penance

My local Lowes is out of their 50 g preformed ponds so I'm stuck using a rubbermaid container for now, It's basically empty right now except for the 2 koi. I plan on adding gravel and plants but just a couple of questions

* Will it need to be filtered? For a 29g container I would imagine that it would get dirty really fast but the problem is that I don't have any outside electrical hookups. I suppose I could do water changes as needed

* At night will my koi need light? This is my main concern, it's silly but I'd imagine that they want some light at all times.

At first I was worried about the cold temperatures especially at night but I read that they love the cold water, colder the better and they even love icy as one previous koi keeper told me so I'm not so worried about that any more.

Any other advice you guys can share I would definitely appreciate

Red1313

two koi will eventualy need a lot more then either 50 or 29 gals.... You'd probably be looking at somewhere around the 1000 gal mark eventually for them...

Amanda

Koi get HUGE. Reaching 3 feet as adults. They'd need a pretty large pond.
The container should be filtered, could you bring the container inside & add a filter?
They do not need light at night, in an outdoor pond they would not have much light.

EDIT:
Here's a good site about Koi care.

penance

I plan on keeping the koi until they grow to a large enough size where I won't be able to care for them properly anymore. I live in an apt and the 50 preformed pond is the largest I can go without it looking like I have a japanese garden going on lol

Afterwards they are going to be donated to the Long Beach CSULB Japanese Gardens where they have a very very large pond with the most amazing koi out there If only I lived closer out there then I would go and visit all the time.

As to keeping the koi inside I could do that but in the 29g aquarium (same size as container) as they were in a few days ago which is probably best for now.

Amanda

The only problem is keeping them in a small pond, even for a short time, can stunt their growth. Plus koi grow quite fast.

gremlin

Koi are more sensitive to poor water quality than regular goldfish. They would definitely need to have a filter. Otherwise, you would be doing daily water changes to keep the water quality good. Is there any way to run an extension cord out for a filter? As for a light at night, not really needed. They would be ok with or without an artificial light at all as long as they get some light during that day.