Full Description
Known throughout the world for its beauty and personality, koi is one of the most carefully bred fish species around. Raising koi is especially time-consuming and requires more than just sprinkling little flakes in the fish bowl. But thankfully, you don't have to be an expert to maintain your own koi pond. Koi For Dummies shows you how easy and fun it can be to own and care for these delicate fish. Whether building a pond or aquarium for the indoors or outdoors, this easy-to-understand guide explores all of your options. Clear, concise advice helps you:
Appreciate your koi's beauty
Build, design, and maintain your koi pond or aquarium
Find and select koi and the proper supplies
Keep your koi happy and healthy
Treat your koi for parasites, bacterial infections, and viruses
Breed and care for baby koi
Show off your koi to other koi enthusiasts
Contents
Introduction 1
Part I: Koi Basics 7
Chapter 1: Going "Koi Kichi" — Crazy for Koi 9
Chapter 2: Knowing Your Koi 17
Chapter 3: Making Sure Koi Are Right for You 35
Chapter 4: A Koi Buyer's Guide 47
Part II: Living with Koi, Inside and Out 61
Chapter 5: Preparing for Your Koi's Homecoming 63
Chapter 6: Planning Your Koi Pond 77
Chapter 7: Building Your Pond 93
Chapter 8: Making It Pretty: Landscaping the Pond 119
Chapter 9: Maintaining Your Pond 133
Chapter 10: Keeping Koi Inside 151
Part III: Caring for Koi and Keeping Them Healthy 169
Chapter 11: Koi Nutrition 101 171
Chapter 12: Diffusing Koi Stress 183
Chapter 13: Spotting and Treating Common Koi Ailments 191
Part IV: The Big Leagues: Koi Breeding and Showing 215
Chapter 14: Breeding Koi 217
Chapter 15: The Small Fry: Bringing Up Baby Koi 231
Chapter 16: Koi Shows: Your All-Access Pass to Koi Kichi-dom 241
Part V: The Part of Tens 255
Chapter 17: Ten Things to Do When the Power Goes Out 257
Chapter 18: Ten Things to Check If Your Koi Seem Sick 261
Index 265
