Japanese Koi Fish

Perhaps it is appropriate with the National Koi Show looming to deal with the phone call I received recently from a ranting fanatical Hannes. I don’t really want to picture the look and feel of his handset but I can assure one and all that Hannes’ tendencies to drool over Koi are not the only outlet for excess spittle.

Nonetheless, soggy handsets aside, I had to for once agree with the poor man. I share his frustrations in the matters of Koi and am now only beginning to learn that being a Koi dealer is an insane calling! If nothing else it explains Hannes’ twitchy eye which I have often wondered about but ignored…

When it comes to Koi, nothing is cast in stone. These fish are living creatures that respond to changes in their intimate watery environments seemingly at will. Anyone who has kept Koi knows that for absolute certain fact that each Koi has its own personality and it’s own foibles, just as dogs and we humans do. Yes, there is a set of instinct driven rules that Koi (largely) obey when it comes to their behavioral patterns – but these rules are only general and hardly ever absolute.

And this is just in the nature of the fish! Now when we add the complexity of bloodlines, the genetic makeup of the fish and the conditions under which they have been raised until a particular moment in time and you will see that each Koi, even from the same spawning, is a different fish in it’s own right, and more often than not, radically different!

I haven’t even started on patterns or appreciation yet! But I will never forget it when Renee said that Koi appreciation starts off with our understanding of a sense of gratitude towards the Koi for having achieved what it has by being what it is.

That’s an incredibly subtle statement but it is at the heart of what understanding a good quality Koi is all about. We call it appreciation which is exactly what it is – a recognition of the merits of a Koi given what it has been through in it’s life time, and how it has gotten to where it is today.

I often wondered if this is more an appreciation for the breeder than it is for the Koi but as one gets more involved in the hobby you quickly see that if you own a stunning Koi it will remain that way only for a while, and then only if you give it the care, nurturing, love and attention that becomes any good hobbyist.

And so, if on a somewhat circuitous route, I arrive at the blathering Hannes and his call. Koi appreciation is about appreciating the quality of a Koi. At a Koi show, this appreciation is on and for the day only, which is as it should be. But a Koi in a pond has a far deeper appreciation – in my mind, the word here is respect, in the mind of the owner who looks at it every day. I have seen Koi that are large, butt ugly and will never win any prize at any show except possibly in the category of ‘Worst Koi ever shown’ but who are loved, respected and appreciated over any Show Winner by the OWNER who has spend many years, many rands and many hours in raising this animal from a 10 cm R50 pavement special into the large magnificent beast it has become today.

That for me is Koi Appreciation at its very best. And taking a stunning R60k Koi and raising it with the same dedication and commitment and appreciating the Koi for what it is and can become is absolutely no different.

So, before Hannes has an apoplexy – I can see his eyes beginning to bulge – when buying a Koi, there is a lot more to it than laying out wads of cash an expecting a show winner. I can guarantee you that this will not happen. There are only a few 1st place prizes, and the competition is heating up with the quality of Koi improving every year. If you are competitive with your Koi, the art of selecting a show winner is yours and yours alone. Hannes and I can only be your guides as to what we think MIGHT happen with the development of your Koi. There are no guarantees and after all, this is the attraction of the hobby – honing your own skills in being able to select a Koi that develops into one worthy of YOUR respect and satisfaction.

I need not say it, but a fish and it’s development is a direct reflection of water quality, water quality and yes, water quality. Now, it MIGHT be the case that good water quality produces good colours, good pattern and good body shape. It also MIGHT be the case that poor water quality actually enhances as a complete side effect, the colours on a fish. But given experience, we know that good water quality is likely to have a higher probability of improving the qualities we look for in a fish. Who knows? Perhaps your pond has extra unicellular Marsobian microcultures of bacteria that produce a by product of sodium disulphate that just happens to work well with your Hukoma bloodline fish that results in a production of extra sumi on the left pec that just happens to be the most desired response for the HakaMawaKariTomo varietal…

It’s all too much for me! My brain just overloaded. I just try and keep Happy Koi – healthy, alive and well, happy!

But what Happy Koi does guarantee you is that in terms of quality per inch, we will give you the best possible deal that we can every time we sell you a fish. It is our best guess and our best experience that we bring into the value of the fish, but that’s all that we can do. We cannot guarantee you a first place with the “worst Koi entered” - I have a name for the trophy for that by the way - the best “Mutt fish” – how about is SAKKS? – A light hearted trophy for the (Koi) disasters that have happened to all of us? – and nor can we guarantee you a fish that will be a Show Winner. Producing a show winner is and rightly so, about more than just writing a blank cheque for a fish and relying on your dealer to guarantee you a winner. Where’s the challenge in that?