We see them when we walk to class or have time to kill, some of us even name the friendly Koi fish we love but Sparky, Patches and King Kai the Koi fish cannot function on the food we feed them edible to us.
Koi fish are omnivorous and bottom feeders but this does not mean a french fry from Danner Hall or a cheerio is proper diet for a healthy resident of Delta College’s pond.
These fish are decently intelligent with them being able to recognize an individual or individuals who feeds them and rush to the person offering food.
According to Northwest Garden News Koi Fish require specialized food for proper mobility and digestive patterns and could even affect the socialization of the individual fishes in a group.
These fishes have a long history in Delta College.
It is not unheard of Koi Fish to live over 25-30 years if kept in good conditions and healthy water chemical levels according to softfacts.com but can be ultimately be cut down by pesky humans offering to share some of their gummy worms.
Some Koi fish can grow up to 3 feet while the residents of our favorite college pond range from 15-20 inches.
Although these gentle fish can withstand the hottest of days and coldest of nights they can not regulate their chemical levels.
Koi Fish prefer to live in communities of their own species but they release ammonia into the body of water that can reach dangerous levels if the amount of fish is high.
The chemicals can get even more dangerous when humans touch them no matter how long or short the contact is.
Some english professors even tell you to touch them so you can write about them better furthering the phrase ‘stick to what you went to school for.’
“I love the Koi fish, sometimes I just sit there and stare at them for hours and give them names and detailed stories about their lives and family,” said Tracey Pineda a Delta College student “They always look hungry because they swim so fast when you hold out your hand like you feeding them but I don’t want to kill them.”
The pond was built with the current campus plan in the 1960s with many of the Koi fish being donated by families, each currently costing upwards of 1000$.
In the summer of 2010 two young men were responsible for stabbing and bludgeoning the Koi Fish in the brick lined pond while campus security changed shifts.
They left at least a dozen fishes dead and outside the pond and were later convicted for animal cruelty and felony vandalism.
Our friendly fish friends cannot make it with our meddling ways, curious hands and sweet treats we give them so on behalf of the Koi Fish of Delta College please let them be fed by people that know what they are doing and finish your granola bar on your own.
