Koi Question

[nzafi]

Folks, I will be setting up my 535g tank again shortly and am running through what I want to get as a wet pet. Historically, I did piranhas and then I had an aimara. I love the idea of getting a single fish and keeping it for life. I had to sell my aimara due to a leaking tank which was painful. I have always loved koi so I was curious if it is possible to keep them in a 535g tank. I understand they get really large and require strong filtration. My intention would honestly be to only have 1 or 2 koi, not more.

Unfortunately, MFK does not have much info on Koi and when I google I mostly get breeders and sellers, but I know there must be some top notch forums out there. I did not appreciate how many different types of koi there are and the variety.

kendragon i think you are knowledgeable in this area.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

Folks, I will be setting up my 535g tank again shortly and am running through what I want to get as a wet pet. Historically, I did piranhas and then I had an aimara. I love the idea of getting a single fish and keeping it for life. I had to sell my aimara due to a leaking tank which was painful. I have always loved koi so I was curious if it is possible to keep them in a 535g tank. I understand they get really large and require strong filtration. My intention would honestly be to only have 1 or 2 koi, not more.

Unfortunately, MFK does not have much info on Koi and when I google I mostly get breeders and sellers, but I know there must be some top notch forums out there. I did not appreciate how many different types of koi there are and the variety.

kendragon i think you are knowledgeable in this area.

I like your idea! I have kept Koi in a 230 stock tank and they did great. Make sure you know the difference between breeds, some can be massive. I personally did butterfly koi. For a tank that big you could do some koi with some North American catfish.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

I like your idea! I have kept Koi in a 230 stock tank and they did great. Make sure you know the difference between breeds, some can be massive. I personally did butterfly koi. For a tank that big you could do some koi with some North American catfish.

This is a common mix and can be kept at similar temps. Also, a big pleco might be fun, just to help keep it clean, and you could adopt an old fish.

 

[Deadeye]

Pleco won’t exactly help keep things clean. A large common pleco craps much more than it eats. Most large plecos are just poop machines
Looks good though and can work if you are willing to put on the extra water changes (though in 500 gallons an extra pleco isn’t that harmful).

I like the idea of a koi wet pet! They are extremely underrated and any goldfish or koi has as muchif not more personality than any cichlid or puffer.

 

[tlindsey]

This is a common mix and can be kept at similar temps. Also, a big pleco might be fun, just to help keep it clean, and you could adopt an old fish.

Welcome aboard
I personally wouldn't add a large Pleco it will just contribute to a huge bioload as the Koi grow. Vacuuming the substrate and proper water changes will be the best option. A Bullhead would be a great addition.

 

[nzafi]

I need to figure out bioload and if my filters can handle so many fish. I was running an ultima 1000 and two large HMF filters. My plan was to scrap the ultima and just use the HMF filters. My two corner HMF filters can support up to about 100lbs of fish which is massive, but if I overstock the tank they will clog quickly and cleaning those sponges is a pain.

I like the idea of getting two fancy koi (let my kids maybe pick them out) which are high quality koi. I just need to research because I am worried that it will be hard to take care of them. All of my prior fish could go weeks without eating at times so I never worried about missing a feeding or going on a 2 week vacation. Hence the request for forums where I can research all this. I am finding too many generic fish sites with information which I do not trust.

Water changes are not a problem. I was running a drip of about 50gpd before and will continue to do that. I could also increase it if needed.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

I would get a bullhead catfish with a tancho kujaku, and a butterfly koi with some dithers for fun.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

I would get a bullhead catfish with a tancho kujaku, and a butterfly koi with some dithers for fun.

Yes!

 

[KATALEKEEPER]

I heard 1 koi per 300 gallon.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

It is usually 500 gallons, but butterfly koi are usually smaller. It would be completely fine for a singular tancho kujaku and a butterfly koi with a small catfish, and coldwater livebearers. Platys should be fine. If you want a different thing than poop champions, rosy barbs are also nice, but not livebearers.