and …

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Koi ponds have become synonymous with garden ponds even though they can be established to keep many other aquatic species. For example, in Bermuda and the Florida Keys, some aquarists are known to set up saltwater ponds in their backyards as a means to simulate the natural marine and brackish ponds that form near Caribbean lagoons. With this in mind, keeping a pond in your backyard doesn’t force you to stock it with koi. Some pond keepers prefer to forego koi and look to other species such as crawfish, Chinese algae eaters, fancy goldfish, and Shubunkin, which are often confused with some koi varieties. Some pond keepers prefer Shubunkin over …

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There’s an emerging trend in the high-end segment of the Southern California real estate market, and it’s centered on the kind of extra features that can make properties really unique. In August 2021, a Malibu real estate brokerage listed an $11 million mansion on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. One of the most interesting features of the property was a Japanese Zen garden complete with a koi pond stocked with exotic species. Realtors are now getting more clients with deeper pockets who are specifically asking for established garden ponds they can readily take over. Koi breeders are also seeing increased business from pond keepers who figure they can list …

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Like many other aquatic and terrestrial species, koi regulate their life activities according to circadian rhythms, which are in turn regulated by periods of illumination and darkness. The Asian carp species that koi descend from live in rice paddies and other habitats where aquatic grass grows thanks to photosynthesis. In other words, koi naturally expect to get sunlight during the day. At night, koi are genetically predisposed to anticipate a combination of darkness and moonlight, although this won’t automatically put them to sleep. With this in mind, we can safely assume koi don’t need artificial lighting at night, but there’s more you should know in this regard. The friendly and …

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Whether you build a koi pond on your own, hire a professional to set it up, or move into a home that already has one in the backyard, you can always take additional steps to decorate it and make it prettier. Koi have always been praised for their ornamental appearance, but their beauty can be enhanced by means of improving their surroundings with decorative elements that go beyond their aquatic habitat. Keeping a koi pond is an activity similar to gardening in the sense that you can complete many decorating projects on your own. Here are five DIY ideas you can try to improve the overall look of your garden …

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Just like many other activities enjoyed and practiced by people around the world, the fish keeping hobby isn’t immune to misconceptions, myths, and urban legends. One such falsehood tends to be centered on goldfish and koi—two ornamental freshwater species that have been subject to crossbreeding for centuries. There’s a good chance you’ve heard about koi and goldfish, which both happen to be related to Asian carp species, somehow being able to control their growth and adapt to the size of their enclosed ecosystems. In other words, this incorrect assumption suggests any goldfish can be kept in a small fishbowl. As for koi, this inaccuracy posits that koi won’t get any …

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Crystal-clear water is a goal all koi pond keepers share, and it isn’t necessarily the most ideal. The natural habitats of Asian grass carp, the cold water species koi derive from, don’t generally feature clear water. Their primary ecosystems are rice paddies where the water tends to be muddy. The color of pond water doesn’t always reflect the health of the aquatic ecosystem. For example, murky green water that resembles split-pea soup is sometimes an indication that a natural pond is teeming with a nice balance of plants, fish, and other species. When the water in your garden pond turns brown, there are a few reasons that could explain this …

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Of all the water sources available to freshwater fish keepers, the best will always be H2O that comes from a municipal treatment facility. Biochemically speaking, the most adequate water for a koi pond would come from natural Asian carp habitats. In the Niigata prefecture of Japan, rice paddies are irrigated by melted snow that seeps into the ground and becomes mineralized. This happens to be a region where koi breeding is a popular activity, and breeders are able to establish ponds that are semi-artificial. As you can imagine, hauling hundreds and even thousands of gallons of natural pond water to your garden isn’t reasonable, thus leaving conditioned water from the …

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Ornamental koi descend from Asian grass carp traditionally used for aquaculture purposes, particularly by rice farmers in China and Japan. In rice paddies, Asian carp continuously feed from decaying stalk and other plant residue. In a garden pond, koi will rarely exhibit this constant eating behavior, and this is the result of more than a century of selective breeding. Nutritious food is one of the most essential koi pond supplies, and you should know that koi only need to be fed once a day. There are situations in which you might increase this frequency, but you also need to be careful and avoid overfeeding. If you breed and raise koi, …

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Japanese culture appreciates koi to the point of holding beauty pageants where judges evaluate contestants for their scales, weight, shape, graceful swimming, and overall looks. Breeders are the most likely to enter their koi into these aquatic beauty contests, which serve to facilitate the trading and selling of beautiful koi valued at thousands of dollars. It goes without saying that judges of these pageants pay close attention to the colors of the koi they evaluate. They look for interesting patterns and combinations, but what they really focus on is healthy scales that promote vivid coloring. The Colorful Anatomy of Koi The coloration of koi scales is the result of centuries …

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