Koi fish are from the carp family and still have the prominent barbells on the lips, which are characteristic of the carp family. Actually the word Koi simply means carp in Japanese. They can live for decades if they have been taken care of. Their colors can be a mixture of a thousand different designs and mixed with several different colors. If you try to breed them, it does not help to choose two beautiful parents, the offspring could still have thousands of fry that are undesirable. However, white and gold or white and black seem to be their most dominate colors.
Many people love the Koi fish, but are curious whether or not they can keep a Koi in an aquarium. There are many things to take into consideration, but it is possible. Koi are much different than Goldfish as the Koi grow as large as 3 feet long even in an aquarium. Some fish enthusiasts state that it is possible to stunt a fish growth by keeping it in a smaller aquarium. Koi however, continue to grow until they run out of room. If it does not have enough room to move around it will eventually die.
You will need to at least have a fish tank that will hold 100 gallons of water for a 1 foot long fish, to keep the fish alive. You also have to consider the tank water filter; the best thing to do is to keep from having to upgrade the filter in the future, it is best to obtain a filter that is large enough to put enough air in the water for the fish to be comfortable. They eat more than any other fish therefore they will have much more waste not only from food but also from their own bodies. As a fish grows the more filtration will need to be done in order to keep the water clean. The filter size also helps prevent many fish diseases. Keeping a Koi in the house is really the best thing to do to protect them from the outside predators that they would have to deal with.
If you put any other type of tropical fish in the same water as the Koi, it ends up as the lunch for Koi. They get large enough that the owner will eventually have to go to the fish bait shop to purchase live minnows to feed it. However, my fish learned to eat dog food and thrived very well. The food is sold in fish shops and it may be a good idea to check the prices of Koi food against the price of a good dry dog food. The Koi will recognize a person when feeding time comes around and will gather at their feet, fighting for the chance to get the next morsel of food.
Although they are cold water fish they do not like extreme coldly cold water. So the owner will want to use a heating device of some sort that will be water proof to help protect them in cold weather.
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