My pond (preformed 100 gallon) has been set up for about 3 weeks now. I have 2 small koi I want to put in. Right now they are in a 10 gal tank inside. Our temps have been in the mid 30's at night and mid 50's during the day. I know that koi can take cold water but I am not sure how warm it should be after keeping them inside. Any suggestions on when I can put them outside. The pond was previously set up for 2.5 years and has water celery and some algae left from the move. The Koi came from the pet shop and have never been outside.
Thanks
Betty
When can I put my Koi in my pond.
I would wait until the temperatures rise more. Yes, koi can take cold water, but they must be acclimated to the different temperature slowly. It would probably be less stressful of a move if the pond water temperature is closer to what they are in now.
Thanks SongsofJoy. I will wait until the water warms up more. I was just worried about keeping them in such a small tank for so long.
Betty
They can not stay in a pond of 100 gallons for very long with out stunting their growth, just so you know. On average koi get to be 31.5 inches long and at 24 months they are about 50% of what their maximum size will be. Mind you that this is if they have good living conditions. If your fish are 3-4 inches right now then I would like leave them in 100 gallons for more than 6-8 months, but that part is just a guess. The important part is just making sure that you do not stunt the growth of any fish because it can kill them.
They say that to stock koi in a pond that has a nice filter system then you should only have 50 inches per 1000 gallons of water. If you have a really good filter system then you can have more.
Thanks Herby. I know that they won't be able to stay in my pond for very long. I do have a good filteration system and I also have a friend with a very large natural pond stocked with lots of koi that will take them when they start to get to big.
Betty
I raised one koi, beginning at 4", in a 480 gal pond for one complete season. She got so big she could hardly turn around! We built a 2400 gal pond the following spring. She was much happier. Sadly last spring in her sixth year she got egg bound and died before I had an understanding of what was happening. She was my first and, of course, my favorite koi.
So sorry to hear of your wonderful koi :( I am wondering if thats what happened to my beautiful orange and white one? One day I walked up to the window and saw something orange laying up just above the water on the far side of the pond? Something had chewed it's tail off and it was sitting in front of her head! I felt so bad, she was so big, the largest of all of them! Such pretty colors, she would get very close to me when I was throwing out their feed. She would stick her head up out of the water and look at me, and if I was walking to the other end of the pond, she would swim right as I walked :) I did try to get them used to me comming to get their food, by talking LOUDLY, WEARING THE RED SHIRTS, and standing in the water up to my knees(the shallow side) Until the darn bullheads came running over to brush against my legs, UGH
I am still looking for some pictures of my fish!
