Koi & Goldfish Articles
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Find everything you need to know about koi and goldfish in South Africa here. We cover topics like koi and goldfish breeding, fish health and care as well as koi pond maintenance.
Articles:
Goldfish and koi breeding in South Africa
The following series of articles will focus on criteria or “Breeding tips” for those who want to try their hands at selecting, breeding and growing of goldfish and/or koi. The focus will therefore be on the ornamental coldwater aquaculture sector. I will not go into detail of the origin of both the goldfish and koi carp. These fish were bred over generations for their specific traits and qualities. Both groups require less costs and energy in production compared to the tropical sector of the aquaculture industry. They are thus classified as coldwater species and can be kept in any type of container, aquarium or pond. Koi though will need more space because they grow bigger. The focus for koi is pattern and color on good, strong bodies. The focus on goldfish has more to do with body type than color. It must be added that to breed a panda moor or panda oranda (black and white) is also a challenge.
The most common goldfish like Comet, Shubunkin and Fantail breeds relatively true. That means that most of the offspring will look similar to the parents. Goldfish varieties like black or black and white Oranda, or black and white moor only produce a small percentage of offspring with the same characteristics as the parents. This is one of the reasons why they are also more expensive.
Koi, like kohaku produce a lot of red and white offspring, but the challenge is always for an ideal pattern.