My Mermaids

One other hobby I shared with my husband is koi keeping. We have a 20,000 gallon outdoor pond and a 3,000 gallon indoor pond in our living room. We try to collect off-springs from Champion koi bred by top breeders in Japan. Like Frenchies, our emphasis is on quality and not quantity. Below is a few photos on our collections that we like to share with you.

We have enjoyed every second of this indoor pond built in our living room for the last 20 plus years.

Shortly after, we ran out of space in our indoor pond, we then added an outdoor pond over 20 years ago. All I can say is Koi is as addictive as Frenchies.

This picture was taken in Spring 2011, some of our mermaids are now over 80 cm.

Kohaku are simple in appearance, with red pattern on a white body. This is the most important and most fundamental koi catagory. It has been said that koi keeping begins and ends with Kohaku.

Showa Sanshoku is koi with calligraphic black pattern on Kohaku. In general, the base color for Showa is black with red and white markings. A high quality showa has powerful, heavy and magnificent appearance by the time it matured.

Taisho Sanshoku is koi with relatively spotted black on Kohaku pattern. This catagory of koi is known for its combination of color and grace. This is a white based fish with black and red markings. They do not have any black on head, belly or fins.

The word 'Utsuri' means 'reflections' in Japanese. Utsuri koi are known for their powerful appearance displaying calligraphic patterns of black with just one other color - white, yellow or orange red. Utsuri is the fourth in line for its popularity in koi keeping.

The koi is this photo is called Aka Matsuba. 'Aka' means red, 'Matsuba' means pine cone and is under Kawarimono class. This class contains all the non-metallic varieties that do not fit in any of other classes. This is a red koi with a matsuba pattern along the back in a darker color. This koi is breed by Otsuka Koi Farm in Japan.

This group contains all metallic koi. The koi in this photo is called Lemon Doitsu Hariwake. This beautiful girl is from the famous breeder in this type - Yamazaki Koi Farm in Japan. Doitsu Hariwake of Yamasan has skin which shines in platinum color and the pattern of bright yellow like a Japanese globe flower on the skin becames very beautiful.