View Full Version : High fin sharks in koi pond
waterboy
05-17-2006, 8:12 PM
I put four high fin sharks in my koi pond.Will I be able to leave them in next winter?I can't find any info on how cold they can tolerate.I heat my pond to near 50F in winter will that be warm enough?
Chad55
05-17-2006, 10:32 PM
That should be fine.;)
Chad
FishHeadSoup
05-18-2006, 1:53 PM
they should be ok
how big are they?
any pics
They are okay down to around 50 F. There is even a record of a pair over wintering in an unheated pond in Vancouver, Washington but they died during the second winter.
Crisroom
05-20-2006, 1:25 AM
My winter temps get to that and mine do just fine. One is over 16"! During the winter they just shut down and wait for spring.
NVR ENUF
05-20-2006, 12:20 PM
My winter temps get to that and mine do just fine. One is over 16"! During the winter they just shut down and wait for spring.
Do you have pics of your fish? I hear they don't look as nice as adults?
waterboy
05-20-2006, 8:46 PM
how big are they?
any pics
They are small just 4"-6".I hope they will pick up some size before fall.
waterboy
05-20-2006, 8:49 PM
My winter temps get to that and mine do just fine. One is over 16"! During the winter they just shut down and wait for spring.
How long did it take to reach16"What do you feed them?
Crisroom
05-21-2006, 2:43 AM
Do you have pics of your fish? I hear they don't look as nice as adults?
You are in luck. I don't know how I am going to pull it off but I am moving and have to tear my 2500gl pond down. I have a holding pond at the new place so I will take some pics for you. It seems to me it looks the same when it was small but pics will tell. If all goes well I will post pics soon. Always a pain to move fish!
Crisroom
05-21-2006, 2:47 AM
How long did it take to reach16"What do you feed them?
I bought it when it was aprox 6" and that was about 3yrs ago. I see it feeding on the pellet that sinks that the rest feed on in the pond.
waterboy
05-24-2006, 8:01 PM
No food gets past my koi but the longfin sharks appear to be grazing on the liner algae.Anyone else have any experence with these guys outdoors?
USMCtanker
05-24-2006, 8:13 PM
ya they should be fine, i have seen people do that
Crisroom
06-02-2006, 12:07 AM
No food gets past my koi but the longfin sharks appear to be grazing on the liner algae.Anyone else have any experence with these guys outdoors?
My does the same. Would be interesting to know if the grazing is enough. I keep mine with some big gars so I get a chance to sink some pellets.
I was just reading an aquaculture article about these, they are more hardy when they get bigger, they also eat a lot of algae, in the wild about 80% of their diet is algae, and they love hair and filamentous algae. Here is a pic of adults from the Science Acadamy of Chongging City.
Aras118119
06-10-2006, 12:55 AM
Ive heard they get to be ugly when theyre bigger but i think they look awesome in hose pics.
I don't think they are ugly at all, sleek looking fish.
mjime714
06-10-2006, 10:18 AM
Wes at Rare Fish had some at about 19-20" and they looked just like the juvi's... well maybe not as high, but they look more like juvi's than the pictures posted. I think they start to elongate at around 24"+. The ones Wes had look AWESOME!! I would love those in my pond if I had one... Pond I mean.
GynMonkey1044
06-22-2006, 8:56 AM
I live in Virginia so are winters arent terrible but it does get below freezing, is a de-icer enough for them to live the winter?
If the deeper parts of the pond drop below 50F I would not try it.
druxboyz
06-23-2006, 4:22 AM
maybe its just my bad luck, but i had 4 of these babies which were about 4inches in my 450g pond. They grew to about 10 inches before kicking the bucket in the winter. I live in southern california and i thought that the temp would be fine. Maybe there jsut wasnt enough algae for them.. and the koi dont let any pellet food hit the bottom.
What else can you feed them? i'll try again this summer, but i'll just get 1.