Koi Social Order

    By Jim Anderson

Koi like to school together and there is a pecking order among the koi. There is always a dominant koi that will lead the group. There are also the submissive koi that will wait their turn in feeding. They ALL develop their own personalities. Koi can be very affectionate, no different than your dog or cat. All koi in our pond will be referred to by name. Upon completion of the pond we will invite you to suggest names for the koi.
A personal story -   I had a koi (Raindrop, a beautiful blue) jump out of my pond. I did not discover this for an hour or two. She had dried out some from sun exposure and had very little gill movement. I panicked, and I did not think she would survive. I placed her back into the pool where she quickly sank to the bottom on her side. I reached in and held her upright, moving her back and forth trying to get water through her gills. I did this for an hour at 11pm that night. I decided to let nature run its course and go to bed. Then all of a sudden, Bertha (large German scaled yellow) started pushing her. My first thought, not knowing anything, was that koi might be carnivorous and do harm to Raindrop. Bertha was my dominate koi in the pond and sensed that Raindrop was needing help. Bertha continued to push her around the pond. I got tired of watching and went to bed. The next morning Raindrop had fully recovered, thanks to Bertha!

Koi Diet:
Typically koi are fed floating pellets that contain about 32% protein. I add clay with vitamins that sink to the bottom that they enjoy. They are basically bottom-feeders. Occasionally I would give them watermelon on the rind for a treat. Rice Crispies and Cheerios are another treat. At our future pond, children will have the opportunity to feed our koi with the proper food and etiquette.