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Koi Symbolism: Historically, the Japanese consider it the most spirited of fish, so full of energy and power that it can fight its way up swift-running streams and cascades. Because of its strength and determination to overcome all obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals. It is widely believed that a Koi fish that swims downwards symbolizes the act of overcoming the hardships that come along the way. According to ancient legend, Koi transformed into dragons when they migrated up waterfalls. In Chinese, "Carp" is similar sounding to the word "business". It is also homophonic with "profit" or "advantage" whilst "fish" is homophonic to "surplus" or "wealth". Paintings featuring Koi Carp are therefore considered symbolic of good fortune in business or academic life.
Koi Health Koi fish today are not the same tough fish as their ancestor, the magoi carp. The magoi carp are extremely resilient fish. They can survive in very poor water conditions and host a serious parasite population without getting sick. Because our modern day koi have been selectively inbreed, so much, to produce the beautiful colors and shape that we all love, they have lost much of their ability to endure such harsh treatment. Still, today's koi seldom get sick and or die without a reason. The following chart lists the most common reasons koi die.
Most Common Reasons Koi Fish Die
1) Poor water quality 33%
2) Parasites 25%
3) Ulcer disease 15%
4) Predators 10%
5) Lack of oxygen 6%
6) Medication overdose 4%
7) Jumping out of water 3%
8) Virus 2%
9) Toxic pesticides 1%
10) Tumor 1
Here is a brief discussion of how to deal with three of the top causes of death for koi.
Poor Water Quality : When you appreciate that water is to koi fish like air is to humans, you begin to appreciate why water quality is so important to koi. To illustrate: imagine you had a very slight gas leak in your house. You can’t see the gas and you don’t recognize the smell, but you find that after a few weeks you don’t feel well. The gas itself is not bad enough to kill you, but your resistance is lowered, because your body has to constantly work to repair the damage the gas is causing. In time you find that you get sick easily, whether it is a cold, the flu or whatever you are exposed to. On the other hand, if the gas leak suddenly got bad enough, it alone could kill you. It is very similar with fish and pond water. Poor water quality will kill your fish faster than anything else. Low oxygen in a pond can kill every fish in the pond overnight. High ammonia levels can kill fish within several days. But, even marginal levels of oxygen, ammonia and nitrates can set your fish up to fall victim to other life threatening problems. So, the goal should always be to have the best water quality possible. There are basically five water quality items you need to be concerned with, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and oxygen.
Parasites : Parasites are a real health issue when it comes to koi fish. The most common way koi fish contact parasites is from other fish. Before a new koi is introduced to the pond, it is extremely important that the new fish be quarantined for 3 weeks. During this time period the koi should be treated for parasites. Isolating a koi for 3 weeks in a quarantine tank, without treating the koi, is no assurance that the koi is parasite free. All that tells you is that if it has parasites, there are not enough of them to make it sick at this time. If you do not have a separate quarantine tank in which to treat a new koi in, then be very careful who you purchase your new koi from. Make sure the dealer is very conscientious about treating all their koi to make sure they are parasite free before they sell them.
Bacterial Infections : (The following is meant to be a very simple explanation of why bacterial infections occur and how to treat them. For a more detailed discussion see “Koi Health and Disease” by Dr. Erik L. Johnson, D.V.M.) The two most common bacteria that cause problems on koi fish are Aeromonas and Pseudomonas. Both of these bacteria are naturally occurring and are found in all pond and lake water. These bacteria are non existent in tap water because chlorine is added to kill any bacteria. Never the less, you can start up a brand new pond with tap water and within 3 weeks after the chlorine has evaporated, you will find at least a low level of these bacteria in your water. Normally, in a clean healthy pond, the levels of bacteria are so low that they will not cause a problem on their own. The outer slime coat or epidermis normally protects the fish from these harmful bacteria. The most common reason koi experience a bacterial infection is when their slime coat or epidermal layer is broken and the bacteria is allowed to infect the koi. These soars can grow very quickly if they are not treated.
