Tropical Fish Information – Your Fish Tank Guru

To have a healthy pet Koi, you have to feed them with the proper koi treat that will keep them in great shape. For this, you should know the nature of your pets when it comes to their diet and feeding patterns.

Generally, Koi are omnivorous fish, which means that they eat both plants and meat alike. They are known to have sharp appetites when the water temperature falls on 61 to 71 degrees Fahrenheit. The summertime is when they are most active in their appetites, this is why they should be fed with koi fish treat that will give them a good quality diet (those nutritious koi fish treat).

Your pets eat almost anything that comes in their way, ranging from insects, worms, snails, to the foliage of underwater plants (which could sometimes give their owners quite a bit of a headache!). Some of them would also feast on those acorn and grasses which they manage to eat by pulling themselves part of the way out of the water!

Wintertime, however, is when their digestive system slows down, almost to a stop. Now, this is the time when there’s no need for you to feed them with koi fish treat. Why? It’s because they may take the liberty of nibbling on the algae that can be found at the bottom of the pond (or any available natural food there is). But there’s one thing that you must always remember: once the temperature will fall to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, any food that will be left and stored in their stomach will become bad, that it may cause them to fall ill.

So, what are the good and healthy koi fish treat that you can give to your pets? You must always keep in mind that they need to have the right and proper combination of fats, protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. To get these, you can feed them with pellet foods, which can be made to float on the top of the water so that they’ll come out of the water’s surface to snatch it.

In addition to this, you can also feed your pets with special treats like watermelons, peas and lettuce. Be careful though in feeding them with koi fish treat such as corn, beans and grapes, as they contain an outer casing, which can’t be properly digested if swallowed by your pets. So make sure that you remove the outer casings before feeding them with it.

Other koi fish treat include prawns (edible crustaceans which has similarities to shrimp, only that they are bigger), bread (which can be broken down, rolled into small balls and thrown into the pond), lettuce (high in essential vitamins and minerals) and fruits (but should only be fed occasionally, as most of them have high amounts of natural sugar).

You should ensure that your pets are in great health and also free from injuries. As they have great appetites, you needn’t put a lot of stress into how and how much they’re being fed. Feeding your pets with koi fish treat is when you can take the pleasure of your pet’s eagerness to interact with you. A healthy diet can give your pets bright colors, making them even more attractive to you and others!

The Koi come in a wide variety of patterns and colors. The black koi family are distinguished from the other varieties due to their coloring and pattern, and not much else. They can grow up to about 36 inches in length, that is why there’s also a need for them to be kept in large ponds like all of the other fish. It has the same lifespan as the others, around 25 to 35 years of age. They are seen regularly in outdoor ponds anywhere in the globe.

Types Of black koi variety:

There are many types of the black koi variety. The Kumonryu koi is the most popular of the species. It first appeared in the 1980’s. The word “Kumonryu” means “dragon fish” in Japanese. It has been coined as such due to its body is nostalgic of the bodies of dragons drawn in ancient paintings. Others think that these fish look like dragons rising up through the clouds. It can also change its color and pattern.

The Magoi koi is one of the first all black mutation that can grow very long. Seemingly black in color when viewed from above, their actual color is deep bronze. Because of their great possibilities in size, their blood is being reintroduced to other koi so as to hasten and maximize the growth potential of the others.

The Matsukawabake koi has areas or white on its body. They can change color, and because of the environmental effects and their diet, their color changes from a duller or brighter shade of color. The temperature can completely change their color, turning completely white or completely black. It will only return to its original color once there’s a change in temperature. The Karasu koi (meaning “crow” in Japanese) is another of those very old species. This koi is known by its black-colored body and fins. Others can also have an white or orange belly.

The wide array of colors of the black koi variety is one of the factors that makes them an attraction to people. What’s even more exciting is that you have the ability to own a koi that can amazingly change its color in an instant just like some of the species of the black koi variety can!

The hobby of reproducing koi (also known as “Nishikigoi” in Japan) is rapidly becoming popular in the United States. However, few people know where and how they came to be. The first of the species were produced by breeding the Asian and German carp. They have been selectively bred for years, after which different kinds of color mutations started to show up. The earliest recorded color patterns was around 1805. To date, there are many (by the thousands) of color variations available.

Among the popular colors of the pets are white, yellow, black, silver, orange, blue, red and green. There are countless possibilities of pattern combinations. Each Koi are named based on their color and pattern. Among the people, their favorite types of Koi may differ, depending on the location and country.

These pets are raised and bred for sale in many countries, like Japan, Israel, Singapore, and in warmer states in the U.S. like California and Nevada. The pets can be purchased at many local pet stores. They can also be ordered if they don’t have the stock readily available. The advantage of ordering is that the purchaser will have more options, for they do not have to pick from the stock on hand. The only disadvantage here is that the purchaser won’t be able to pick the specific pets they like.

The unique quality of the Koi is that they will continually grow until they have reached the maximum size of their breed, no matter what habitat they’re in. The babies are in lengths of 3 inches, while the biggest pets can reach around 3 feet long, or even more! The most common size is around 2 feet. They have been known to live up to 30 years under the right conditions, and the oldest of which have lived up to 233 years, around 2 centuries!

The Koi are omnivorous animals, feeding on both meat and plants alike. This means that they have a versatile diet. Your pets will eat almost anything that you give them, no matter if it’s good for them or not. In reproducing koi, the owner should be the ones to control their diet, for they don’t know what’s good or not for their diet, and the amount of food that they should be taking everyday. The best treats for your pets are the natural food, like earthworms and tadpoles, and other food like lettuce, bread, fruit and veggies.

Owners should be careful when feeding them with treats like corns, grapes and beans, because these food have an outer casing, which can be improperly digested by your pets if eaten by them. The outer casings should be completely removed before feeding those to your pets.

The Koi are known to be non-aggressive fish, suitable of living and mingling with other fish like the goldfish and comet. The only problem here is that if they will find smaller fish in their path, probability is that they may eat them (for they are quick eaters!). This kind of fish don’t have teeth, which is why they can be fed out of their owners hand as well (a great past time for their owners!). For this, reproducing koi is a truly a fun hobby for lovers of this fish.

The Koi Herpes Virus (or KHV) is a deadly koi virus which has recently emerged in the industry of Koi. The primary outbreak happened in Israel during the late period of the year 1998, early in the year 1999. Since then, numerous outbreaks around the world have been reported, especially in places like the United States, Europe and Asia.

Just like most of the Herpes type of viruses all throughout the world, the KHV is believed to remain with the infected koi for life. The fish that have been exposed to the virus at a certain point are immediately considered as carriers! The mortality rate for the fish that have been exposed to this kind of virus would range from 60 to 80 percent.

The reality is these fish are very prone and susceptible to the virus. The only possible way to prevent your fish from getting infected by the koi ailment is to make sure that your fish will never get exposed to it. Having the appropriate knowledge of the koi ailment would slim the chances of making your fish catch the virus.

Facts about KHV:

Quite a bit of information has been gathered about the koi ailment since its outbreak in 1998, and knowing the important facts about this virus can really help you in preventing it from spreading into your pond. Once the fish have been exposed to KHV, it will always be a carrier for the rest of its lifespan. Even if proper treatment is applied, these fish should never be transferred to another pond or habitat (you wouldn’t want the infection to spread all over into another pond, right?).

Take note that temperature levels at 74 degrees Fahrenheit will activate the koi ailment (a very helpful information as it allows for testing to see if the fish really have the virus or not). Stress is not a cause of the koi ailment, but it can cause the disease to gain a higher rate in mortality. Spreading of the virus will occur if the fish will come in contact with an infected fish; if it will come into contact with the tools used in handling the infected fish ; if it will be exposed to the water in which the infected ones swam in; etc. Sad to say, there’s no known cure for the KHV.

Preventative measures of the spreading of the KHV:

If your fish has been diagnosed with the virus, the only effective way to make sure that you don’t infect other fish is by depopulation. This process is the elimination of your entire fish population. As cruel as this may seem, it’s truly the best way so as to ensure that no other fish will ever catch the koi ailment.

When buying a fish, it’s advisable to quarantine the new fish separately from your current population in a period not less than 15 days. With the knowledge of the exact temperature level to activate the disease (around 74 degrees Fahrenheit), this will allow you to expose your fish to the right conditions for the koi ailment to show itself. Those that live in this conditions for this given period and don’t develop any symptoms have less chance of getting infected.

Quarantining your fish means total isolation; you shouldn’t allow anything to come into contact with the infected ones, especially those items that may come into contact with the current population. Use separate food, tools and water. Make it a point that those tools that you have used for your quarantined fish should just stay always in the area in which they are used.

Follow the proper hand washing procedures when handling both the fish and their items within the same period of time. These steps are sure to prevent the spreading of this koi ailment.

In koi pool, overpopulation of the pet is one of the hardest problems that pond owners have to deal with. This can cause big problems to your koi pond, which can even cause death to your koi. To avoid these dilemmas, here are a few ways to help prevent overpopulation in your koi pond water.

Don’t Overstock: (This is the same as an aquarium DUH)

Overstocking is one of the common problems among new koi pond owners. When you first start purchasing your koi, decide between a number of koi that are equally playful and beautiful so as to save your own koi pond from overstocking. You can always talk with your pet store professional or dealer about your koi pond’s specs.

Tell them the total size of your koi pond, the type of filtration systems you use, and where you’re planning to place your koi pond. These helpful information can help them to successfully predict the right amount of koi that you can have in your koi pond. Don’t worry if the number may seem small, because keep in mind that this species grow rather fast and get large quickly!

One of the problems that people or owners run into is not able to turn down offers from others. When you are being offered with a koi by other pond owners, always look at the reasons as to why they’re giving you their koi (this might be due to overpopulation issues as well). Turning down offers such as this doesn’t mean you’re causing damage to the koi, but it’s just that the owner may have to find a different individual to take the offer.

Steps To Take Once Overpopulation Has Occurred:

If the time comes that your koi pond has reached overpopulation, here are some steps to remove the babies from it. A good way is to stop feeding your koi once you realize that spawning has actually occurred. Stop feeding your koi for no less than 3 weeks. Don’t worry about your koi starving, as they’ll focus more on the natural food that they can get if you’re not feeding them everyday. Their natural diet includes their young.

Although they aren’t one of those cannibalistic animals, it’s natural for them to eat their young when they’re still eggs or if they’re small, resembling insects. Once the babies looks like real fish, the adult ones will recognize this, and they’ll no longer see them as food.

It’s quite important to start this process as soon as you’ll observe spawning or babies in the koi pool water. Though cruel as this may seem, it’s only a natural process. Another way to do this is by giving those unwanted babies away. You can first check with your local pet store, as many of them have programs wherein they’ll accept those unwanted animals and provide shelter for them (some may also pay a certain amount of money for each koi since they sell them). You can also go to local zoos, local Koi societies and online forums.

Having a garden for Koi pond is a great experience for a pond owner. But before adding pets into your outdoor garden or planning a pond for your fish, you need to consider some things first. Talking about gardens, plants will surely pop out of anybody’s mind. A garden for Koi pond is a beautiful sight to behold, and it is a healthy and thriving system that mixes different kinds of elements. It is composed of three vital things: the pond, the fish (Koi), and the plants.

Consider the size and depth of your pond. In giving your fish enough room to live in, ensure that your pond’s depth is around 4 feet deep at the very least. Having these depth will protect them from outside predators. A great space is needed for your pond as your pets can grow to large sizes. This kind of space will help you to add more fish in your pond. Having determined the size of your pond, now you can decide where you will place the garden. A great spot would be that where its not directly laid down under the sunlight, but where it can have a shade from a tree (which will also provide protection from flying predators), and also those spots that are protected from harmful chemicals like pesticides.

It is a fact that the plants and fish really can’t co-exist that much in certain habitats, but this doesn’t make placing plants in your own garden for Koi pond a bad thing to do. The Koi sometimes mess up with the pond itself, destroying the plants placed in the pots, digging into the soil and knocking the plants over. For this, you can wrap netting over your pots, unabling the fish to dig into them. You can place big river stones and pea gravel over your plants to keep the fish from invading the pots. Your fish will feed on the foliage of the plants located at the bottom of the pond. In planning as to what kind of plants your going to place in your garden for Koi pond, you can choose to put lilies. Some of these plants live in shallow ponds, and others live in further depths of the water. Having lilies will provide you the necessary shade and shelter for your fish.

Observing your garden for Koi pond as a whole rather than just the fish and plants will really guarantee you a beautiful sight to behold, and what you can do with it is to make it flourish for a long time!

Koi enthusiasts always find it fun and popular to give their fish some food. It’s fun to see your fish respond to the food that you give to them, an activity that you can do with your children and grandchildren. Feeding your fish is a great bonding experience with them, and some important precautions should be taken all the time. It’s important for you to know that your fish will eat anything that they’re going to get (not minding if it’s good for them or not). For this, you should be the one who controls their diet. Overfeeding of your fish should be avoided, as this could cause some weight issues for them if not monitored closely.

Any owner would think that their fish deserve food, so there are many kinds of food that you can give your fish that contain nutritional value, and those that are guaranteed not to harm them in any way.

Natural Koi Treats: The best food for your fish are those that can be found naturally in the pond, and these are bloodworms, earthworms and tadpoles. You can look around your pond to find them, and once you locate them, you can always dig up these treats from the ground around the pond, or you can also buy similar products at your local pet store.

Lettuce: This fish food for Koi is rich in essential vitamins and minerals, making it very healthy for your pet. No need to tear it into small bits, as the Koi will enjoy doing it themselves!

Prawns: These are edible crustaceans which are quite similar to shrimp, only larger. These are great for your fish as they’re rich in protein. You can purchase prawns in department stores, local pet stores, and also feed stores. Prawns are sold as regular and frozen (if frozen, be sure to melt them down before feeding it to them). These are good in promoting hand feeding.

Bread: Wheat bread is one of the cheapest fish food for your Koi available. What you do is take a piece of it, break it up, and roll it into small balls, and then throw it into the pond. Avoid all types of those white bread, which contain small amounts of bleach and other chemicals that can be very harmful to your Koi.

Fruit: Koi eat a wide variety of fruit. When feeding, break the fruit up into smaller pieces. Keep in mind that most fruits contain a high amount of natural sugar which can be harmful to Koi if given in large amounts, so make sure to feed them with fruits only on special occasions.

As you feed your fish with food like corn, beans and grapes, make it a point to remove the outer casing that comes with these, because swallowing those casings will be dangerous and harmful to them. Also, never overfeed your fish, regardless of the kind of food you give to them, because giving them too much will interfere with their diet, which can do more harm than good to them.

The Koi is well-known for its uniqueness when it comes to its wide array of colors and patterns. The black Koi are is unique due to its own distinctive coloring, and nothing more. In terms of age, the fish normally lives about 25 to 35 years old. These fish thrive in outdoor ponds throughout the world. The females can lay up to a thousand eggs. The males have concave anal sections and those breeding spots on the top of their heads. The babies (known as the fry) will start to emerge within four to seven days, but it depends on the water temperature conditions, and their colors will surface when they’re three to twelve weeks old. Through years of breeding, these pets have come in a wide variety of colors.

The pets can reach up to about a length of 36 inches, which calls a need for them to be kept in ponds that are large in size. The species known as the Magoi Koi is considered as one of the first black mutations which can reach to great sizes in length. Their actual color is deep bronze, which can be seen as black when they are being viewed from above. Due to their unique possibilities in terms of size, the blood of the Magoi is being re-introduced to the other species so as to maximize their potential when it comes to growth.

The Karasu Koi (“karasu” which means “crow” in Japan) is another one of those extremely old species. These fish are characterized by their black fins and black body. They can also have an orange or a white belly.

These pets can also have the ability to change color due to environmental or dietary effects. The color changes range from duller to brighter shades. The Matsukawabake Koi is known for this characteristic, which is typically black in color that has areas or white on its own body. Depending on the temperature of the water or seasons, its color can completely change. It can turn to a full white or full black, and will return to its original pattern once the temperature conditions will change.

The Kumonryu Koi (“kumonryu” which means “dragon fish”), which first appeared in the 1980’s, is considered to be as the most popular of the species of the black Koi. It was designated with such a name as it is reminiscent of the bodies of dragons that are depicted by the paintings of the ancient times (some would say that these fish looked as if they were dragons that ascend through the white clouds). This Koi can also change in color.

Enthusiasts love the Koi for their colors and patterns, and what’s even more exciting is that they can own a fish that can literally change their color right before their eyes, such as the black-colored Koi!