Ghostkoi - Cyprinus carpio

The Ghostkoi is a color strain of the popular Koi or Nishikigoi from Japan (Cyprinus carpio) from the family of carp fish. Our Ghost brocade carp come from a premium koi breeding and can also become very old in the garden pond. 60 years and more are not an isolated case. Koi carp can grow up to 100 cm long and weigh over 25 kg in the course of time.

The Ghost Koi is also called"the Koi that does not exist". In principle, this term covers all metallic varieties for which there is no separate name. The basic color can be silvery, red or orange, golden or yellow, even brown or bluish. Sometimes Ghost Koi also have red markings and black markings, so they can be bicolored or even tricolored and look quite different. Often there is a black veil over the body of the Ghost Koi and sometimes also over the head. In addition, the Ghost Koi have a beautiful metallic sheen. Here you get the Ghost Koi, which swim into our net.

The very socially inclined Ghost Koi belong in a group of at least 5 of their colorful conspecifics, never in single keeping. The gentle Giant Koi do not care that their group members resemble them in color or shape, therefore the group can be mixed very well. A group for the first stocking of the garden pond may be composed of at least 5 or more Koi of approximately the same size. Koi can be kept well with other fish in a sufficiently large pond. These should not interfere very much. Rudd, roach or gold smelt and gudgeon are suitable candidates for a koi pond. Sturgeons and other lively by-fish can severely disturb koi during hibernation and are therefore not ideal.

Koi eat both plant and animal foods. In a good koi food this is taken into account that the carp fish are omnivores. In the pond, in addition to algae and water plants, they also feed on young fish, tadpoles, insects, worms, larvae, small crustaceans and other small animals that they find in the mud of the pond bottom.In cooler temperatures in spring and autumn, less is fed in the koi pond, in summer the carp tolerate more food, in winter there is nothing for it, because the koi are then in hibernation anyway.

Ghost Koi need a lot of space in the garden pond according to their size. For a group of 5 Koi you have to plan 5000 liters of pond volume , and for each additional Koi another 1000 liters. For practical reasons, the pond depth should be a good 130 cm, so that the large koi can stay in the pond in winter, because the water does not freeze through completely. Above a certain koi size, this approach is practical.

It is important that the koi pond is not in full shade, partial shade is perfect. For safe wintering of koi in the pond, the use of an ice freezer has proven to be effective, so that the water surface remains open, allowing good oxygen exchange. In the hot summer season, an oxydator for ponds helps to ensure sufficient oxygen levels. To prevent smaller koi from being caught and eaten by herons or other predators, it is best to secure the koi pond with a special protective net.

Steep pond banks increase the space for the koi, but a shallow water zone is also useful. Here the voracious large fish cannot get to the pond plants, which can filter pollutants from the pond water in the marshy zone and shallow water. A reed belt can also help clean the pond water well and prevent algae plagues, as can water plants in the pond itself. Water lilies, for example, are said to be disliked by koi. However, because koi need very clean water despite their active metabolism, a powerful pond filter is needed to effectively clean and clarify the water in the koi pond, despite good planting.

The shallow water zone is not only used for biological cleaning of the pond water, young koi also grow up here in relative safety. Koi are not only strong spawn predators, they also love to eat young fish. If you want to have offspring from your koi from time to time, you are therefore well served with a shallow water zone. Quantitatively more young Koi can of course be raised in a separate large cold water aquarium. It is ideal to provide spawning brushes or spawning mops for the female koi to attach their 500,000+ eggs to.