I should also mention that KHV (Koi Herpes Virus) is something that only koi/goldfish can get. It's a HORRIBLE thing to come across, and it WILL wipe out your entire pond- causing you to have to either throw away everything that ever touched pond water, or bleach bath it. There is serology testing that gets done to determine this, and many many other things.
There are diseases that only koi/goldfish get.. for example Carp Pox.. much is unknown about this disease, and I will be doing a lot of research with this, as I have a koi that has this exact disease. There is going to be a lot of experimenting with medications and such, and I feel that it could benefit the koi keeping community.
Another thing.. they are talked about in the cold water/native section.. They are not a cold water fish so to speak. Once your water hits 50 degrees, they slow down.. they shouldn't be fed.. they go into hibernation for winter. They are also not native. Koi are somewhat like flower horns, but not hybrids.. it took many many years to breed colors into koi by the Japanese. Your chances of finding a "native" koi, is about 1 in a million around here.
There are many things that affect koi that most fish keepers never have to experience.. for example.. mouth rot- I can't tell you how much I've run into this.. it's not an easy fix.. It's not something that you can just salt either. And it could really mean life or death if it gets too far. There's also ulcers.. Koi ulcers are nothing like any tropical fish ulcer. Salt can help most of the time, but what happens when salt just isn't enough?
What about aeromonas, and the importance of running UV on your koi/pond set up?
What's the difference between feeding summer formula koi food, versus winter wheat germ formula?
What's the correlation between koi, and the University of Georgia?
We could even have an epic Food Vs Thread! I've tried almost every koi food out there, and I can attest to which foods are the best, and why. And I'm sure people want to know which foods are going to be the best, as food can ultimately make or break a show prize koi.
Patterns.. Asagi, Kohaku, Gin Rin, Utsuri...
Which patterns bred with which will make -insert pattern-?
Many people fail to realize that when you buy a koi- 5 years down the road it's NOT going to look the same. It could become even more astounding, or it could become the ugliest thing ever. -Oh, I like this all white koi...- 3 months late - that's not the koi I bought! Where did all the black spots come from?!- Koi are constantly changing and developing.
Which koi farms are bad-good-the best? (customer service, care, blood lines, growth etc..)
My koi is sick.. it needs an injection?! Say What?!!
These are just a few examples of things many koi keepers, or soon to be koi keepers would benefit from.
