Camellia Koi Club
Koi Resources

As with any pet, it's a good idea to learn about what you are getting into with koi before bringing one home for the first time.  Is your pond properly equipped to care for it?  Do you even have a pond?  Are you committed to testing your pond water regularly to ensure a healthy environment for your fish?  What are you going to feed it?  What will you do when it gets sick?  Exploring the links provided below are a good first step on the path to owning happy, healthy koi.

 

  • Varieties - Koi come in many colors and patterns.  When shown in competitions, koi are grouped by varieties similar to the way dog breeds are.  Even experienced koi keepers and judges sometimes have trouble figuring out which category a particular fish belongs to.  Below are a couple links to pages which show pictures of the different officially recognized varieties.

    This page on our website has descriptive articles on several of the varieties.

  • Feeding - Talk to 20 koi hobbyists and you will hear 20 different answers about what you should and should not feed koi and how frequently/infrequently you should feed them.  Here are some resources for feeding your koi, but it's up to you to sort out a common ground that works for your own pond.  What is generally agreed upon is that:
    - One feeding should consist of no more food than koi can eat in five minutes;
    - As pond temps decrease in fall and winter, feed koi less;
    - When ponds temps drop, feed koi an easily digestible, wheat-germ based food;
    - Below 50F you should stop feeding you koi altogether
  • Water Quality - Keeping your pond water of ideal quality for your koi is the most essential (and often most challenging) aspect of koi keeping.  For the sake of your koi's health, you need to acquaint yourself with appropriate pH, hardness and alkalinity levels, "The Nitrogen Cycle" (related to fish waste breakdown and levels of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate in the pond), and the make-up (including chlorine, which is bad for fish) of the city or well water with which you will be filling your pond.  Imagine being responsible for every aspect of the air you cat or dog breathes--that is a good analogy for maintaining a koi pond.  You should own at minimum a pH test, ammonia test, and nitrite test, and proceed from there.

Webmaster's note: Not wanting to upset anyone new to the hobby, this is one of the least disgusting pictures illustrating a fish illness that I could find.
  • Health - What are you going to do when a fish gets sick?  Unfortunately, you can't just put it in a Ziplock bag and bring it to the vet.  Because you love your aquatic friend, "flush it down the toilet" is not an option, nor is simply continuing to watch it suffer.  Here's what you can do:
         1) track down a vet who treats fish and makes house calls (and be prepared to shell out big  
             bucks, as this kind of vet is rare) 
         2) learn how to treat it yourself through research and seminars

         3) educate yourself about preventive care  and quarantining
         4) consult a Koi Health Advisor (KHA) from a local koi club
Further Reading
There are several quality koi magazines that you can subscribe to.  Local fish dealers/pond builders - Although CKC can not endorse any business in particular, the following is a list of local fish dealers and pond builders:

-Koi Enterprise (West Sacramento)
-Pet Fish Ponds (Lodi)
-Oh So Koi (Galt)
-Sacramento Koi (Granite Bay)
-Mamason Koi (Auburn/Grass Valley)
-Nimbus Pond Supply (Rancho Cordova)
-Flora Tropicana (Elk Grove)
-Peters & Sons Koi (Martinez, CA)
-Champion Nishikigoi (San Jose)
-Genki Koi (San Jose)
-Simi Koi (San Jose)
-Cherry Hill Koi (San Jose)
-Fancy Koi Outlet (San Jose)

Pond Building Resources

Ideally, you should also educate yourself about what elements your pond will require for optimal koi keeping.  The last thing you want to do is start digging a hole with a shovel and little forethought.

  • Mechanics - The basics: bottom drains, waterfalls, skimmers, jets--what do you really need???

 

  • How big should my pond be?  How deep?  Where should I put it?

     

  • What kind of plants should I put in my pond?

     

  • If I'm not building the pond myself (particularly if concrete is involved), how do I select the right builder?

If you've checked out the above links, you should now be more educated about koi and ponds that when you first arrived at this page.  However, there is no substitute for experience.  Come to one of our club meetings and talk directly to some pond owners there.  Ask what they would do differently if building another pond.  What unexpected issues popped up once they got into the hobby?  Has it been as rewarding and stress-relieving a hobby as you've been led to believe? 

If you want to experience more than just a club meeting, come to the Sacramento Koi Show in September!  Or to inspire your own pond design, go on one of our May Pond Tours.