Japanese Koi (indoors)

I have 10 Japanese Koi in my 40 gallon tank that I recently adopted. They are all about 6" in length, not including their tails. I'm going to set up my 80 gallon tank soon. The Koi are only use to eating flakes, I tried Koi pellets but they didn't eat them. What is the correct amount of food should I feed them? I have an Aqua-Tech 30/60 filter I'm using. I heard that the goldfish species are more difficult to keep clean vs community fish. Everytime I feed the Koi, I turn off the filter so they would consume the flakes better, then tun it back on after breakfast and dinner feedings. I do change the water 1/3 every few days. I change the filter cartridges as needed, usually twice a month. No matter what I do, the water is murky unless I clean the tank entirely and put in all new bottled water, then it starts all over again.

Please help me. Now I see why the previous home had put them up for adoption.

 

Well the only advice I can give is just clean the cartridge with dechlorinated water or old tank water. May I ask why you are using bottled water.

 

Koi can be pretty messy, and that large of a number doesn't help things as well! In a larger tank (and ideally a pond!) Water quality is likely to improve.

 

don't use cartridges, **** your filter media. Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters

you can get them to eat pellets by not feeding for a few days. then give them pellets only.

you'll probably want to run 2 filters. I run 2 filters in my indoor goldfish tank and my outdoor goldfish patio pond. I use poly fill and biomax ceramics. 50% weekly water changes plus vacuuming. I run a diy water polisher twice a week, plus vacuuming. I also run Purigen in one of the indoor filters.

 

Hi.
First off.. I would up your filteration! Those sound like quite large fish. You could try feeding them some spinach for something different for them to nibble on. May we see a picture of them? I really like koi and would enjoy seeing yours!! About the murky water. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? If you read up on that it will give you a better idea about what is happening with your water! May I ask why you are using bottled water?

 

I live in Lake Havasu, AZ. We are unable to drink the water because it isn't good water. We aren't to use tap water even in car radiators, supposed to use distilled instead. I wasn't able to go out for two weeks for water, had to use the tap water. Even after boiling it for 30 minutes, my dog and I both became sick, and it killed my ferret.

 

I live in Lake Havasu, AZ. We are unable to drink the water because it isn't good water. We aren't to use tap water even in car radiators, supposed to use distilled instead. I wasn't able to go out for two weeks for water, had to use the tap water. Even after boiling it for 30 minutes, my dog and I both became sick, and it killed my ferret.

Wow ok that does sound like a very good reason not to use tap water then!!!!!

 

Just a quick Google search on it. Yea don't drink the water. And people complain about the water in flint. Any way are you testing your water? Upping filtration may help too.

 

Thank all of you for your suggestions. I'm trying to get a handle on this before using the 80 gallon tank. The tank they are in now is temporary until I learn the proper care for them.




How much am I supposed to feed them?

No, I'm not familiar with properly checking the water. What should I be doing? Could that be part of the problem?

 

Thank all of you for your suggestions. I'm trying to get a handle on this before using the 80 gallon tank. The tank they are in now is temporary until I learn the proper care for them.

Those are common goldfish, not koi. But try not too feed too much, maybe 2 small handfuls?

Seems like a bacteria bloom from constantly switching the cartridges?

 

They aren't koi? The lady that gave them to me said they were lol. I still love them

These are minimum 6" long not including their tales. I am currently feeding them twice a day almost a handful of flakes each time. How large might they grow?

 

These are minimum 6" long not including their tales. I am currently feeding them twice a day almost a handful of flakes each time. How large might they grow?

Nope, I don’t see any koi lol. These get maybe 12”, sometimes less, so they still get a good size.

 

no barbel (whiskers). they are common and comet goldfish. koi will get up to 36" long. common and comet goldfish get 12-15" long.

you'll need an API Freshwater Master Test kit.

feed them about the size of their eye.

that white one with the red dot does resemble a koi in coloration, very nice looking fish. love the long flowing tails on the comets too.

 

The size of their eyes are very small. With having 10, is that really enough to go around? I don't want some eating and others don't act quick enough.

 

Their stomach is the size of their eye

 

don't just put it all in one spot. sprinkle it around the whole tank.

 

don't use cartridges, **** your filter media. Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters

you can get them to eat pellets by not feeding for a few days. then give them pellets only.

you'll probably want to run 2 filters. I run 2 filters in my indoor goldfish tank and my outdoor goldfish patio pond. I use poly fill and biomax ceramics. 50% weekly water changes plus vacuuming. I run a diy water polisher twice a week, plus vacuuming. I also run Purigen in one of the indoor filters.

I just reread your suggestion of not using cartridges. What and how do you maintain your tanks? What size tank do you use and how many are in it?

I do spread the food across the tank. How often to feed them? What kind of food do you use, flakes or pellets?

I just reread your suggestion of not using cartridges. What and how do you maintain your tanks? What size tank do you use and how many are in it?

 

A rose by any other name... They're just goldfish, not koi, but they look very healthy and attractive. People think that any goldfish bigger than a couple inches is automatically a "koi". Either that, or her goldfish became koi when it was time to find them a new home, and that made them sound more exotic.

Overfeeding them will just produce more ammonia. You are obviously doing something right for them to actually look that good when they are so dreadfully overcrowded...and make no mistake, they are indeed overcrowded. I would maintain feeding at minimal levels until you are able to move them into a larger home. Even an 80gallon tank will be far from spacious for that many fish that large.

Rather than constantly chaning expensive filter cartridges, wasting money and throwing your cycle out of whack each time, the suggestion is to make your own foam cartridges, which can be used indefinitely by rinsing them in tank water and re-using. This saves money, while at the same time preserving your beneficial bacteria...which, in this situation, you cannot afford to jeopardize.

 

Their stomach is the size of their eye

Technically not true. Goldies lack a stomach and just have a long(er) intestinal tract.

That's why its better to feed small amounts constant rather than 1-2 bigger meals.

 

Yes, agreed aussieJJDude, Carps and Goldfish lack a stomach and only have a digestive tract through which to absorb food.

Also, as a side note, koi don't always reach 36" unless you groom them very well when they're young—usually within the first two years is where they have the most growth potential. Otherwise, most backyard pond enthusiasts casually get koi to no more than 24".

Usually you will want to feed as much as they will eat within a 1-2 minutes. Probably less, since most flakes disintegrate into the water column rather quickly. That means having to provide at least 3 meals throughout the day. Perhaps you can try weaning them off flakes if you want to feed pellets? Make sure the pellets are small as not to cause obstruction in their digestive tract. What you can do is add a little bit of pellets in with the flakes and see if you can get the fish to eat that. If successful, continue to add more and more pellets with the flakes, and slowly decrease the amount of flakes accordingly. Otherwise, you can try the fasting method, where you don't feed them at all for a couple days, and try again or just cold-turkey switch to the pellets and see if they will eat it then. Sometimes you just have to get creative! Sometimes, you may have to try a different brand and see if that recipe entices them more. My koi and goldfish don't take to HikarI products with as much enthusiasm as they do for something of higher quality like Repashy or DainichI pellets.

You don't want to be changing out the cartridge in the filter unless you absolutely have to, where the filter media is falling apart. This is probably resetting your cycle which would explain the water cloudiness, on top of super overcrowding, and likely overfeeding. As I've said, the flakes likely begin to dissolve into the water column quickly. Don't change out the cartridge, but every time you're changing out water use the old water to rinse off the cartridge of any debris it has caught and place it back into the filter.

I actually would recommend that you invest in a strong canister filter, at least by the time you upgrade to the 80 gallon tank. This would help compensate for the mess that the fish will inevitably make, however, you will definitely want to keep up with water changes accordingly. I suggest you get a test kit to measure the Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. Usually, you will want the readings to be 0 / 0 / <20 ppm to help keep the fish healthy. You may want to get Prime conditioner when you do your water changes as well, if you don't already have it, as this not only helps make sure the water is safe but will also detoxify Ammonia to make it safe for fish as goldfish are just absolute ammonia factories lol.

 

I just reread your suggestion of not using cartridges. What and how do you maintain your tanks? What size tank do you use and how many are in it?
I do spread the food across the tank. How often to feed them? What kind of food do you use, flakes or pellets?

Take a look at the link I posted about DIY Filter Media. Diy Media Guide For Top Fin Silenstream, Aquaclear And Other Hob Filters

my filters have polyfill and a bunch of biomax ceramic media. I change out the polyfill every week when I do my weekly 50% water changes. I also run a diy MaxI jet 1200 water polisher twice a week, and also use it to vacuum the bottom of the tank afterwards. then I attach a hose to it and use it to do water changes.

I have a 29G indoor tank with four 4" commons/comets. I have a 50G storage container outside patio pond with about a dozen 3-4" commons/comets. I run 2 filters in each.

The inside tank I feed them twice a day, outside tank once a day. I use Omega One Small goldfish sinking pellets. About once or twice a week I also feed them Omega One Kelp pellets (contains Spirulina). Once a week after the water change I feed them some frozen blood worms.

 

Goldfish do have a stomach. You only need to google goldfish anatomy to find that out. It’s a small stomach, the fish being largely herbivorous, but it’s a stomach nonetheless, and it is far bigger than the fish’s eye.
You’ll need a tank far bigger than 80g for them, as they’ll quickly outgrow that aswell.

 

Goldfish do have a stomach. You only need to google goldfish anatomy to find that out. It’s a small stomach, the fish being largely herbivorous, but it’s a stomach nonetheless, and it is far bigger than the fish’s eye.
You’ll need a tank far bigger than 80g for them, as they’ll quickly outgrow that aswell.

Would you provide links? I honestly can't find anything about an actual stomach in carps* or goldfish. Unless you're referring to the gall bladder, or the intestinal bulb?

EDIT: OMG! I apologize for that typo... ops:

 

interesting read

"Then I carefully dissected the carcass of a formalin-fixed goldfish I had spare on my shelf (as you do) to see whether the goldfish has a stomach. I found that there was certainly a saclike distension to the anterior part of the alimentary tract, immediately caudal to the oesophagus.

So what would you call the dilated portion of the gut immediately posterior to the oesophagus in the goldfish?."

part 2

"I went into great lengths trying to get him to agree with me that they DO have stomachs based on the definition of a ‘dilated region in the anterior GIT’. He didn’t buy it and says that true stomachs have specialisations and has the ability for digestion at low pH rather than in the intestine where the pH is higher"

 

Thanks to all of you of the information. I will definitely do research on the suggestions you gave. What do you think about sand versus rocks? I have 3 bn plecos that the gf love. I have them separated for now due to not having the 80 gallon tank set up yet.

How can you tell plecos gender? Also is there a way of knowing which gf are female and male?

 

sand or river rocks that are larger than the goldfish's mouth.

not familiar with plecos. Rtessy

 

Goldfish do have a stomach. You only need to google goldfish anatomy to find that out. It’s a small stomach, the fish being largely herbivorous, but it’s a stomach nonetheless, and it is far bigger than the fish’s eye.
You’ll need a tank far bigger than 80g for them, as they’ll quickly outgrow that aswell.

Goldfish do not have a stomach. You only need to google goldfish anatomy to find that out.

 

Thank you Skavatar that was indeed interesting. Until there's more science that backs up the claim that it is a "stomach" I'm not gonna be sharing it around. As it stands, goldfish and carp do not possess a stomach.

 

Thanks to all of you of the information. I will definitely do research on the suggestions you gave. What do you think about sand versus rocks? I have 3 bn plecos that the gf love. I have them separated for now due to not having the 80 gallon tank set up yet.

How can you tell plecos gender? Also is there a way of knowing which gf are female and male?

If you post pics of the tops and stomachs, I'm sure someone will be able to tell, depending on the size. How big are they? Are they already with the goldfish or is that something that you plan on adding later? If you plan on adding them with the goldfish, I wouldn't, you're going to have a hard enough time keeping the nitrates down with 10 goldies, trust me. Sorry for all the questions, lol.