Free Shipping on coral orders over $350
(we ship out on Wednesdays for overnight)
Mon-Tues: Closed
Wed-Sat: 10am-6pm
Sunday: 10am-5pm
OUR STORY
About Us
Blue Ribbon Koi Products, Inc. (BRK) is a family owned business with over forty years of koi keeping experience. We were hobbyists first, followed by the genesis of our business in 1990. We are founding members of the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club (MAKC) which is the largest koi club in the country. We supported the club by displaying our products at monthly club meetings, advertising in MAKC News, hosting meetings and by playing an active role in the annual koi show and exposition. In 2004 we co-located and teamed up with Premier Nursery and Garden Center to provide pond and landscaping design and construction services.
We build real koi ponds using the best information and technology to provide a safe and healthful environment to grow and maintain beautiful healthy koi. Our goal is to provide healthy, crystal clear water with a minimal amount of maintenance. When you buy products and services from us you get our support and commitment to make your koi experience a pleasant and successful venture.
More than just Koi!
In the fall of 2005 marine livestock and dry goods became part of our business plan. Within one year, marine sales generated 25% of our annual income. We support the Washington Area Marine Aquarist Society (WAMAS) in much the same way we supported MAKC. Members of WAMAS get great buys on special order dry goods and unique marine life from our diversified array of suppliers. . We actively support the concept of captive bred fish & invertebrates to help save our natural reefs, including in house aquaculture. 90% of all corals we sell are fragged, mounted, and grown in our facility!
Our Mission
BRKM prides itself in providing our customers with the best products, healthiest livestock, and most accurate information possible. Water quality and fish health are paramount in our marine & freshwater systems. Partners John & Bob Bianchi both attended the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine’s training program on fish health and we pride ourselves on providing accurate advice based on our years of experience.
We look forward to continued business growth and expansion to serve the greater Washington, DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia areas the highest quality marine and fresh water supplies and livestock at reasonable prices.
With the combination of Koi, Ponds and saltwater life, we have modified our company name to Blue Ribbon Koi & Marine to display our co-involvement in both the Koi & marine hobby.
Our Facility
CORAL & MARINE LIVESTOCK
Everything for your marine aquarium. Huge selection of livestock from 4000 gallons of water. Great selection of fish including captive bred designer clown fish, live coral colonies as well as aqua cultured frags starting at $5.00! We take great pride in aqua culturing 90% of our corals on site. New shipments arriving weekly.
Coral Systems
Our main coral system is comprised of a 260 gallon, semi hex look down tank and a wall of 30 and 50-gallon breeder tanks. Giesemann T5 lighting, mostly sets of 4 – T5 bulbs and one Reef Brite LED strip over each tank. 50-gallon SPS tank has 250w metal halide radium bulbs, as well as one Reef Brite LED strip. JBJ A.T.O. tops off the system, Sequence hammerhead is the driving force, Tunze power heads and EcoTech MP-40 Vortechs can be found in various tanks for increased flow. Filtration is all in-sump. Bubble king 300 doing the skimming and a Deltec kalkstirrer stirring and dosing kalkwasser. We stock multiple types of coral ranging from zoanthids and leather corals, to acropora and chalices, and everything in-between! frag prices start at $5.00!!!
Our secondary coral system is made up of 5 - 50 gallon look down tanks and one 60 gallon look down. 3 of the tanks have Ecotech Radion XR30 Gen 4 pros, one with 250w Metal halide final one is a refugium with a grow light. The 60 gallon lookdown has 2 ecotech Radion XR 15's. These tanks house everything from colonies to frags, macro algae and mangroves!
Fish System
Our Fish System has 14, 40 gallon breeder tanks and a 125 gal. tank. Ample room for just about any fish you can think of, to be displayed before going home with you. At a salinity of 1.018 - 1.020, parasites have a difficult time surviving, helping our fish to be healthier and cleaner than most store bought fish. This almost always ensures a fish will live a long, happy life in your home setting. This system is being filtered by an RK2 commercial protein skimmer, Zapped (uv sterilization) by an Aqua sterilizer, aerated by an Alita Al 60, driven by a Sequence Hammerhead, topped off by a JBJ A.T.O., and the temperature is controlled by a Ranco Temp Controller.
Healthy fish are our top priority!
Invertebrates
The invertebrate section of our store houses many types of snails, 3 or 4 types of hermit crabs, and various different nudibranchs, crabs, and shrimp that eat many different kinds of algae and parasites. This is also where most of our nano-reef fish are housed. That ensures the smaller fish get their time in the spotlight, showing you that they don’t need to be big or swim really fast to get recognition! Many specialty clownfish including Picassos, Black Ice, Midnights, forzen frost bites, golden nuggets, and many more. T5 ready fit kits light this system with Giesemann bulbs. Filtered with a large sump and skimmed with a Bubble King Mini. This system is also topped off with a JBJ A.T.O. auto top-off unit. Last but not least, this system is monitored by a Neptune systems aqua-controller III.
Live Rock
We carry primarily Fiji live rock, very porous and lightweight.
True live rock is very difficult to impossible to get, most rock nowadays is man made so once what we have is gone its gone! Our 300 gal. main display tank is aquascaped with this premium rock. No epoxy or added supporting structures were necessary in aquascaping. All rocks fit together like a giant jigsaw puzzle!
300 Gallon Display
The main display is a 300-gallon tank positioned opposite the front doors so it can be the 1st thing you see upon entering our shop. It displays various different types of fish specimen and corals that can be fragged or sold for your home aquarium should you like them. Aquascaped with live rock that we carry, the display tank will give you many ideas about how you may want to model (or remodel) your reef. Filtered sump style, with a Deltec AP851 skimming, Sequence Barracuda running the closed loop, Sequence Dart running the main return, an experimental B.R.K. Kalkstirrer, all lit with 4 - 250w 20,000K radium matal halide light fixtures and 3 reef Brite LED Strips. To top it all off, a JBJ auto top off unit to replace evaporated water. We also have a refugium built into the sump to grow macro algae and reduce the Phosphates and Nitrates.
