What does the direction of a koi fish mean in tattooing?

Well koi fish symbolise strength and courage, and the legend and myth behind the koi fish is that it swims upstream to turn into a dragon.

The Dragon symbolises the end of a journey and overcoming the obstacle you faced.

Therefore a Koi swimming upstream symbolises faceing a problem and being on a quest to put an end to it.

A Koi swimming downstream symbolises that it has allready overcome the problem, people often get this to symbolise the end of an ordeal.