Pre visit and Butterfly koi selecting as part of day 1 of our 2026 Koi buying trip
Waking up nice and early today to start what will be a full day with quite a bit of traveling involved.
First stop sees us arrive at Madankoi koi farm in Israel for our pre visit. The aim of this quick pit stop tour is to see the koi already prepared for us. This gives us enough time to request any changes or harvest any more koi that they may have. Pulling up to the farm we are greeted by the koi breeder. This is a new position for the breeder here at Madakoi farm. After previously being in charge of the indoor facility, he has had a promotion and become the koi farm manager. This role involves overseeing all koi production at this farm.
The weather is great out here and unusually warm for the time of the year. After a very quick coffee and catch up we are taken straight to the hand selecting tanks to choose the koi.
There is a lot of koi here at this farm and both us and the koi breeder are extremely happy with both the quality and quantity of koi to select from.
We view tank after tank of high quality koi. The tank below will be one of the busiest koi tanks for us – this contains their Yanasai koi (4yr olds). Looking in the tank there are huge numbers of high quality koi swimming around.
The Sanke koi and Kohaku koi stand out as their colours and patterning are superb. The koi farm has also exceeded expectations in the last few years with the production of its Doitsu Metallic varieties such as Kikusui koi and Hariwake koi. The bodies of these koi fish are huge and its clear to see the breeder is more than satisfied with these fish.
We wish we could stay here all day, and as mesmerising as this is, we have to move on and view the other koi tanks before we leave. The koi are insanely good quality and the breeder has done an excellent job this busy koi season.
Next stop is Kfar Ruppin on our 2026 Koi buying trip
Kfar Ruppin Koi Farm in Israel is a destination that deserves your attention. Nestled in the scenic landscapes of northern Israel, this farm specialises in cultivating high-quality koi, bringing together meticulous breeding practices with a deep passion for these stunning fish.
Over the last few years the koi farm and breeders have really built up a reputation for producing very high quality Butterfly koi. The farm specialises in Butterfly koi 30cm+ and have some brand new varieties to offer us this year. The scenery at this koi farm is lovely with the outdoor mud ponds all over looked by the mountainous region of Jordan. Kfar Ruppin is a traditional farm with traditional koi breeding and rearing methods. All koi are produced and reared outdoors in the farms vast array of mud ponds.
However, this issues a large challenge for the farm as the area where the farm is situated is famed by fellow twitchers. This is one of the best places to spot rare hawks and falcons along with other fish eating migrating birds. The koi ponds have to be completely covered by netting in a cage style approach to alleviate the koi from any danger. These nets are checked daily for holes or damage as they are vital to maintain high proportions of koi in the ponds.
Upon arrival we are greeted by the koi breeder and his security team. After a quick tour of the koi ponds we are eager to get going.
First up is the Butterfly koi selection!
After some careful thoughts we approach the first tank of koi and start our selection. This koi tank is pretty time consuming as there is a lot of koi to choose from. While selecting butterfly koi we look for perfectly balanced long fins, good body structure, unique pattern and most of all intense colouration. These koi ticked all the right boxes and were an easy choice.
They just kept showing us new varieties. So many of these koi have amazing long flowing fins – these fish are awesome.
After quite some time selecting these beautiful Butterfly koi our attentions turned to the other remaining tanks which were also filled with various koi varieties and sizes.
The breeder has done a excellent job this year and clearly worked very hard to perfect his Koi and it certainly shows. There are some new varieties that they’ve been breeding this season, one of which is the Kikokuryu koi.
Kfar Ruppin is a very traditional koi farm with old equipment and very traditional methods of breeding koi. As shown today, traditional methods are still very successful and the koi purchased are very high quality. Below is a small selection of pictures showing some of the koi purchased today – Next up Madankoi koi farm.
