A Look at Koi Colors
What’s in a color
There is a lot that can be said about the many koi colors. The Japanese are and/or were the main breeders, and it is obvious that they took pride in their work. By selectively breeding specific groups of koi, they have developed some pretty amazing choices, none of which existed a few hundred years ago. Also, and possibly most importantly, the color of a koi can indicate the condition of their health and environment, whether you’re looking to buy or already own one.
Healthy means happy
Bright colors, not dull, should be expected with koi colors. Koi lacking in strong colors may be living in bad conditions. Reds should be bright and not faded. Blacks should be dark without grey areas. Individual scales should not be colored differently from the rest of the body. If the koi has a pattern, like the popular breed Kohaku, then the lines should be well defined and the contrast of colors excellent. The Kohaku, specifically, should have pure white scales as a base with beautiful red marks that cover 50-80% of the rest of the body. Good koi color means good health, which is why knowing one breed from another can help you in selecting a healthy fish, or simply keeping your own pet happy and healthy. There are a lot to choose from though, both in patterns and colors.
So many colors
Some of the most common koi colors that you’ll see are cream, blue, yellow, black, white, and red. For us monolingual Americans (we only speak English), the terms the Japanese use to categorize and name koi can be a little hard to remember. Some of the more popular breeds come from the Gosanke group. Kohaku, like we already mentioned, then Showa Sanshoki, and Taisho Sanshoki. In Japanese these are descriptive words that define koi by their colors and overall appearance. Kohaku for example, which are white with red marks, means “amber,” in Japanese. Taisho Sanshoki are white with red and black. The Showa Sanshoki, or Showa for short, has white, red and black like the Taisho, but have a mostly black body with red and white marks. Again, these marks should be bright and well defined if they are a well bred koi. Another popular category is the Ogon group. For the Ogon group koi colors vary, but always cover their whole body with one single color. With one of these breed, one should look for a larger than normal tail, as the tail adds to the uniqueness where the single colored body does not.
Let them shine
If properly cared for, the colors and patterns of your koi can be enhanced even further. There are specific foods that contain large amounts of carotenoid pigments, which are the same pigments that make up the majority of their color. A couple of these foods are freeze-dried daphnia and brine shrimp. In addition, a rich diet of foods that include marigold plankton, Spirulina, and shrimp are specifically sold to enhance the color in koi. Spirulina is better known as blue-green algae.
Thank the breeders
Ultimately, what determines how stunning your koi colors are is how well you feed it and care for its environment. However, when looking to buy koi, always remember that strong color means healthy fish. In addition, good breeders will have koi that easily fall into the main categories defined by the original breeders, the Japanese.
