History

Koi Carp were first introduced to Japan from Asia as a food fish.

All Koi varieties are descendants of black carp Magoi. Approximately 200 years ago Japanese farmers started breeding from fish with colour mutations. Many of today's varieties were established by the end of the 19th century. With the introduction of air travel the start of the world wide Koi hobby was born.

Today Koi Carp are farmed all over the world with Israel and Thailand being the most imported outside of Japan. We frequently visit both Israel and Thailand to hand select Koi Carp. We work closely with the Thai farmers and the ministry and have been instrumental in introducing new measures to not only improve varieties and the quality of the koi but to also put in place strict health testing and controls. With the assistance of Cefas we set up a PCR testing program complete with temperature testing.
Each month every pond at our farm is PCR tested at the Thai Biotechnology Business Unit and also samples from each shipment prior to export.

The Koi imported from Israel are vaccinated against KHV.

Water Quality

To successfully keep Koi Carp it is imperative to make sure they have sufficient oxygen. It is important to remember warm water holds less oxygen than cold water. We recommend in addition to your filtration you install an air pump.
When deciding on the size and type of filter remember your fish will grow! Your biological filter must be able to cope with the levels of ammonia and nitrite being produced.
The ideal PH for your Koi would be between 7-8.

We recommend you test your water regularly particularly with a new pond.

Varieties

All Koi are one species Cyprinus Carpio. There are many if not hundreds of colour varieties but only some are regarded as recognised stable varieties.These classifications are - Kohaku, Sanke, Showa, Utsurimono, Bekko, Asagi, Koromo, Shusui, Kawarimono, Ogon, Tancho, Kinginrin, Hikari-Utsurimono, Hikarimoyo-mono, Goshiki, Doitsu koi

The Showa

The Showa is the last of the traditional 'big 3' koi varieties, known as 'Go Sanke', Kohaku and Sanke being the other two.

A little bit of history on the Showa
A young variety compared to many, the Showa was first produced by Jukichi Hoshino back in 1927 when he attemped to cross a yellow and black koi (Ki Utsuri) with a Kohaku (red and white). The variety was gradually improved by more cross breeding until the Showa we know today was produced in the 1960's.

Showa Colours
A Showa is predominantly a black fish with red and white markings as opposed to the Sanke which is basically a white fish with red and black markings. A lot of Koi keepers have trouble telling the differance between the two. Generally Showa will have much more black than Sanke's. The head usually has black and the pectorail fins will have black, this is called 'Motoguru'.

There is traditionally two types of Showa, a Hi Showa, this is a mainly red Showa wth red markings all down the body.
The second is a Kindai Showa, this is considered more modern and has a lot more white on the body than Hi Showa's.

The Kohaku