People have been keeping Koi for some time now. As a matter of fact, Koi were actually used as a food staple by rice farmers at one time. Because the rice fields were shallow, the Koi could be let loose to swim freely until it was time to capture.
It was not until only a couple of hundred years ago that the inbreeding that was taking place started to produce a variety of colors in Koi. This is when Koi began to be noticed as something one might want to breed and collect.
Soon the uneven blotches of red and white were turned into distinguishable patterns of color. The fish were bred so that the offspring produced would be rich in the patterns sought after.
This led to more and more breeding as the Koi became popular, but one thing stayed the same. These fish were in mud ponds or other types of natural water features where they were hard to see.
As time went on, it became apparent to Koi breeders that the color of the background used to display Koi was an important factor in what others perceived of the fish. If the background was not right, the new breeds of Koi with blues and yellows and even chromatic looking colors did not look as bright or lively.
Black was one of the most popular colors to display Koi against for a long time. But as new breeds of Koi became available, even black wasn’t going to do for too long. You might have a beautiful Kumonryu to show that is difficult to see against a black background.
Now hard as I might look and research, I cannot tell you when the first blue background was used. However, I do know why. From what I could find, the blue background actually allows one to view the Koi in whole.
What this means is that even some of the Koi breeds that have transparent portions of fins or blue coloring in their bodies can be viewed against a blue background and all of the fish can be seen.
If you have a winner in your pond, blue will make the fish stand out better. That’s a fact. Have you ever been to a Koi show? When the judges are looking at the Koi, they are always in a blue tub of some sort. This way the judges can see everything they need to see.
This is why Pond Armor offers Competition Blue as a color for ponds. Now only is it another color to choose from, but the shade of blue has been mimicked from actual show tanks. So if you are stuck and wondering what color you want to use for your pond, consider blue.
