Koi

Koi magazine in Japan
Last week I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of visiting the Niigata region of Japan on a Koi buying trip. I was taken out there by Hanney Aquatics, a Koi company based in Oxfordshire. Allan Kahl, Manager of the company, had been out a week earlier with the owners of Cotswold Koi as well as his son, Darren, and a customer, Nick. The following week Cotswold Koi and Darren returned to the UK and were replaced by myself and Marion Carter, owner of Hanney Aquatics.

After a long Christmas break we've finally hit the start of a new decade. And who knows what might happen in the Koi world, and to your Koi pond, over the next 10 years?

It's only my first day back after New Year, and I've already received word of a newly designed Nexus to be released by Evolution Aqua. According to EA, the Nexus 310 and 210 have new-and-improved overflows and bypass systems, along with a simplified cleaning process and a redesigned Eazy. It's sure to be a talking point throughout 2010.

We recently ventured from our offices in Bristol to the fair land of Surrey to visit Lee Burrough’s pond. Lee is a loyal Koimag forum member, moderator and reader of Koi. He is an avid Koi keeper and even has two sizeable ponds in his garden!

I've just received the show report for this year's Ireland Koi Show which took place at the beginning of August. Seeing the report took me back a couple of years to the summer that I paid a visit over there to check out the hobbyist scene.

We, at Koi magazine, just wanted to say how shocked and saddened we were to hear about the tragic accident involving Louise Andrews. Louise, who worked under her company name, Fish Veterinary Services, often contributed to our magazine through articles and advertising. She was fast becoming one of our favourite writers, and seems to have had a really positive impact on many people throughout the industry due to her tireless work in the fish health field. It's hard to believe that someone so talented, friendly and dedicated has been taken away at such a young age.

Drumming up numbers to visit Cuttlebrook Koi Farm was not too difficult an undertaking for our valiant forum moderator, Donald. After a few months of spreading word around the forum that Cuttlebrook would be opening its doors to them exclusively for the day, Donald found that there was by no means a lack of interest from his fellow forum buds.

Hi everyone, and welcome to our brand-new site. I hope you enjoy having a look around – and if you've got any comments or ideas then don't hesitate to contact us as we'd love to hear them.

You'll find a lot more content on this new site than before. For one thing, newcomers to the hobby can take advantage of our massive Getting started section. This section has been written specifically for the forum by some of the best experts in the industry, so make sure you use it to kick off this fantastic hobby.

I’ve visited a fair few Koi dealerships in my time on this magazine, and almost all of them have really impressed me. Usually it’s the commitment of the people running them that gets me the most – however large the outlet, however expensive their Koi, I’ve always been greeted with a smile and a cup of tea.