I was thinking of adding 1 janitor fish to the koi fishes. I just want them to calm down just like before when I added a janitor fish. My only worry is that maybe it will kill some of my koi fishes. Is it a good idea?
Adding a different Fish to Koi Fishes
- Thread starter MikeBuyco
- Start date
Xscape
123
I had always have janitor fish in my aquarium, it almost get use with all kind of fishes.
What about in a pond? Will it be the same situation?
fishin4cars
True friends just call me Larkin
What is a janitor fish? Pleco I presume?
fishin4cars said:
Yes it's Pleco. The algae eater. :-P
koidaddy
karps house of koi
I transfered one(Nessie) from my 180 indoor tank about 4 years ago. It is quite large right now. It is actually the only survivor from my fish kill a few years ago. I have read that they can feed on you fish but I have not had the issue. If there is enough side alge to feed on you should be ok. The pond store by my house has them in all there ponds.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
i keep a 18"+ pieco in my pond(s).. as long as they dont see water temps under 50*f theyre fine..it was 1&1/2" when i got it...
fishin4cars
True friends just call me Larkin
Pleco's are great fish but be sure and watch them, If a fish that is having problems may it get attacked by a large pleco. This is not common but it does happen. I'll try and explain why and what to watch for. When any fish gets stressed or sick they produce extra slime coating to help protect it, just like we produce more antibodies. This slime coating can attract other fish to feed on it. This is why some people think other fish attacked the fish that has died, It's not really an attack, its the fish is doing what comes natural and it's scavenging for food, and a sick fish is a attractant and easy meal. If your fish are healthy in most cases the pleco's will just eat algae and maybe some dying plant leaves, But if one gets injured or is very stressed the pleco may mistake it as dying and start sucking on the fish's sides. This removes the extra slime coat making the fish even more stressed and more susceptible to fungal, parasite, and bacteria infections.
What to watch for is missing scales particularly around the abdomen area, fins that look stripped from the bone, and fish that are staying near the bottom and laying on their sides. if they start doing that the pleco will in most cases come and check it out pretty quick
So the answer to the question is yes, you can add a JANITOR fish. LOL Love that name! But if you know the water is going to get below 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C it's is best to move them inside and keep them indoors for the rest of winter. Also be sure and provide them with a good dark place to hide, I use a 6"x 3' piece drainage pipe for mine to hide in, well hide under, he stays under the pipe and the Koi took over the inside...
What to watch for is missing scales particularly around the abdomen area, fins that look stripped from the bone, and fish that are staying near the bottom and laying on their sides. if they start doing that the pleco will in most cases come and check it out pretty quick
So the answer to the question is yes, you can add a JANITOR fish. LOL Love that name! But if you know the water is going to get below 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C it's is best to move them inside and keep them indoors for the rest of winter. Also be sure and provide them with a good dark place to hide, I use a 6"x 3' piece drainage pipe for mine to hide in, well hide under, he stays under the pipe and the Koi took over the inside...
what about the high fin algae eaters people call them by different names but thats what I've seen them as, they any good was thinking of getting one
fishin4cars
True friends just call me Larkin
scooter7728 said:
http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/myxocyprinus/myxocyprinus.html
I did some research about these for a friend of mine, the link above does go into some of the upkeep requirments, from this I have learned, 1 they are a schooling fish that need company of their own kind, They get 40" long and do not look the same young as adult.
fishin4cars said:
WOW. That solves the biggest mystery why my biggest Koi Fish died the next morning after adding 1 janitor fish. What I've notice was it losing scales and I guess the janitor fish thought it was dying and feed on it. I also notice the belly was kinda big. I guess I was right removing the janitor fish. I was thinking of adding janitor fish again to the pond to calm the koi fishes since they still hide a lot in under the rock. Read my thread on koi fish are to scared to come out. Thanks a lot man for making things clear.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
i have not had any issues in 4 years with my pieco and any other fish in the ponds. big belly and raised scales means "dropsy" a deadly disease in fish...were the scales on the koi raised kind of pine cone looking?
koiguy1969 said:
I'm not sure. I only notice it after it was dead. :lol:
fishin4cars
True friends just call me Larkin
I haven't either personally, I have one that's probably slightly smaller than yours and no issues at all. But being that I worked in the pet stores for years I've seen it happen. Worse case I ever saw was a poor LARGE oranda that a pleco stripped all it's fins and scales off. the owner was actually able to save the fish believe it or not, never looked right again but it lived for several years after the incident. koiguy is right raised scales is usually a sign of dropsy, that is pretty easy to spot and identify as the fish almost looks like it swallowed a water balloon and the scales have a very distinctive pine cone shape and form to them as the scales stick out from the body and don't lay flat like normal. If it's swollen with no raised scales it could be egg bound. In most cases the female will reabsorb the eggs but I've heard of some that didn't and started having problems that were suppose to be linked back to being egg bound. I've never seen that but read about it on a Koi forum.koiguy1969 said:
well I have seen a full size ones they do get big fast look the old and young maybe stripes arent as pronounced but they stay on the bottom so you dont really see them that much