Koi fish hobby: A very elaborate profession

Koi fish is a famous ornamental fish of Japan with very beautiful colors and quite high price. Recently, the hobby of raising Japanese Koi fish is attracting many people's attention. However, to raise the fish known as the "national fish" of the "land of the rising sun" is not a simple thing at all.

Stories of people who are "addicted" to Koi fish

Imported from Japan, Koi fish not only decorate the house but also have feng shui meaning, bringing luck. For Vietnamese people, it also implies "carp turning into dragon", indicating development and advancement in work. In addition to normal care, many players take the time to learn, take care of, build fish tanks themselves... and are called fish enthusiasts by the players.

faf — Mr. Nguyen Duc Duy feeds Koi fish.

Being introduced, I got to know Mr. Nguyen Duc Duy (Monbay urban area, Hong Hai ward, Ha Long city). Duy's spacious house is vividly decorated by a beautiful natural corner with a Koi fish pond behind the house. What impressed me most was that Mr. Duy was enthusiastic and open when he knew I wanted to learn about Koi fish.

Mr. Duy said that he became passionate about Koi fish in 2019, when the real estate business was very active, and he was also busy finishing his house. Once, when a friend invited him to visit a Koi fish farm, Mr. Duy liked it very much and decided to build a Koi fish tank even though he was busy at that time.

Initially, following the advice of a connoisseur, Mr. Duy played with Vietnamese Koi fish. Later, after learning how to care for them, Mr. Duy decided to switch to playing with imported Japanese Koi fish because of their superior beauty and value. To have good fish, Mr. Duy decided to order imported Japanese fish through a breeding farm, which costs tens of millions of VND/fish. “Japanese fish are ordered through reputable importers, transported by plane, and have clear documents. The value and beautiful color are superior to other breeds. It is truly fascinating to look at,” Mr. Duy shared.

Mr. Duy said he had painstakingly designed a beautiful fish tank, with an area of about 30 square meters. To decorate the tank appropriately, he ordered a series of imported ornamental plants such as: South American pineapple, air plants imported from Thailand... suitable for the tank space. With a beautiful tank, Mr. Duy's Japanese Koi fish also increased in "population" every day. "Too busy, sometimes there is no time to take a nap. Taking care of, feeding, watching the fish, even importing new fish... also takes place after 10:30 pm after putting the children to bed. "Japanese Koi fish are quite expensive, I'm afraid of my wife... I feel sorry so I have to choose a time to bring them home. Many Koi fish players do the same!" - Mr. Duy humorously said.

Now, thanks to good care, Mr. Duy's fortune is a Koi fish tank with a beautiful campus, worth over a billion VND, with all the most beautiful Koi fish breeds, such as: Showa, Tancho, Shusui, Ki Utsuri, Kohaku...

faf — Koi fish pond space of Mr. Nguyen Duc Duy.

Sharing the same passion, Mr. Trinh Cong Bach (Hai Thang Street, Hong Hai Ward, Ha Long City) is known as one of the connoisseurs to the point of being... addicted to fish. Perhaps in the hobby, Mr. Bach is the first person to personally design and construct a new style Koi pond. Visiting Mr. Bach's house, entering the door, the highlight for me is the floating Koi pond with a glass border in the right corner of the house. Under the afternoon sunlight, the fish tank is bright, the water is clear, sparkling like jade, schools of Koi fish reflect themselves beautifully.

Mr. Bach has been playing with Koi fish for about 10 years, when traditional submerged tanks were popular among hobbyists. In 2019, Mr. Bach switched to a modern floating tank made of glass. The difference is that he built the tank himself. "The most important thing about this type of tank is that the submerged tank must be carefully constructed, then a tempered glass system, a new drum pump system, and a scientific electrical system to avoid loss and ensure safety," Mr. Bach shared.

At the end of 2019, after a month of research, Mr. Bach completed the project. Instead of spending nearly a billion VND for a 40m2 fish tank, only half the cost, what Mr. Bach is proud of is the construction according to the design, the convenience and a deeper understanding of creating the best environment and care for Koi fish. Mr. Bach is also quite picky in choosing fish, when deciding to raise fish from small to adult. Currently, Mr. Bach's tank has about 30 Koi fish of all kinds of value such as: Showa, Tancho, Sanke, Utsuzi... Among them, there are many large Koi fish, worth tens of millions/fish.

faf — Mr. Trinh Cong Bach plays with the Koi fish he has taken great care of.

According to Mr. Tran Manh Cuong, owner of Ha Long Koi Fam (Ha Trung, Ha Long City), recently, the number of Koi fish players has increased. There are dozens, hundreds of Koi fish players in Ha Long. Many players prioritize choosing imported Japanese fish and modern tanks. However, playing Koi fish is a laborious and time-consuming task, and there are probably not many people who are passionate about fish, understand their habits, or build standard tanks themselves.

Playing is also a lot of work.

Folklore says: "The rich play with fish, the poor play with birds". However, the hobby of keeping Koi fish is not only expensive but also requires a lot of effort because it has certain potential risks that almost everyone has to... pay the price. This makes players have to invest and pay more attention. Like many other players, passionate and experienced like Mr. Duy, Mr. Bach also paid the price.

faf — Mr. Bach personally designed, built and took care of his Koi fish.

Remember the story of Mr. Duy's fish farming when in 2019, after finishing building the pond, Mr. Duy started raising imported Japanese fish to satisfy his passion. With hard work, over time, Mr. Duy's fish tank became more and more beautiful and valuable. "Because I have a passion for beautiful fish, I wanted to bring them back to add to the pond. However, this habit almost made me lose the whole beautiful fish tank, worth hundreds of millions of dong" - Mr. Duy said.

The thing is, at that time, Mr. Duy had a habit of adding fish every time he "got" a beautiful, satisfactory fish. It was this habit that when he added a few new Koi at the end of 2020, he might have bought fish with pathogens, so when he released the new Koi into the tank, the fish infected the whole tank. At that time, following the instructions of the fish farm technician, Mr. Duy used potassium permanganate to disinfect. However, due to an overdose, by evening, dozens of Koi in the tank were lethargic, floating on the surface of the tank, causing Mr. Duy to panic. Immediately, Mr. Duy had to ask a good technician in Ha Long to come to the rescue. The tank of dozens of fish, worth hundreds of millions... almost died. Fortunately, only... 3 fish were damaged.

Another time, at the end of 2020, a long-raised, beautiful red Kujaku Koi fish suddenly died, which made Mr. Duy very sorry because this was a large, valuable fish. Based on previous lessons, Mr. Duy decided to dissect the fish with a Koi farm technician to find out the cause to prevent the disease from spreading.

According to Koi fish connoisseurs, monitoring and treating fish diseases is extremely important. Therefore, it is normal for breeders to pay attention to treating and isolating fish, even mixing “anesthetic” drugs for fish to apply medicine or inject fish when they are seriously ill.

With 10 years of experience in raising Koi fish, Mr. Bach is also very cautious with sudden situations. According to Mr. Bach, fish hobbyists are very afraid of power outages for a long time, the aerator not working so the fish do not have enough oxygen to breathe, taking old food that has been left for a long time to feed the fish... and then regretting it. Mr. Bach himself, who has experience in designing and building modern fish tanks, also had to pay a lot of tuition.

The wonderful relaxing space that Koi enthusiasts get after spending a lot of time taking care of them.

Mr. Bach said: When I first started keeping Koi fish, in 2010 I hired someone to build a 15m3 Koi fish tank. It cost hundreds of millions of VND to design and build the tank, but cleaning the tank was very difficult. Furthermore, the improper installation of the pump and electricity system caused the fish tank to consume about 2-3 million VND/month in electricity, 5-6 times more than a normal tank.

Not only is it expensive, the tank is not designed properly, making it difficult to use and inconvenient to take care of the fish. That is why in 2019, Mr. Bach decided to learn from skilled workers in Hai Phong, Ha Long, etc. to build his own fish tank with a modern and convenient filtration system.

According to Koi fish connoisseurs, whether playing Koi fish is common or noble, accidents can happen to everyone. The only difference is that you can lose only a few million dong for the fish or you can lose hundreds of millions or even billions. What's even more regrettable is that the results of taking care of them for so long are suddenly... wasted. What hobby doesn't have to pay tuition?

Indeed, raising Koi fish is an elegant hobby, the breeder can see the results of care, enjoy the moments of watching colorful Koi fish swimming around... However, taking care of them is also very elaborate, sometimes it becomes... an art. And understanding how to raise, design a tank and take care of fish helps the player gain knowledge and pursue their passion scientifically.

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