The Earl Miller Burns Japanese garden offered tranquility, this past Sunday, with the 23rd annual koi fish auction. Tiny kaleidoscope-colored fish poked through the mossy water. A gray cloud hung in the horizon. The air was thick and heavy, as flakes of ash danced downward.
An ancient Japanese legend states that the strongest koi fish swims upstream until they come to a waterfall. In a fit of strength, the koi jumps through the waterfall and becomes a water dragon.
The EMB garden collaborates with Zen Nippon Airinkai Koi Club (ZNA) each year to auction off these remarkable creatures. Several hundred koi ranging in different sizes and colors were sold to the highest bidder.
The garden’s director Jeanette Schelin said, “[The auction] raises funds to take care of the koi pond.”
Koi fish are classified according to their patterns and color combinations. Some of the major colors are white, black, red, yellow, blue and purple.
Buyer Kari Weber began her pond-one-and-a-half years ago and has 16 koi so far.
“We started with a 100-gallon pond and then went to 4,000 gallons,” Weber said.
She had her eye on a platinum-white koi with bright, glowing yellow spots. This type of Koi is called a doitsu in reference to its lack of scales.
This particular Koi went for $300. Baby kois were grouped in fives and sold for around $35.
An 18-inch metallic white and black-spoted koi, known as suiro utsuri, sold for $180.
The auction was alive under the taupe tent. Rectangle bidding cards were being shoved in the air earnestly.
Chai Taevanitcharoen raises koi and works the auction every year as the auctioneer.
“Oohh I want this one … Too bad I can’t buy,” Taevanitcharoen said to pump-up the bidders.
Taevanitcharoen stops to take a smoke break.
“[The auction] is a good cause for Long Beach Garden and koi club,” Taevanitcharoen said
He knows, by experience, different types of koi and what sells. He said, kois that are one solid color, or ogon, sell the best. In Chinese culture seven golden koi are good luck.
He starts the bidding by the size of the fish and how good they look, and increases the price in increments by judging the crowds desire for each particular koi.
Koi also mean love in Japanese. In Japanese culture koi symbolize perseverance in hard times and strength of purpose. Many people, as well as Taevanitcharoen, find that koi symbolize relaxation.
Watching koi fish swim or feeding them calms a lot of koi lovers.
“It’s a relaxing hobby that I don’t have to go out [to do],” Taevanitcharoen said. “There’s a waterfall in backyard and I feed the fish.”
Taevanitcharoen’s main concern for the koi is getting used to their new pond.
“New fish may have parasites on them,” Taevanitcharoen said.
One problem at auctions is that Koi can get scratched when caught to sell. Their slimy mucus coating protects them from bacteria, however one fish can contaminate an entire pond. A typical illness, according to Taevanitcharoen, is fin rot. To prevent this, he advises keeping the filter clean and always taking care of and maintaining the water content.
By the end of the day, most buyers left satisfied. Robert Hoare owns a 1,700-gallon pond and has been coming to the auction for six years now. He likes to watch the koi grow and change. He walked away with two female koi.
“They’re supposed to be having babies,” Hoare boasted.
The koi auction did really well, according to Schelin. With the recent fires and smoke, she was a little concerned about the people coming out.
Koi fish have been known to live up to 100 years. A person can tell how old a koi is by counting the rings on their scales.
In the end, koi fish delight their owners with their remarkable colors every passing season.