Are Koi Strong?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
C

ccdoido38

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 30, 2007
243
0
0
s
not muscle wise but health wise.

can they live in bodies of water with ammonia and nitrite/nitrate that would kill most other fish(especially tropicals)
and with no oxygen?

first, since i've seen alot of medium sized ponds that are PACKED with koi. so much you can literally walk across the pond. and no this is not because all of the fish are gathered in one spot because of feeding time, but it is always like this.
is it because koi can breathe air?

and also i've seen a tiny pond in Japan on someone's frontyard. the pond was dug out of ground and made with concrete, but the pond was only around 3x1x1'.
and there were around three 15" black koi swimming in the black water.
no filter, air pump nothing(as it was outside). no waterfall, etc.
and the water was all murky and can't even see the bottom. so i'm sure there's a pretty descent amount of ammonia and nitrite in the water but the fish seemed to act fine and swim/jump fine when i tried netting them out.

so my point is, how come koi can live in really small man made ponds without biological filtration and live like that?
is it that they can live but they are suffering?

i understand if they're in a wild lake or pond, since it is natural and established but why in a man made pond?
 
I would think that they are strong but they do not breathe atmospheric air. Heres a pond stocked with koi less then 2 feet.

koiriverow0.jpg
 
Look at the kid's face LOL
 
thanks mystix, i can't see the pic though..
any link to it?

so you're saying the water quality can be slightly bad, but they need oxygen?
 
Ill post the pic again for you.
koiriveryr2.jpg

Every fish NEEDS oxygen LOL. Water quality doesnt really determine the D.O (Dissolved Oxygen) level. The higher the temp, the less D.O is in the water. Vice versa for colder temps. This is why you see goldfish gasp when kept in tropical conditions. By slightly bad water quality, how bad do you mean? 80 ppm Nitrates? 28,000ppm Nitrates?
 
i mean like oxygen fish....especially like lungfish. and although shorter amounts of time out of water; pirarucu, carp, and bichirs. etc.

oh i see the pics now. i thought you meant a bunch of koi packed in a 2foot pond.
yeah but that seems fine since they're just packed in one area during feeding time.
i meant like ponds that are like that, but throughtout the whole entire pond, all the time.

i'm not sure about parameters but it must be bad if it gets no clean water other than rain water. three 15" koi in a 3foot pond all the time. and the water is a murky green/black coloration. i'm thinking that water is bad. how come the koi are living there for years?

i'm not sure if it's the same pond but there was one that had a constant trickle of crisp clean mountain fresh spring water. if that's in the 3foot pond with the koi, then i'm not too worried about filtration, but again i don't think this was the pond with it..
 
I've seen koi kept in the most awful conditions. People who have a "goldfish pond" in there garden, no pump running, no water changes over many many years and yet the koi seem happy and healthy and grow well.

Lets not forget koi carp were once upon a time common carp when the monks cultivated them back in the 13th century!
 
I just purchased a 4 Inch Koi today at my fish store. I didnt notice until I got home that he has some sort of wound near the tail. I dont have any pictures at the moment. But the Koi is very active and eats like a monster which tells me that this particular injury does not seem to be effecting it too much. I currently have him in a 10 gallon tank with a goldfish his same size.

(I know how big they get)


I put 5ml (half a cap) of Melafix in the water. Do you guys think that he will heal just fine?

Thanks
Manny:headbang2
 
Manny post a picture of the fish, try and get a shot of damage so we can look and see if it looks bad...

I've had koi try and jump out and hit themselves on the pond edge, they've always healed relatively well. Does it look like its had a knock? Or maybe something else? Describe it a bit or ideally get a pic.

Good luck with getting him well again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom