martinc9090
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
could i get a small koi and put it in a small fountain?
KOI IN A FOUNTAIN
- Thread starter martinc9090
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LandGhoti
Aquarium Advice FINatic
It depends on what you mean by "small". Koi get to be about 24" I believe. I think WaterPond has koi; he'll be able to tell you.
martinc9090
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
i know they get huge and plan on setting up a pond in a couple of months
WaterPond
Aquarium Advice Addict
LandGhoti said:
"used to" They are avid jumpers, ya know
Anyhow.. koi get HUGE and are messy fish. I wouldn't even recommend putting a juvenile koi in anything under 100gallons, that would ensure good water quality and keep it from getting stunted. They need at least 750gal when adults but preferably 1000gal+.
My pondfish breeder has koi which are close to reaching three feet long. They grow fast too, mine grew almost three inches every month.
So i'm going to say no to this. But... there are many types of goldfish equally as beautiful as koi. Subunkins can get some nice patterns on them. Also sarasa commets are beautiful, and have extremely nice markings. Go for one of them, but still plan for a pond over 150gallons as they are messy fish and can get clost to 1.5'.
How big is the fountain anyhow?
I'm going to agree with Waterpond on this one. Koi get way too large for a fountain unless you are talking about a very large fountain. For instance, I bought a small butterfly koi last year in August that was around 3 inches (minus the tail), at the beginning of April this year he measured almost 10 inches long. He grew 7 inches in less than a year.
Here's how I do it. I have a small fountain that I built containing a total of about 250 gallons of water, when I first buy my koi (if they are small), I use the fountain as a 'quarantine tank', I keep them in there for 2-3 weeks. The water is shallower and I can monitor them more closely. After I have fed them various medicated foods for whatever nasties they may have, I move them to my large 3250 gallon pond for permanent residence. I have to keep a very close watch on the water parameters in the fountain though because with the small amount of water, the temperature can get very high on a hot sunny day and I have to add fresh water to bring it down. The fountain is set up just like my pond, live plants, bio-filters, waterfall, and spray fountain. Lots of oxygenation for when the water temp climbs. I even have bubble stones and bubble bars on hand like people use for aquariums for really hot weather.
If your going to use a fountian, make it a temporary thing and monitor everything very closely. If your going to keep koi, I would recommend atleast a 1,000 gallon pond. The smallest I would go for a single koi is 500-700 gallons to give it plenty of room to move around at its full potential size of 3 feet.
If you like koi, don't let building a pond disuade you from keeping them. It's well worth every bit of the trouble and cost. They are truly wonderful fish to keep.
Here's how I do it. I have a small fountain that I built containing a total of about 250 gallons of water, when I first buy my koi (if they are small), I use the fountain as a 'quarantine tank', I keep them in there for 2-3 weeks. The water is shallower and I can monitor them more closely. After I have fed them various medicated foods for whatever nasties they may have, I move them to my large 3250 gallon pond for permanent residence. I have to keep a very close watch on the water parameters in the fountain though because with the small amount of water, the temperature can get very high on a hot sunny day and I have to add fresh water to bring it down. The fountain is set up just like my pond, live plants, bio-filters, waterfall, and spray fountain. Lots of oxygenation for when the water temp climbs. I even have bubble stones and bubble bars on hand like people use for aquariums for really hot weather.
If your going to use a fountian, make it a temporary thing and monitor everything very closely. If your going to keep koi, I would recommend atleast a 1,000 gallon pond. The smallest I would go for a single koi is 500-700 gallons to give it plenty of room to move around at its full potential size of 3 feet.
If you like koi, don't let building a pond disuade you from keeping them. It's well worth every bit of the trouble and cost. They are truly wonderful fish to keep.
