Small Koi

[audioenvy]

Now, to find that elusive 'stay small and not eat the lilies' koi...

Buy them small, don't feed them very much.

 

[sissy]

I do know when thing since 2004 as the bigger the koi get the more air they need from a bigger aerator and the more filtration .I have 12 air stones now

 

[brokensword]

We've had the same experience - bought tiny koi (aka the cheapest ones!) and some stayed very true to color, some changed dramatically. And we have a couple of koi that have not gone beyond 12" either, while the others have gotten way bigger. I figure that's a genetic thing.

And as I've said before on so many threads - our koi do not bother our plants, other than eating the roots of the floating plants and keeping the parrot's feather trimmed up neatly. (And the goldfish in our patio pond do the same thing, so it's more of a fish thing than a koi thing.) They've never eaten or even nibbled the water lilies or any of the marginals. They poke around in them but they don't cause any damage. Honestly the frogs have plagued me more by uprooting marginal grasses that I was trying to get rooted. We had many long talks, but eventually they won. Our koi will tip over pots in the pond, but that's just to annoy me. But we all need a hobby, right?

Lisa; seems I've read too many times of how koi are not very good listeners! Something to think about...

That 'gotten way bigger' is a pretty good 'stalling' point for me. I can't see a 30" fish in my pond and despite Cas' nudging, a larger pond probably isn't going to happen! Even though it's always a good idea! ha

Michael

 

[brokensword]

Shame you did not live closer I have lots of 3 inch ones left .My uncle bert is the best .I have several black and white ones but they may or may not stay that color View attachment 105849

sissy; and BLACK and WHITE are the ones I'm leaning toward!! I think they're labeled as 'Shiro Utsuri' interest me the most with the butterfly as my shape inclination. I wish I could find either small and inexpensive, but then, I've only just begun looking! Still have to figure out the plant issue as I figure I LIKE my plants and therefore, I'm destined to probably get a koi that does too!

Michael

 

[cas]

for contrast with Goldfish or cause you dislike orange?

I love the orange of the goldfish - I just wanted another color in the pond.

 

[brokensword]

I started with Petsmart koi. They are small (4-6") and inexpensive. Lots of different colors and styles. They are typically not going to be fish with "grow huge" potential and if you don't feed them large amounts of food they won't grow big. Koi keepers who want their fish to grow large choose fish that have been bred to grow huge and they feed them up to 3% of their body weight EACH DAY from late spring to early fall.

View attachment 105835

audio; I feed my gf only once per day, probably two handfulls of 1/4" pellets and that's it. They did begin eating the roots of the WL and parrot's feather these past couple of years, maybe indicating I'm underfeeding. So, perhaps a koi would stay smaller if I didn't do different re feeding? That said, one would prob start munching if its stubborn about growing larger than the gf....

Michael

 

[cas]

Between 18 and 22 inches.

oh-oh... almost 2 feet!

 

[sissy]

mine are just mutts from the koi farm .That is what all of my original ones are .I did not want to spend more than 5 dollars a piece ,because if they died I could be out a lot of money .Koi are bottom feeders so like to root up things and destroy things ,it is what they do .No bad or good ones just what you get when you choose koi .Plus forget snails they eat them also.Mine are over 2 feet long and they are lucky they get fed 2 or 3 times a week since i got them .So feeding does not matter in size

 

[Lisak1]

and they are lucky they get fed 2 or 3 times a week since i got them

I wonder if this is why your koi are more destructive than mine - ours get fed two or three times A DAY from April through November. They leave my plants alone and aren't interested in the snails or frogs either. They do gobble up the earthworms I toss them though - a most delicious treat!

 

[CometKeith]

I just know it'll have to be smaller and I don't want to end up with something a lot different than I first see it.

Broken sword. Good luck with your Koi purchase. Sorry if I had anything to do with you deviating from just goldfish if that is what you were happy with I had my goldfish pond almost 10 years before deciding to add Koi and it was only because I built a new much larger pond that I felt comfortable doing it. For the first few months everything has been good but I can't tell you how it will be long term. I have seen ponds on the pond tour here in Chicago with mostly goldfish and a few butterfly Koi's and those ponds seemed to work out well. One thing I have learned in my research is the black gets stronger on a lot of Koi as they get older. The larger the fish you get the more likely it's colors will not change as much. So a 14"-18" size fish will not change much but would be quite expensive, a 8-10" may change a little, but a 4-6" size fish will probably change a lot. I would recommend you get something 8-10" for that reason. It will cost a little more but if you like it's color hopefully it will not change significantly. I don't know what you plan to spend but since Koi can last quite a long time I would recommend to spend enough to get something you will always be happy with. Also you may want to look into a Ginrin version of what you like. It may cost a little more, but the metallic scales will make it really stand out.

 

[brokensword]

Thanks, Keith, for the advice. I know I probably shouldn't but am at least going through the motions so if I decide to take the chance, I'm prepared. For me, the size matters, that and protecting/having plants. I've always loved the different character/style that koi bring but didn't think my size pond would house enough to satisfy me. Gf work better for this and I'll have to see how much I want to risk what I think adding a koi is going to do. I just bought a more expensive hardy purple lily the end of this summer and I'd hate to think of it as salad for a fish! Too expensive!

I'll definitely be following your experiences in this!

And, I'm not letting you off this 'buying koi is fun' trend you've started; somehow, I think ponders are a lot smarter than that and maybe it's because you're being affected by going over to the dark side, but there's method in your madness!!

Michael

 

[sissy]

Nope even at first when they got fed more often they destroyed every thing .i don't mind because as they have gotten older they have gotten less destructive and I know the water they are in is healthy and clear .Waterfall pond before and after water hyacinth filled it up all the way into the pond .They grew down into the pond and they have not touched and the same the last 3 years .

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Nope even at first when they got fed more often they destroyed every thing .i don't mind because as they have gotten older they have gotten less destructive and I know the water they are in is healthy and clear .Waterfall pond before and after water hyacinth filled it up all the way into the pond .They grew down into the pond and they have not touched and the same the last 3 years .View attachment 105875 View attachment 105874 View attachment 105876

Well Micheal I am in my first year of ponding and my pond is strictly Koi, last November 26 I started the pump, January 21..... Got my first Two Koi......Donald and Hillary....then we bought 3 smaller and one larger one from our local high school...... Turns out that the larger one from the high school was a female and Donald and Hillary were males...... Needless to say 47 babies all but 8 I have given away, 5 or 6 of them are leaving in the spring. I have one Koi that I am ashamed to say how much I paid for it ( so I won't) , but when it was 4" long it was a beautiful little butterfly, when it 6" long she was a little short finned pale ugly fish, now she is about 12" long and beautiful with long flowing fins, so you never know what you are going to get..... So we have gotten so used to seeing our active Koi eating and splashing around..... So now water temp is 57 degrees, they are swimming around like they are in slow motion, can't wait for spring

 

[Gemma]

when it was 4" long it was a beautiful little butterfly, when it 6" long she was a little short finned pale ugly fish, now she is about 12" long and beautiful with long flowing fins,

I noticed that in my butterfly koi also, I think the body grows too quickly for the fins to keep up so it looks like the fins are not as pretty, but then they catch up