Bekko koi
Bekko is a koi variety defined by simple black markings scattered over a single-coloured base — white, red or yellow, giving the shiro, aka and ki bekko.
The name means tortoiseshell.
It reaches 60 to 90 centimetres and lives twenty-five to thirty-five years. Bekko is judged on restraint rather than drama: the black should sit in well-defined patches along the back, balanced left and right, and the head should be clean of it entirely. A bekko with black on the head is judged as a different variety, which is why the variety is harder to breed well than its simplicity suggests.
- Origin
- Japan; the name means tortoiseshell
- Adult size
- 60–90 cm
- Lifespan
- 25–35 years
- Minimum pond
- 4,000+ litres, at least 1.2 m deep
- Pattern
- Black patches on a white, red or yellow base; clean head
- Temperature
- 15–25°C; feeding stops below about 10°C
Related: Koi · Asagi koi · Butterfly koi
2 bekko koi photos, newest first
Living with a bekko koi
The black is not fixed. Sumi, the black pigment, deepens and recedes over a koi's life in response to water chemistry, temperature and age, so a bekko's markings will not look the same at ten as at two. Hard water tends to hold it; soft water tends to let it fade.
Beyond that it is ordinary koi keeping, and the pond is the whole job: thousands of litres, at least 1.2 metres deep, filtration sized for large fish, and protection from herons.
Stop feeding below about 10°C.
Good colour follows good water more than it follows food. Colour-enhancing feeds do less than clean, stable, well-filtered water does.
Quarantine every new fish for several weeks.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual fishs vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
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