Tropical Fish Information – Your Fish Tank Guru

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.