Amin Abbas Dubai

A first of its kind specialized koi center Koi Water Barn Dubai offers small to large-scale pond design and construction with access to the best koi fish from Japan, according to the founder Haidar Al Yousuf.

Al Yousuf said the koi center provides food and maintains the heath of the fish and ponds.

The founder of Koi Water Barn Dubai said he was inspired to open the facility because he was fascinated by fish since he was 10 years old.

“I also became interested in keeping and breeding fish. I was the first person in the UAE to breed many species of fresh water fish, also got into marines and corals and established a company that specialized in large custom made aquarium construction, only around five years ago,” he explained.

Al Yousuf said he had come across high end Japanese fish and was “completely captivated.”

“The problem is that there was not a single company in the Middle East that had the knowledge and experience in koi pond construction, especially for the climate,” he said. “No one had access to the best quality high end Japanese koi, so I had to do it myself. Today, we are the only Japanese koi specialists in the Middle East.”

Al Yousuf said Koi Water Barn Dubai was a “hidden gem.” The founder said the company had to start from scratch in building and designing koi ponds.

“Koi fish are amazing creatures with individual personalities. Each fish is different and unique in many ways, they have been bred for hundreds of years to produce the best colors, body shapes, patterns and qualities,” Al Yousuf explained. “There are many bloodlines and in that they are like thorough bred horses, very unique and very valuable.”

“We have developed our own methodologies with the best of science from Japan and the UK to maintain koi properly in this weather, design the right environment and a filtration system that keeps the water clear all year long,” he said.

Al Yousuf said he had visited Japan many times, on average twice a year in order to “hand select the best fish from the top breeders in Hiroshima, Okayama, Niigata and wherever they exist, our trips to Japan are nonstop travel and pure fish joy.”

Koi Water Barn Dubai was established in 2017 as a partnership between Al Yousuf and Tony Pitham, owner of Koi Water Barn UK, a company established in London in 1983 and one of the most credible names in the koi market in the UK and Europe.

Koi Water Barn Dubai is the first non-Japanese supplier of the Grand Champion of the All Japan Koi Show, also known as the World Championships of Koi, in 2006, on top of many other show-winning koi of all varieties in Japan, UK, Europe and South Africa.