Koi For Dummies
by R.D. Bartlett and Patricia Bartlett
Koi For Dummies
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Copyright 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2006939497
ISBN: 978-0-470-09913-1
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Authors
R. D. Bartlett began his pet fish-keeping when he netted minnows out of the brooks near Springfield, Massachusetts. He moved to Florida and began working as the general manager for Aquarium Supply, a tropical fish, goldfish, and koi wholesaler, and then opened his own pet shop.
Patricia Bartlett grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and began keeping fish at age 10. She has journeyed to Costa Rica and Peru to net and write about angelfish, discus, and knife fish. She is a recent convert to the wonderful world of koi.
The Bartletts have co-authored numerous pet care books, mostly centering on reptiles and amphibians.
Authors Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the many koi keepers who have shared their knowledge so freely, especially Butch Kuhl of Pond Amour and John Hadley of Superior Koi Heaters. We would also like to express our appreciation to Grace Freedson.
Publishers Acknowledgments
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Introduction
W elcome to Koi For Dummies,
Whats so much fun about koi? Theyre gorgeous fish, and theyve been selectively bred for more than a hundred years for color, pattern, size, and harder-to-pin-down qualities like grace in swimming or personality. Theyre the fish version of lilies of the field, perfect on their own merits. For years theyve been called living jewels, although we, your authors, find that term a bit on the syrupy side.
Nothing quite compares with koi. Parrots are pretty and can tame down, but theyre noisy. Orchids are attractive, well grant you that. But after an orchids bloomed, the pretty stuffs over for a couple of months. And we havent seen an orchid yet that takes food from our fingers or rolls over to have its belly gently rubbed.
So these are some of the reasons we find koi so much fun. We hope you will, too.