All things koi and H2O
The following list of essential reading on koi was compiled by my good friends REC, Richard Carlson, Spike, Spike Cover and myself Dunc, Duncan Griffiths. This list was originally compiled for the AKCA, KHA program, and was intended for students of that program for extra study if they so wished, my thanks to spike and to rec for their efforts and permission to display the following reviews
Additional
Reading & Other Material of Interest
Last updated: 1-20-02
Here are some books and other source material that are owned and that have been recommended by others on the CRC or section prep group and I think would be of interest to the people who participate in the KHA program.
The comments after the names are the personal assessments of that reviewer
Reviewers thus far:
Spike – Spike Cover
Duncan – Duncan Griffiths
REC – Richard Carlson
Fish
Health and Disease
Koi Health and Disease, with appendixes – Johnson, Erik, –141 + 22 pages. Spiral bound paperback.
Spike - Basic book written in lay terms, most common situations covered. If you only have one book on koi health, this should probably be it. Somewhat dated, some errors, but still one of the best for koi health and disease.
Duncan
I must echo spikes thoughts about this book, this IS the book that is a must have. It is also the one to travel with if only for dose rates and chemical references, its no great shame to look a dose rate up pond side rather than dose wrong, and this is the book for that purpose.
REC – The KHA should be required to have this book. If for no other reason, this is required reading for every koi owner and the KHA should recommend this book. This is not an endorsement of Eric Johnson, but hands down, no other book covers the needed topics for successful koi keeping like this one.
Fish Medicine - Stoskopf, Michael, 1993, ISBN 0-7516-2629-7 – 882 pages. Hardcover.
Spike - Considered by many as the ‘Gold Standard’ of fish medicine. Not geared specifically to koi or carp but these fish are covered in the book. Covers basic anatomy, physiology, clinical pathology and medicine for all types of fresh and marine fishes. Fairly technical. Not for any but the more advanced hobbyists.
REC – I keep this one under my pillow….
Fish Disease, Two Volumes - Schäperclaus, Wilhelm, 1992, ISBN 90-6191-950-9 (set) –1398 pages (total, both volumes). Hardcover.
Spike - A very detailed book that focuses on the food fish of Europe. Common carp predominate as the species most often referred to in the text and it therefore offers much information applicable to koi culture. Very technical and only for the most advanced hobbyists. Originally recommended to me by Gerry Preston (hobbyist par excellence!)
The Physiology of Fishes, Second Edition, 1998 - Evans, David, ISBN 0-8493-8427-3. 519 pages. Hardcover.
Spike - Very technical, very detailed, very good if you want to know the inner working of fish in minute detail. Don’t even look at the cover if you’re not a techno nerd – it will blow your brains out!
Aquariology, Master Volume, The Science of Fish Management - Gratzek, John – 1992, ISBN 1-56465-105-3 330 pages. Hardcover.
Spike - A good general book written on a level advanced hobbyists can appreciate. Not written specifically for koi but a good book for basic fish anatomy and physiology, immunology, parasites and diseases. Moderately technical.
REC – got this one… it is OK.
Diseases of Carp and other Cyprinid fishes, 2001 - Hoole, D., et al – ISBN 0-85238-252-9 – 264 pages. Hardcover.
Spike - This is a technical book that addresses diseases only and does a very good job of that. It cannot be looked to for cures. Has a very good glossary.
REC – I have this one and agree with your assessment [referring to Spike’s assessment]
Textbook of Fish Health – Post, George – 1987, ISBN 0-86622-491-2. 288 pages. Hardcover.
Duncan - A toooooo much book! For those who want to know about
the inner secrets of virus, bacteria immune systems and much, much more. This
is a great book. Heavy going but well worth both the money and the time it
takes to digest all its data. My personal choice with more info than a brain
should have to handle.
Fish Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment – Noga, Edward – 1996, ISBN 1-55664-374-8 – 367 pages. Hardcover.
REC – excellent reference. I use it often to correlate other sources of information.
Handbook of Fish Disease – Untergasser, Dieter – 1989, ISBN 0-86622-703-2. 160 pages. Hardcover.
Duncan - Just love this book, it’s got to be one of the all time
great chemical treatment references, and disease references, honest you will
never of heard of a lot of them. Great decision tree at the beginning
KOI Medicine – Jepson, Lance - Kingdom books 2001, ISBN 1-85279-177-2
Duncan - As you can see this book is bang up to date written by
a vet and starts with an excellent water quality section, and moves into physiology.
Excellent dissection pictures before moving into clinical problems and treatments
Neat, cheapish and informative book, be warned although small it is an in depth book and you will need to be up to scratch on your chemical ID symbols and Periodic Tables [as] he uses them a lot, my favorite read at the moment
Engineering
and Reference books
Aquacultural Engineering - Wheaton, Fredrick, 1993 (with corrections), ISBN 0-89464-768-5 –708 pages. Hardcover.
Spike - This is the book for engineering theory and practice relating to everything that’s aquaculture. Way too much for the common hobbyist. This is a book for Norm Meck and Joe Cuny (and, I guess, me <silly grin>).
Aquatic Systems Engineering - Escobal, P.R. – 1996, ISBN 1-888381-05-1 –205 pages. Paperback.
Spike - This is a small book that is at the same time basic and technical. It explains basic concepts but has differential equations to prove the points. If you look past the sometimes complex math and just read the ‘so what’ part, it’s pretty informative.
Aquaculture Desk Reference - Creswell, LeRoy – 1993, ISBN 0-412-07561-X - 205 pages. Paperback.
Spike - This is a book of facts only. It has Conversions and equivalents, Water chemistry, Enrichment formulations, Plumbing and materials, Feeds and nutrition, Aquaculture ponds, Chemicals and Treatments and references. Not surprisingly a Brett Rowley recommended book.
Water Quality in Ponds for Aquaculture – Boyd, Claude – 1996, no ISBN number – purchased thru Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama. 482 pages. Paperback.
Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 27th Edition – 2000, ISBN 0-683-40008-8 (deluxe), 2098 pages, Hardcover.
Spike – Veterinarians use much of the same terminology that human medicine does. The Stedman’s I bought came with a handy ‘Student Value Pack’ CD, software that puts the most used words a mouse click away (and works with MS Word). It also has pix of some human anatomy.
The Merck Veterinary Manual and The Merck Index –
REC - these are DVM-grade books that are certainly not for everyone but invaluable for those who understand advanced medical presentations. The Merck Index offers detailed and specific information on chemicals and medications that you cannot find anywhere else (almost).
Veterinary Drug Reference – Donald C. Plumb – 3rd Edition - 1999, ISBN o-8138-2444-3. Pocket Edition.
REC - Another drug reference manual that is required reading for anyone using meds and chems around their fish.
REC - I also have books on the following topics and use them extensively in correlating information. These are not necessarily recommended reading but good reference material to have around so we can understand the why’s and wherefore’s of meds, chems, and treatments. I am not content to just accept that something works, I want to know why in graphic detail. You would be surprised what you learn.. like potassium permanganate was used to treat gonorrhea (its called “Janet’s Method”… I don’t know who Janet was, but I bet she was brutal) and PP also can cause methemoglobin problems. But you get my point…
- Comparative Animal Physiology – Prosser and Brown
- Parasitology – Noble and Noble. Want to learn about lernea, chilondella, costia??
- Water Bacteriology (text book)
-
Textbook of Bacteriology
-
Essentials of Physiological Chemistry
-
Clinical Interpretation of Laboratory Tests
-
Practical Bacteriology Blood Work and Parasitology
-
The Practices and Principles of Embalming
(why this one?? Simple.. the best reference for the effects of formalin)
-
Textbook of Materia Medica and Theraputics
-
Pharmacolgy
General
Koi Books
The Cult of the Koi – Tamadachi, Machugo – 1990 – ISBN 0-86622-440-8 - 288 pages, hardcover.
The Tetra Encyclopedia of Koi – 1989 – ISBN 1-56465-145-2. 208 pages. Hardcover
Koi Kichi – Waddington, Peter – 1995 – ISBN 0-9526381-0-X Hardback – 270 pages, hardcover.
Living Jewels – Watt, Ronny & de Kock, Servaas – 1996 – ISBN 0-908387-73-3 – 160 pages, hardcover.
The Enigma Of Koi – Goodwin, Barry - Freestyle Publications ISBN 0-9526576 1 9
Duncan - An excellent all round book with many topics covered excellent pictures and references
From pond design home made vortex’s, fractionators. Good health references with the more common treatments, also breeding koi , winterizing koi and aquarium koi chapters
Again inexpensive and invaluable reading and references
Koi Appreciation, the first step – McGill, Kate – 2001- ISBN 1-86126-486-2 – 128 pages, hardcover.
Spike – Good book on koi appreciation. Nothing on other subjects.
Koi – Blasiola, George – 1995, ISBN 0-8120-3568-2 - 104 pages, paperback.
Koi Varieties, Japanese Colored Carp-Nishikigoi (new expanded edition) – Alelrod, Herbert – 1992, ISBN 0-86622-162-X. 176 pages, Hardbound.
Koi – Fujita, Grant – no copyright or date of publishing given – AKCA Published – no ISBN number. 119 pages, hardcover.
Practical Koi Keeping, Volumes 1, 2 & 3 – AKCA – reprints from Koi USA articles.
Still Waters – Caddock, Nigel – 1997 – ISBN 0-9530667-0-3 Hardback – 307 pages, hardcover.
Spike – a picture book.
Magazines and periodicals
Koi USA – official mag of Associated Koi Clubs of America (AKCA)
Koi Carp – now the official mag of the British Koi Keepers Society (BKKS)
Mid-Atlantic Koi – official mag of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club (MAKC)
Nichirin – official mag of Zen Nippon Airinkai (ZNA)
Rinko – Japanese mag - Now published only online
Nishikigoi International – British publication
Koi Health Quarterly – out of print British periodical.
Spike – The best periodical I’ve ever seen directed specifically at koi health. Out of print but you should try to get all the back issues if you can. It’s a great reference.
Other
Material
Koi Health and Disease, The Technologies – Johnson, Erik – 1998, video
Spike – Very good for microscopic parasite identification and other hands-on procedures. A good companion reference to ELJ’s book.
Fishdoc , parasites the movie
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/video/fishmovies.htm
Duncan - this is a useful link to an internet site that will allow you to down load mpeg movies taken on a microscope of most of the common parasites. A must if you are not sure what they look like
Spike - a good place to get deals on books.
