Koi, those gorgeous, vividly colored fish of backyard ponds and water gardens have their origins in Japan. Vigorous swimmers with bright color patterns, koi add life, color, and movement to your water garden. They add a soothing meditative element to your already peaceful space as you watch their colors swirl under the water.
Origins of Koi
The practice of breeding ornamental koi in Japan began in the early 19th century. The fish were selectively bred to produce brilliant color patterns, first red, then blue and white, red and yellow, black and orange, and even metallic shades of gold and silver. Now, koi are bred in many locations all over the world, including here in the United States, and cross breeding has resulted in even more beautiful varieties.
Koi as a Hobby
The world discovered the stunning koi fish when they were in an exhibition in Tokyo in 1914. Interest in koi in Japan grew and spread across the world. Now, hobbyists all over the globe enjoy keeping these beautiful “swimming jewels” in their backyard ponds and water gardens.
Symbol of Good Luck
Japanese koi are an integral part of Japan’s culture, seen in Japanese gardens, aquariums, backyard ponds, and their image is incorporated in shrines. The koi became a symbol of good fortune, prosperity, perseverance and strength, due to their sturdiness, powerful swimming ability, and long life. There is even an ancient legend about the koi being able to climb up a waterfall, a testament to its amazing strength.
Koi Life
The average koi can live 20-plus years or more, and grow up to three feet long and weigh more than 30 pounds, in ideal conditions. To ensure that your koi grow big and live long, healthy lives, keep your pond aerated, including during the winter months when the koi enter a state of torpor or hibernation period, to make sure your koi have enough oxygen.
Because koi grow so large, you don’t want to overburden your pond with too many fish. Giving your koi enough space to accommodate their growth and keeping your pond well-maintained will ensure that your koi live their longest and best lives.
We can even teach you how to encourage your koi to spawn with tips from our learning center, so you can have beautiful koi for years to come.
Learn more about these beautiful living jewels with our koi facts.
Ready to Add Some Koi to Your Pond?
Whether you are a newcomer just getting interested in keeping koi or a longtime passionate hobbyist looking to add some new koi fish from Japan or domestic koi to your pond, we can help!
We have packages of unique live premium koi fish from Japan that have been hand selected by Japanese breeders for their striking colors, patterns, and scale quality. The breeders also examine the koi’s fin shape and body composition and choose only the healthiest, most beautiful fish for you to add to your pond. Our Japanese koi packages feature standard and butterfly fin varieties, by size.
We also have live domestic koi packages featuring beautiful, high-quality live domestic koi in a variety of sizes.
With our domestic and Japanese live koi fish for sale, you can add vibrant color and motion to your pond or water garden with hand-selected Koi delivered right to your door.
Koi Questions?
Still have koi questions? Contact our Experts to answer all your questions on how you can introduce these beautiful fish to your pond or water garden.