KOI breeders see a thriving business during the Lunar New Year period. This is because many Chinese believe that by investing in the fish, they will be blessed with financial abundance. 

However, while the koi are referred to as investments and many actually do appreciate in value (as long as you buy the right fish with the right pedigree from the right breeders), most buyers do not resell their fish. Firstly, because they value more the koi as a creature of prosperity and longevity, and not the money that can be realised from a sale. And secondly, buyers tend to be emotionally attached to their fish.

Jeff Tan, a koi investor and breeder who runs the Arowana Aquarium Specialist Centre, says investors generally hang on to their fish because they believe the koi will bring them wealth.

For those who are less sentimental, however, koi do make a good alternative investment. But you have to know how to pick them and how to look after them. A koi’s value is based on its size, bloodline, accolades, beauty and breeder. 

Prices can start from as low as RM50 and go up to RM300,000. If a koi comes with a birth certificate, it will cost at least RM1,500. Most of Tan’s premier grade koi sell for about RM35,000 each. 

Although koi originated in China, those with the purest bloodlines today come from Japan. Tan, who is a member of the All Japan Nishikigoi Promotion Association (also known as Shinkokai), says the Japanese have turned koi breeding into such a lucrative business that most of the prime breeds are now found in Japan. 

In addition, it is the koi judges in Japan who award the fish with accolades, which increase their value. The most expensive koi in the world are those that have been awarded the Grand Champion of Japan, the most prestigious recognition available for koi today.

Tan says pedigree koi are generally found in Japan because it has the ideal climate for breeding the fish. “The koi in Japan are beautiful, like the women there, because of the favourable weather,” he says rather cheekily.

But while the cold weather does allow the fish to flourish, there is more to it than that. “Breeding koi is an art, like breeding pedigree dogs,” says Tan.

When the weather turns cold in Japan, the fish eat less and go into hibernation mode. But in Malaysia’s warm weather, the fish remain lively and eat a lot. This can lead to some digestive complications.

“When the koi eat too much, they are prone to diseases like colon cancer or high cholesterol. This means a shorter life span,” says Tan. 

In Malaysia, the average life span of koi is 15 to 20 years because of the climate. But in colder countries like Japan, the fish live much longer. According to Tan, male koi can live up to 20 years in Malaysia, while females generally have a much shorter life span because they eat a lot more.

The oldest recorded living koi, Hanako, made it to the Guinness Book of World Records. When she died in 1977, she was believed to be 226 years old, based on the growth rings on her scales.

Experts have identified 158 different colours for koi. Some of them are more coveted and are, thus, more valuable than others. The Kohaku (red and white) and the Showa (black, orange and white) are some of the more common koi around.

But it is not just the colour that is taken into account but the quality of that colour. For instance, if the red is a messy splatter across the white, the fish will carry little value.

“The purity of the colour is also a big factor. The white has to be like Snow White and not off-white. As for the Showa koi, if the black falls on the white, the koi will be more valuable than if it falls on the red,” Tan explains. 

The koi’s bloodline is also something to consider. Only those with the most prestigious parentage can justify a high price tag. 

Most koi farms in Japan only breed a select number of bloodlines to keep them pure. For example, the Sakai fish farm in Hiroshima only breeds the Sakura and Donguri. From this, it has created three distinct Kohaku bloodlines — the Rose, Fujiko and Benibana. Basically, if a fish comes from a very pure bloodline, it will cost a hefty amount.

The purity of the bloodline is largely dependent on the breeder. According to Tan, breeders with a good reputation tend to fetch more for their fish. One of the top koi farms in Japan, Dainichi, can name a high price just on its reputation alone.

Tan does not have anything good to say about the koi bred in Malaysia. These, he feels, are of poor quality because of too much inbreeding. So, he flies to Japan at least four times a year to handpick what he considers the cream of the crop from various koi farms and brings them back to Malaysia.

Tan believes that Japanese breeders, being exceedingly fastidious, have already culled the 600,000 koi spawn according to predetermined standards. “They only keep the best of the lot. The ones that are not so pure in colour, they release into the wild.” 

This is to ensure that only the most lucrative fish are kept and reared by farms.

If you get your fish from a reputable breeder, it will come with a birth certificate. Koi with pure bloodlines can be entered into competitions all over the world. 

Japan hosts koi competitions every year. When a koi is crowned the grand champion, its value can go up to RM1 million. In fact, according to Tan, the more prizes the koi receives, the higher one can price it. 

“Although I don’t keep the koi for myself, I do send them for competitions. Once, I entered one of my koi for a competition and it won. It was valued around RM120,000 at the time, but I sold it for only RM40,000,” he says. All koi are sold along with their awards.

Female koi are generally more expensive because they are bigger, Tan points out. Experts and hobbyists can tell the males and females apart just by looking at them. The males have petrofins that are rough around the edges and their cheeks are rough. The females have tubes protruding from their bellies to lay eggs.

Tan advises those who want to invest in koi to buy them from reputable buyers in Malaysia so that they are not inadvertently saddled with low quality koi, the result of much inbreeding. He says the quality of the koi can be detected once it has grown to about 35cm to 40cm, which takes about a year. Low quality koi will have a bloated belly.

There are 26 koi suppliers in Malaysia, 18 of which are located in the Klang Valley. The ZNA Koi Club in Malaysia holds one or two competitions annually. It brings in Japanese judges for these contests to make sure that everything is done fairly and above board.

Although Tan has spent a good deal of time enumerating how to value koi, when it comes down to it, he still thinks it is hard to place a value on them. “No two koi look the same. It is hard to put a price on that,” he says.

This article first appeared in Personal Wealth, a section of The Edge Malaysia, on February 16 - 22, 2015.

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