How much do you feed your aquarium koi?

[csdude55]

I have a koi that's several years old, but only around 7" long. He's in a 36g tank with what used to be two otos... but now just one :-(

I mostly feed him pond pellets, and give him 14 a day at one feeding. He might eat the occasional spider, stink bug, or millipede, but that's not intentional... I used to give him a few blood worms each week, but after the LFS closed I haven't bought any more.

Someone mentioned in another thread that he's very small for his age, and after some research... I definitely agree!

Do you guys think I should feed him more? I'm torn on whether I want him to outgrow the tank and go to the outdoor pond, he's so full of personality that I hate to risk hurting him, or even just not really seem him as much! But I want him to be healthy, too.

 

[mrsclem]

Are you sure its a koi and not a goldfish? Koi grow fast and can get to 3 feet! A 36 gallon tank is not a good home for him. Its possible he is stunted from being in the small tank. I would not feed him anymore but get him into a much bigger pond. I know pet stores sell koi as aquarium fish but the general rule is 1000 gallon for the 1st koi.

 

[Lisak1]

IF this is a koi, then you are hurting him by keeping him in a 36 gallon tank. Like @mrsclem said - even a "small" koi will grow to 24 inches. Don't let your emotions get in the way of doing the right thing for the fish.

 

[Tula]

Could you please post the pictures (of the fish) you posted in your other thread so others can weigh in on if it's a koi ?

 

[csdude55]

Sure, @Tula. These pics were a few nights ago, he had eaten the other oto and got him lodged in his throat. He eventually got it out himself, though, so all is well now.

He's a bit longer than the length of my hand. My hand is 6", so that puts him around 7"... maybe a smidge longer.

I bought him from the local fish store before they closed, and they typically used local breeders. As he got a little older I saw that some of the scales were silver instead of yellow so I thought maybe he was modified with ink or something to look like a koi. But he does have barbels (although shorter than expected), so he's either not a well bred koi, or maybe a koi / goldfish hybrid? I don't have the experience to know.

 

[Tula]

Doitsu is a variety of koi with no, or few scales. I'm not an expert by any means, but I think your koi looks like some pictures I've seen of doitsu. Here is a picture of one from Next Day Koi site.
untitled-1.jpg

 

[csdude55]

True, when I looked at your picture I had to make sure that I wasn't looking at my own fish! So very similar indeed. But mine has white / silver scales on his rear and spread out here and there along his body, where the pic you posted is all yellow.

 

[big ron]

I agree with all of the above replies. This koi deserves a much bigger pond where he can spread out and enjoy his surroundings and not in a glass box. My 12 koi are large and have a 3000 gal pond to swim in. They can still eat out of my hand if they choose too. hopefully your next comment will be ,, " moved him to my bigger pond and he is doing great "

 

[csdude55]

Not yet, @big ron :-( My pond is just too grungy and I don't trust putting my koi in there yet.

I've bumped up his feeding to 6 pellets in the morning and 20 at night, which is about as much as he'll eat without taking a break. I also added some of my excess Parrot Feather from the pond to his tank... it's not that pretty, but it's sure working to clean up the algae! I really need to find a better fish-friendly plant for the aquarium.

If things go well, though, then it's more likely for me to transplant him to the pond at the beginning of Spring in 2020.

 

[poconojoe]

What's the deal with the pond? Why not get some plants and filtration in there to clean things up? Plus you can add in some friends for your koi buddy.

 

[Lisak1]

What's the deal with the pond? Why not get some plants and filtration in there to clean things up? Plus you can add in some friends for your koi buddy.

I have the same question - why so long to get the pond ready for your fish? He'd appreciate the upgrade!

 

[csdude55]

I think that I've posted about it before, but I can't find it now.

The pond is allegedly healthy, I have a huge excess of Parrot Feather growing in it. But the algae is out of control, so the water just looks black. I can see a few inches down, but that's all.

It's 3' deep and 1,000 gallons, and 11 or 12 years old. That first year it was beautiful, but by the second year the algae had really started to take over. That's when I added plants, but it didn't really solve anything. I have several potted plants in the bottom (2 lilies, irises, and some tall grasses) and a bunch of Parrot Feather floating on top, so more than 50% of the surface area is covered in plants.

I put a bunch of goldfish in that first year (and a few of what were supposed to be koi, but they came from Petsmart so who knows), and I still see them come to the top on occasion. So I know it's OK, it's just hard to put my beautiful koi in a pond that LOOKS gross!

The advice given before was to increase the size of the filter and maybe add a UV light, but money's tight these days so I haven't been able to do either.

There's also a bull frog that comes around sometimes. I'm guessing that he eats the goldfish fry, which is OK (in a horrible way) to keep the population under control, but I worry that he would come after my koi.

I also worry about the winter. I'm in USDA Hardiness Zone 7a, so I usually start feeding the pond fish with pellets in April and keep it up until October or November. Sometime around December of January it gets cold enough that the top of the pond ices over. But I haven't been feeding the koi as much as the pond fish, so I don't know if he'll store up fat (or whatever) to survive the winter. And being a koi, I'm not sure how well he'll handle the pond freezing over in the winter.