Giant Koi???

[method0075]

I was at a confrence here in MD this past weekend and at the hotel it was being hosted in, they had a large indoor pond with a stream setup and bridges to walk over.... It was truly awesome. My question is how big can KOI really get! They had what looked like Kois in the tank and they were in excess of 3-4 ft long and 1.5-2 ft wide each!!! These things were huge! How long does it take for them to get that big and is that normale for that species.

 

[Fluff]

Koi can reach 3' in length. Not sure how long that takes but I would think, several years.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

A decade or so?

 

[mandi]

How were they colored??? I only ask because while Koi can get to that size it is also possible that these were other members of the carp family....coloration might answer that

 

[Toirtis]

Koi can and do manage 40"-46", with a girth diameter of a good 14", but it takes a good number of years to accomplish.

 

[redwhiptailplec]

I know for a fact Koi can reach 4 feet, we went to a Koi show in the U.K and some of those things were behemoths! Not sure how long it takes them to attain such sizes but Koi can live for 80+ years!

 

[Toirtis]

but Koi can live for 80+ years!

I believe that the record is somewhere around 150 years. It does take them a while, though....but with lots of good food and great water conditions, they can be pretty hefty in about 10 years.

 

[redwhiptailplec]

150 wow! Thats older than my Mum!

 

[Toirtis]

150 wow! Thats older than my Mum!

One would hope so.

 

[SpaceButler]

I don't have the source, but I was looking at koi online the other day, and the longest living one on record was proven to live 226 years.

Whether it's true or not, I couldn't tell you. But that's.... old.

 

[lurkershdw]

wonder how big of a tank you'd have to get for one of those things! i wonder how much they weigh at 4 feet long

 

[RoK]

Wow, that guy must of had an exteremely good diet and some nearly perfect water all the time!

 

[DanW0007]

There was an piece on the 226 year old koi in one of the fish keeping magazines awhile ago, maybe last year. It was in a pond that had fresh mountain water running through it 24/7 and was handed down from generation to generation. To make sure it was right, they had it tested in a lab after it died and thats when they knew it actually was over 200 years old. Pretty crazy stuff.

 

[Pacifico]

I don't have the source, but I was looking at koi online the other day, and the longest living one on record was proven to live 226 years.

Whether it's true or not, I couldn't tell you. But that's.... old.

Dang, I didn't know they had Wheaties back then

 

[SpaceButler]

Wonder how old this guy was?