About Adam Byer Koi Farm
A family-run koi farm built on experience, passion and quality
Byer Koi Farm is a family-run koi farm and koi shop in Hertfordshire, owned and operated by husband and wife team Adam and Amanda Byer.
Our aim is simple: to offer koi keepers a carefully selected range of healthy, high-quality koi, backed by genuine expertise and friendly, honest advice.
Adam has been breeding, raising and writing about koi since the mid-noughties, and the farm reflects many years of experience working with these remarkable fish.
Today, customers across the UK discover and purchase koi online through our website, while others prefer to visit the farm in person.
Each week we invest significant time photographing and filming individual koi, allowing buyers to assess body shape, skin quality, colour and pattern as clearly as possible online.
Our aim is always to represent each koi as closely as possible to how it appears in real life, so fish can be selected with confidence even when purchasing online.
Our library of individually catalogued koi allows customers to select specific fish.
For small koi mixes, customers purchase a group of koi from tanks containing a range of varieties. When visiting the farm, they can select their own fish from these mix tanks, with the price per koi reducing as more are chosen.
For online orders, customers can tell us their variety preferences and we will hand-pick their mix accordingly, selecting koi from the same tanks to create a group that best matches what they would like to add to their pond.
These releases are supported by blog posts, videos and variety guides, helping customers learn more about koi while choosing fish for their ponds.
This approach allows customers to enjoy something close to the experience of selecting koi in person, even when they cannot visit the farm themselves.
Today, customers across the UK purchase koi through our website, while others prefer to visit the farm in person — giving customers the flexibility to choose koi in whichever way suits them best.
The koi themselves include both BKF-bred koi, spawned from Japanese broodstock and raised here at the farm, alongside carefully selected Japanese koi sourced from respected breeders in Japan.
Whether you are choosing your very first koi or adding a special fish to a mature collection, our goal is always the same: to help you enjoy koi keeping with confidence.
A breeder’s eye for koi quality
One thing that sets Byer Koi Farm apart is that the business was built from the perspective of a breeder first.
For many years Adam focused on developing lines of UK-bred Kohaku, working carefully to refine colour quality, pattern balance and body shape. Over time these fish began to gain recognition on the koi show circuit, winning a number of champion awards, including the prestigious Baby Champion at the All England Koi Show.
Breeding koi at this level teaches you to look at fish differently. You learn to evaluate subtle details in skin quality, colour development, body conformation and pattern balance that might otherwise go unnoticed.
That same breeder’s eye now guides the selection of every koi offered at the farm — whether it was bred here at Byer Koi Farm or carefully selected from Japanese breeders.
From childhood fish breeding to a koi farm
Adam’s interest in breeding fish began long before Byer Koi Farm existed.
His grandfather was a GP in Leicester and was well known locally for something rather unusual at the time — a tropical fish tank in the waiting room of his surgery on Welford Road. This was in the mid 20th century, when keeping tropical fish was far more challenging than it is today, long before the modern filtration and aquarium equipment that fish keepers now take for granted.
The real influence, however, came from Adam’s father, who bred tropical fish at home. Growing up around tanks and breeding setups meant fish keeping was always part of everyday life.
Adam’s earliest fish-keeping memory is breeding Siamese Fighting Fish at around five years old in small tanks. From that point on, breeding fish became a constant theme — every species he kept was eventually bred.
Years later, after starting a family, a house move brought an unexpected addition: a garden pond. With the arrival of the pond came koi carp, and before long the next challenge naturally followed.
It was only a matter of time before Adam began breeding koi.
Developing the koi farm and our online offering
As the farm developed, so too did the ways in which customers interacted with us.
Many visitors enjoy coming to the farm to choose koi in person, and the shop has gradually grown to support this. Customers can browse koi across a range of varieties and sizes, as well as pick up food, treatments and other pond essentials.
At the same time, we have invested heavily in developing our online koi offering.
We aim to recreate as much of the koi-buying experience as possible through photography, video and detailed commentary. Each koi is individually photographed and filmed so customers can properly assess the fish before purchasing.
Our website also includes a growing collection of koi guides, blog articles and educational content, helping both new and experienced keepers learn more about koi varieties, pond care and koi development.
Regular online releases allow customers across the UK to access new koi as they become available, while also following the seasonal rhythm of the farm — from new arrivals and grow-on fish to special themed releases.
Over time this combination of farm visits and a strong online presence has allowed Byer Koi Farm to reach a wider community of koi keepers, while still maintaining the personal approach that has always been central to the business.
BKF-bred koi and Japanese koi
Breeding koi remains an important part of life at Byer Koi Farm, and many customers enjoy keeping fish that have been born and raised here at the farm.
In Japan, many koi farms specialise in breeding just a small number of varieties. In regions such as Niigata, where dozens of farms exist within a relatively small area, hobbyists can visit multiple breeders to find the full range of koi varieties they are looking for.
The situation in the UK is quite different. There are relatively few koi farms, and most koi are purchased through specialist dealers rather than directly from breeders. This means hobbyists typically expect a wider range of varieties to be available in one place.
For this reason, Byer Koi Farm combines our own breeding programme with carefully selected Japanese koi. Our breeding work focuses on specific varieties that we raise here at the farm, while Japanese imports allow us to offer additional varieties, ages and bloodlines that complement our own fish.
Each year Adam travels to Japan to visit breeders and select koi personally. These trips allow us to build relationships with respected Japanese breeders and to hand-pick fish that meet the same standards we apply to our own breeding work.
All imported koi undergo a thorough quarantine process lasting a minimum of 6–8 weeks, including double heat ramping. This process is designed not only to acclimatise the fish, but also to protect the health of our stock by preventing the introduction of serious diseases such as KHV, ensuring all koi are fully prepared for customers’ ponds.
By combining our own breeding programme with hand-selected Japanese koi, we aim to offer customers a balanced and interesting range of koi — from young BKF-bred fish raised here at the farm, through to established Japanese koi from recognised bloodlines.
Sharing knowledge with our customers and the koi community
Alongside running the farm, Adam has spent many years sharing knowledge about koi keeping with the wider hobby.
Over many years his articles have appeared in a number of koi magazines, both past and present, covering topics such as koi varieties, breeding, development and general husbandry.
Adam also regularly gives talks to koi clubs around the UK, discussing different aspects of koi keeping and sharing practical experience gained from breeding and raising koi at the farm.
More recently, this educational work has expanded through the Byer Koi Farm website, where a growing collection of in-depth articles and guides is available for hobbyists. These include variety spotlights, koi selection guidance and behind-the-scenes insights into life at the farm.
Work is also underway on a comprehensive koi husbandry guide, bringing together many years of experience with breeding, raising and selecting koi. Over time this material will continue to develop into a broader resource for koi keepers.
Looking after our customers properly has always been central to how we run the farm. Sharing knowledge and experience is simply part of helping the people who buy their koi from us succeed in the hobby.
Why customers choose Byer Koi Farm
Customers choose Byer Koi Farm for a number of reasons:
• Healthy koi, supported by careful selection, quarantine and ongoing husbandry
• Breeder-led expertise developed through years of breeding and raising koi
• Carefully selected Japanese koi, personally chosen during visits to Japan
• BKF-bred koi raised here at the farm from an early age
• Detailed online releases with photography and video of individual fish
• A growing library of koi articles and guides to support customers in the hobby
• Friendly, honest advice from people who work with koi every day
Whether selecting koi online or visiting the farm in person, our aim is always the same: to help customers choose koi with confidence and enjoy the hobby for years to come.
Visit Byer Koi Farm in Hertfordshire
Many customers first discover Byer Koi Farm online, but one of the best ways to experience the farm is to visit in person.
Located in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, the farm is easily accessible from London and much of the South East via nearby motorway connections.
Visitors can browse koi at their own pace, view a range of varieties and sizes, and ask questions directly.
Whether you are looking for a single koi, planning a new pond, or simply interested in learning more about koi keeping, we are always happy to help.
