Free Web Hosting Provider - Web Hosting - E-commerce - High Speed Internet - Free Web Page
Search the Web

Test Your Knowledge of Koi Varieties

Your responses show mastery of KOI knowledge & intuitive expertise in the full appreciation of the world of Nishikigoi

You are definitely lacking in your basic knowledge of KOI types. Seek out KOI books, Koi classification videotapes, and the help of Koi experts to improve your appreciation.

Our first Show Chairperson was Ron Kenndey. Some of the other people that have chaired this great event are:

1993 Champion

Debbie Tibbetts

1996 Champion

Paul Baker

1997 Champion

Tom & Sue Lansing

1998 Champion

Paul Baker

1999 Champion

Tom & Sue Lansing

I am looking forward to being one of your judges.

The Twentieth Southern Arizona Koi Association Koi Show & Auction, at the Kino Memorial Sports Park, November 12th thru 14th is almost here. As you stand next to your pond and look at your colorful and splendid friends, particularly those special ones, you can't help but want others to see them too. At the show, not only can others see them but also it gives you an opportunity to look at yours alongside some of the best to see how they measure up. But what about the problems of moving them, keeping them in an unfamiliar environment for a couple of days, what if they get sick? If we worried too much about things like that, we would never have sent our children to school. Many koi keepers believe that exposure of their fish to different conditions actually strengthens them. Any event that is not part of the ordinary daily routine of your koi, catching them, moving them, and releasing them into different water conditions, does subject them to some stress. The object is to keep the stress to both the koi and yourself to a minimum. Make preparations for their trip early, and make sure all the equipment you will need is available and ready for use. Most of the things you need should already be on hand for those just-in-case situations. First thing to decide is when to bring the fish to the show site. You can check in your fish either late Friday (3 PM to 7 PM) or early Saturday morning (9 AM to 11:30 AM), whichever is more convenient for you. It is not fashionable to be late for check in and any fish that arrive after 11:30 AM Saturday will not be judged.

Have you taken pictures of your koi recently? Just before a show is a good time to update the pond photo album. Check out how they have grown since their last photo shoot. Have the color patterns changed? Of course that great looking Kumonryu is considerably different than last year.

Don't forget to fast them for a few days (5-7) before the trip. Few koi need all the food they are normally fed except the small ones during high growth periods. I know they always act hungry, but they have no stomachs, just one long gut. When something goes in one end, it usually pushes something out at the other end. The stuff being pushed out is rarely digested completely. The fasting will reduce their metabolic activity somewhat. This reduces their ammonia production rate, making the transportation safer. No, you are not being cruel and starving them, and they will be more comfortable during the trip and the show.

The next step is to catch the fish which can be a major challenge in itself (particularly in a large pond). The first requirement, and only for the larger ponds, is a small mesh, soft seine net, with floats on the top and weights on the bottom. This is dropped into the water and adjusted to confine the fish into a smaller and more workable area of the pond. The next item needed is the handling net whose diameter should be about twice the length of the largest fish and with a handle long enough to easily reach the far side of the capture area. Note that koi nets are shallow by design and the netting is soft to help keep the slime coat intact. A koi, particularly the larger ones, should never be actually lifted from the water in a net. The net should primarily be used to gently guide the fish to the location of a floating tub. (I can hear the laughter starting now, "Not my koi !") This takes practice with no sudden movements of the net. The tub should be about the same size as the net, and almost full of water. The next step is to "roll" the fish into the tub. One edge of the net is used to submerge one side of the tub, and with a smooth rotation of the net, the fish will end up in the tub with the net covering the top. The fish was never lifted out of the water and it doesn't actually roll into the tub, it just slides in with the water. (The laughter is getting much louder.) Keeping the tub covered with the net, pull it to the side of the pond. Slip a plastic bag under the net and gather in the fish with some of the water out of the tub. Now that was simple, and the koi didn't even splash around. (Now the laughter is changing into hysterics.) All humor aside, this is not easy to do properly, and not without a great deal of practice. It is a little easier with two people; one handling the net, the other working the bag. I have watched some of the "masters" routinely do this where I don't think the fish ever knew he was being caught until the bag was lifted out of the tub.

Before sealing the bag is the time to closely inspect your show candidate. Look at it from top to bottom, side to side. Check closely around the mouth and gills. Make sure your fish is in good health. It won't be allowed in the show if it is not healthy. If there is any little problem, better leave this one home. When plastic bagging fish for transport, use only enough water to just cover the dorsal fin.

Squeeze out the current air, add 5-10 times the amount of oxygen as water. This is normally sufficient oxygen for at least 6 hours with reports of over 24 hours. If oxygen is not available, the same amount of just plain air in the bag is sufficient for a short trip of an hour or so. Twist the top of the bag to seal and secure tightly with a rubber band. The plastic bag should be clean, of heavy construction (at least 4 mil, not the 1-2 mil trash bags), obviously with no leaks, and at least a little wider than the length of the fish. If putting more than one fish in a bag, the width of the bag should be at least the combined length of the fish. A simple safety measure is to then put the bagged fish into another bag and separately seal it with another rubber band.

Temperature control and ammonia build up then become the major problems. The bag needs mechanical support during transport and although just a cardboard box will suffice, putting the bag into a picnic cooler or a Styrofoam lined box will help control the temperature. Covering the bag so the fish can't see what's happening will also reduce stress. Try to arrange the container so the fish is aligned with the direction of travel. Side to side sloshing is less stressful than end to end. If possible, place the container in the passenger compartment, not in the warmer (or colder) trunk area. A spare plastic bag or two and extra rubber bands should be packed in the koi's overnight bag. Don't stop off for lunch somewhere and leave the fish in the car while you increase your cholesterol level, use the drive through. Temperatures in a parked, sealed car can rise very rapidly and we don't want to end up with poached koi.

If a transport tank is being used for hauling fish, an air stone or aeration column can be used. A venturi (eductor) is not recommended since the strong currents induced make the fish "work" harder which increases both the oxygen consumption and, of more importance, the ammonia waste products in the small tank. If an air stone is used, it should be selected primarily on the basis of the production of many very fine bubbles. The lifetime of the air stone is not of significant concern for this use. An air stone can be driven with a battery powered air pump or even fed directly from bottled oxygen. An aeration column can be driven by a small submersible water pump ideally located at the opposite corner or end of the tank from the aeration column. Have spares for everything and a tank patch kit close at hand. If preparing to use a transport tank for the first time, install it, fill it (no more than half full), and leave the fish at home while you go out for a test drive. With as much as an extra half ton of weight in the back, handling will probably change. Find out how much more braking distance you need and how much slower you should take bumps and corners.

CAUTION: Make sure that the transport tank's air supply cannot be contaminated with the vehicle's exhaust. Carbon Monoxide is very soluble in water and can be even more deadly to the fish than to you.

So now we've reached the show site. The koi traveled well, but it may or may not be time to get them out of the bag. Based on the reports of controlled experiments, (the experiments were conducted using bass, trout, and carp but it is assumed that the results also apply to Koi) it was found that floating transport bags for 30 minutes prior to release slightly decreased any transport losses, particularly for small fish. This test was conducted with the fish bagged for one hour. With fish that had been bagged for four hours, it was found that any losses slightly increased for all sizes of the fish if the bags were floated for 30 minutes. In both of these cases, the bags were very heavily populated. My recommendation is that if the fish have been bagged for two or three hours, it is probably better to release them almost immediately than subjecting them to the "bad" water in the bag for an additional half-hour. Thirty minutes of floating will prevent a sudden shock if the temperature difference is large, but it will not acclimatize the fish to the new temperature. Actual acclimation of a fish to the new temperature range takes several days, similar to us dealing with jet lag. It is not only the temperature the fish needs to be accustomed to but also the pH, hardness, alkalinity, "the taste", etc. of it's new environment. In either case, get the bag floating in the destination water as soon as possible. The show registration team will tell you which tank to use.

When the time is right to take them out of the bags, the challenge is to get the fish into the new water while keeping the transport water in the bag. Do not put any transport water into a show tank (or into the pond when returning home). With the bag floating where the fish is to be released, open the bag, and with wet hands, help the fish to almost swim out of the bag. Dispose of the transport water at the provided disposal area or on some nearby plant that needs some moisture and nutrition. The show check in team will probably do most of this for you. You should be alongside to help identify your fish and find out what class and size they are being assigned so you can keep track of their progress during the show.

Now sit back and enjoy the show while the water quality control team is making every effort to take excellent care of your friends. During judging, the handlers will be giving special treatment to them as well. Look at your koi alongside others of the same class and size. Why did the judges choose yours for first place over all the others? Why was one of your favorites selected for second place instead of first? This is a great opportunity for learning how to identify top quality koi. After the judging is completed, it is your responsibility to go to the administration table and sign up each of your winners on the sheets provided to make sure they get the recognition they deserve.

Throughout the show you will have an opportunity to talk to many other pond keepers. One of them may have a solution to that nagging little problem with your pond (or you may have a solution for one of theirs). At the booth area, the vendors will be extolling the virtues of all their latest products. There, you can pick up some more information about that item you saw advertised that just might be right for your pond. Don't miss the awards banquet Saturday night. A good meal and good company, and here is where you officially get told how well your fish did in the show. The banquet raffle will feature some great koi items that you can only win if you are present and have purchased your banquet raffle tickets at the banquet itself.

Sunday afternoon includes the show raffle drawing, lots of neat stuff and you don't have to be present to win at this one but you do have to have a ticket or several. At the koi auction, there are always some top quality fish that would look great in your pond. Then the show is over for another year.

Make sure you are at the show site at check out time. Did you remember to bring your handling net? Some nets will be available, but it is easier if you have your own. You will be assigned a tank in which to place all your fish prior to the trip home. Now it is your job to find your prize winners (and your also rans) and move them all into your assigned tank. Within the confines of a show tank, you can easily use the net to guide the fish directly into a plastic bag. When moving fish between show tanks in plastic bags, carry the bags sideways, using one hand to hold the top closed, and the other hand grasping a bottom corner. Do not carry it just by the top, plastic bags have been known to split. Water is heavy, again use just enough to cover the dorsal fin. In this situation, the water can be put into the tank with the fish, but do not pour the fish into the tank. Lower the bag into the water, open it, and let the fish swim out. Then any remaining water can be released into the tank.

When everyone has all their fish in their assigned tanks, the word will be given that it is time to head for home. Now is the time to bag your fish for the return trip. Bags, rubber bands, and oxygen are supplied if you don't have or don't want to use your own. Special tanks of good water for transport will also be available although just the show tank water can be used if the trip home is not too far. The rest of your day is a repeat of the trip to the show, just in the other direction.

When you get home, and your fish are happily back in their own pond, they will be telling their pond mates about their neat experiences at the KCSD show. As you stand by the pond looking proudly at them, I'm sure all your prize winners and those that you thought should have been prize winners would now enjoy a good meal.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of you and your finny friends

Reprinted from "Tetra Encyclopedia of Koi"; Tetra Press

As temperatures drop, koi move into the deeper parts of the pond and become more reluctant to feed, and below temperatures of 6C(43F) cease feeding altogether. As the water continues to cool, the koi tend to lie huddled together on the bottom of the pond with all fins except the tail fin clamped tightly against their bodies. This conserves some body heat, as each fin is supplied with a tiny network of blood vessels through which heat escapes if the fish lie with their fins outspread. One of the major areas of cooling of a fish's body is through the gills, where the warm blood is cooled by the water passing over the gill filaments. You may have noticed that koi seem to breathe more slowly in winter - this is a method of conserving body heat. At temperatures between 2C and 6C (36-43F) koi are described as being in a 'torpid state'. Their senses such as smell and taste are inoperative but they can still see and respond to some external stimulation, such as touch, or water movement below the surface.

Temperatures below 2C(36F) are critical to koi, as there is an increasing risk of ice crystals forming in the delicate gill membranes. Because water expands when it freezes, these crystals break the tiny cells in the gills and the koi die. Winter filtration and aeration Like many other materials, water expands when it warms and contracts as it cools. Because water is a liquid, warm water is light and therefore rises. (If you feel your hot water storage tank, you will notice that it is hotter at the top than at the bottom.) Logically, you might expect, therefore, that freezing water (ice) should lie at the bottom of exposed water but, as we all know, this is not the case. In fact, a reversal of this principle occurs at temperatures just below 4C(39F), when colder water rises to the surface and warm water sinks. This is the salvation of most underwater life. Water is a poor conductor of heat, so the cold water and ice form an insulating layer that retains the heat of the warmer water below it. As we have seen in the section on pond and filter construction, the pond should be at least 1.5m(3ft) deep; depth will aid the temperature stability of the warmer water below the ice and the water will also absorb heat from the ground. Keep all biological filters running throughout the winter. It is important that the water continues to ventilate so that oxygen can diffuse into the water and harmful carbon dioxide (the byproduct of respiration) does not become sealed in by total ice cover. If the pump is turned off, the fish will suffer and the plumbing will corrode or freeze if the pump is then left in the water. If a variable flow pump is fitted in the pond, turn it down to its minimum output. If your system enjoys the versatility of two or more pumps, then using one should be sufficient at this time of year in all but the very largest ponds. This will give you the opportunity to service any pumps not in use. (Most pumps are now sealed units and you need only clean them and check the strainers, cables and switches.)

You may have a submersible pump in the pond or a variable level gravity feed pipe, if so, you can vary the level from which the filter is fed. As the water temperature drops towards the critical 4C(39F), raise the pump or filter feed to 15-23cm(6-9in) below the surface. This will avoid disturbance and chilling of bottom water and allow the koi to rest, while preventing the pond from completely icing over.

You may decide to moderate the water return to the pond. Restrict the air flow on your venturi, bypass waterfalls and turn off fountains, since all these means of aeration are no longer necessary, as cold water is usually rich in oxygen, and, if left on, will excessively chill the water. If your water return is via a straight pipe from a filter above pond level, terminate it with a 'T' piece or elbow pipework to prevent disturbing the lower water.

It is not a good idea to use rubber balls, hammers or kettles of boiling water to prevent or break up ice formations. Although the koi are torpid, they can sense any water movement, and breaking ice sends violent shock waves through the water, which can severely stress, and even kill, koi. (It is a sensation probably similar to someone suddenly crashing a loud drum close to your ear while you are sleeping and waking you with a start!)

A growing number of enthusiasts are installing heating systems in their outside pond to keep their koi active and feeding, and thus growing, throughout the year. Avoid placing heaters in the bottom of the pond, however, as they can set up convectional currents that lift the warmer water, which chills as it rises towards the surface or towards a layer of ice, thus returning cold water

to the koi.(You should also remove any airstones from the bottom of the pond in winter for the same reasons.) Instead, place small heaters in the filter system, preferably in the settling chamber or transfer ports. Any heating unit should be thermostatically

controlled and capable of maintaining the water temperature at a minimum of 10C(50F), even through the severest of winters. Rapidly fluctuating temperatures are highly undesirable and temperatures sufficiently high to activate the fish but too low for safe feeding can have a debilitating effect. Furthermore, between 0C and l0C(32-50F) the koi's immune system does not operate, but bacteria in the water are still active. If your heater cannot maintain an adequate temperature throughout the winter, use it only to

help stabilize autumn and spring temperatures.

An alternative to heating outdoor ponds that is favoured by some koi-keepers is the installation of pond systems in the garage, greenhouse or conservatory, and some enthusiasts even have permanent fish houses. Such pond systems are usually smaller and may be used at certain times of the year, for quarantine purposes or for raising baby koi, or they may be rested throughout the summer and used only during the colder months, to protect koi from the chill of winter.

Use mature water from the existing pond rather than tapwater to fill the inside pond. In this way, you avoid subjecting the koi to a change in temperature and water quality when you move them inside. In addition, you could move a small portable filter to the inside pond when you transfer the fish, having matured it with established pond water. Alternatively, by transferring some of the media from the active outdoor filter, you can overcome the ammonia/nitrite problems associated with new filters and pond systems.

1. A 2. C 3. C 4. C

5. C 6. A 7. D 8. B

9. D 10. D 11. C 12. D

13. C 14. B 15. B 16. C

17. A 18. D 19. A 20. B

21. C 22. C 23. C 24. B

25. D 26. D

3828 Keeling Road, Hereford

378-3710

2160 West Ruthrauff

292-6774

3400 S. Sagauro Shadows Drive

886-8797

1114 South Sarnoff

722-7399