Tropical Fish Forums

[dobermansquad]

Can you keep Koi in a 90gallon? Just curious

[diademhill]

No.
Koi potentially grow to 3 feet long. A 1000 gallon pond is considered minimum size.

[dobermansquad]

Wow!.. OK thanks

[havika1978]

I am having a thoughts of getting a koi but I don't know some donts and donts in raring one. Like the food the rehabilitation. etc.

[ZacAdam]

Well, for a start, what diademhill said about the size of a body of water required is absolutely correct. Koi grow prohibitively large for any real indoor application. Ponds of a few thousand gallons are required - preferably several feet either direction and at least 1.5 m (about 5ish feet by my reckoning) are absolutely required.

The reason for the depth has a lot to do with winterhardiness and maintaining the fish through the cold months, and decreases gradually the further south you travel/the warmer the climate. A good depth on a pond allows proper overwintering without expensive de-icers, heaters, etc, and without trying to cram the koi into a tank far too small for it over the winter.

As for food, commonly available commercial koi foods not only suffice, but work wonders in my admittedly limited direct experience with these animals.

Bear in mind that an artificial pond of any size will require filtration (the smaller the pond the heavier), ideally with a water turnover rate on the order of the pond's volume three or four times an hour.

I would not keep a koi in a natural body of water as, at most lattitudes, they are invasive. Further, natural bodies of water have too many inputs and outputs to really get a sense of the water conditions and any contaminants present. A proper garden pond with a heavy liner is preferred.
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