The Koi - the fish itself...

After the landscaping and building of your Koi pond is complete, the next step is obvious; you need to find which type of Koi best suits your particular pond. Many varieties of Koi come in almost every color. Certain species are also very expensive, running in the thousands of dollars for one fish. Many Koi enthusiasts will tell you that Koi are almost indescribable because of their brilliant colors and unique patterns. In addition, these fish enjoy nothing more than coming up and taking a cracker or piece of bread out of a child's hand! Often times they will be waiting near the shore for their owner to arrive, and they are, without competition, the most personable of fish.

There are almost countless species and types of Koi, but here's a brief list of some of the more popular general varieties:

1) Kohaku – Characterized by their red blots on a white background. A pattern to look for include the symmetry of red blots, whiteness of the white background. The lips and eyes are forbidden to have any redness, since when this group was bred redness on the lip signified wearing lipstick, a symbol of a prostitute in old Japan. These fish are more rare and can be worth thousands.

2) Taishosanke -Has red, white, and black coloring. The more beautiful ones have a nice pattern that includes speckles of black dots. Symmetry and balance of fins are also stressed.

3) Showa -These Koi are only black. They make up for the lack of patterned colors by having a black color that seems to almost shine. In old Japan, the importance of having one Showa in a Koi pond was to balance out the white and red colors. The Japanese believed that a Showa represents the evils and therefore keeps the force of world balanced against white Koi fish, which represents the goods. While a Showa adds great diversity to the Koi
pond, the one major drawback that has been noted is that they tend to lose color each year, so the water quality is extremely important.

4) German species -These Koi are scale-less, and as the name indicates, were bred outside of Japan later by breeding Koi with a German carp. This type is most known for usually having blue skin with a small spattering of orange speckles on the side.

Koi in general have many different colors, including white, black, blue, purple, red, green, yellow, and cream. In addition to the amazing variance of colors, Koi can also have a metallic sheen to its scales. There is also a scaleless version for nearly every Koi and Japanese breeders call it Doitsu (German). This is the earlier aforementioned "German Koi", and breeders created the scaleless versions by crossbreeding the Nishikigoi with German mirrored carp.

While possible variations are nearly limitless, breeders have named a number of specific categories. The most popular category is Gosanke. The Gosanke category is made up of the Kohaku, Taisho Sanshoku, and Showa Sanshoku varieties. The Japanese breeders have many generations of knowledge and
experience when it comes to breeding and raising Nishikigoi.

These major varieties include:

• Kohaku -a white-skinned Koi, with a red pattern
• Taisho Sanshoku (Sanke) -a white-skinned Koi with a red and black pattern
• Showa Sanshoku (Showa) -a black-skinned Koi
• Asagi -a Koi with light blue scales on its top and red scales on its bottom
• Shusui -the partially scaled version of an Asagi
• Bekko -a white, red, or yellow-skinned Koi with a black pattern
• Utsurimono -a black Koi with a red, white, or yellow pattern
• Goshiki -a mostly black Koi with red, white, brown, and blue accents
• Ogon -a Koi that is one solid color, it can be regular or metallic; known colors -red, orange, platinum, yellow and cream
• KinGinRin -Koi with shiny scales

All of these fish are still referred to be the generic term "Koi," but each has a different appearance and therefore will give your Koi pond environment an entirely different look and feel. That is part of the reason research and pre-planning is so important. Thinking these questions through ahead of time will allow the perfect Koi to be matched with the perfect backyard pond.