Koi In My 75 Gallon Community Tank

[StarMaker]

I am wondering if anyone has experince with keeping a koi in there tropical fish tank. I have a 75 gallon tank with neon tetras, cherry barbs, zebra danios, a female betta, a black moor, and a bamboo shrimp. As a gift my wife bought a white koi. He is about 3" long. I was nervous about putting him in my community tank, but she gets excited about fish! So i put him in, and so far he is doing allright. He is a little agressive during feeding, but as far as i could tell he has not hurt anyone. two neons died during the night last night, but i could not see where they had been attacked or anything. I used to have a green severum that lived with my small community fish and was nice to all fishes even after he was huge! I am hoping for this same scenario with the Koi. Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ennbee]

Koi are coldwater pondfish. I wouldn't recommend keeping any kind of coldwater fish in a tropical aquarium. Koi also grow way too big for an aquarium anyway. Usually between two and three feet long.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

yeah, completely inappropriate choice of fish. he needs to go back to the store.

 

[transposia]

I had one that grew to about 10-12 inches in my 46gal bow front tank before we finished building the pond. I'd take him back to the store and hopefully your wife could pick another. You could explain to her that keeping koi means you'll be bulding a pond and spending big bucks, she may be able to get excited about a different fish

 

[fishboy619]

koi are coldwater fish, so are blackmoors
personally i would take the koi back to the fish shop, or get a big pond.again, sort out the blackmoor, either buy another tank with no heater, or return him.
sorry it seems harsh, but tropicals and coldwaters dont mix

 

[StarMaker]

koi are coldwater fish, so are blackmoors
personally i would take the koi back to the fish shop, or get a big pond.again, sort out the blackmoor, either buy another tank with no heater, or return him.
sorry it seems harsh, but tropicals and coldwaters dont mix

I do not heat my tank. All my fish dont mind. My biggest fear is him getting along with the other fish. No one keeps Koi in aquariums?

 

[fishboy619]

you dont heat your tank!!!
all these fish :neon tetras, cherry barbs, zebra danios, a female betta are tropical fish and need warm waters.
you really need to heat your water, and sort out the coldwater fish.
thats the one thing i didnt expect you to say

 

[ennbee]

I do not heat my tank. All my fish dont mind. My biggest fear is him getting along with the other fish. No one keeps Koi in aquariums?

Thought I'd heard it all in the years I've been keeping fish, but this takes the biscuit!

 

[StarMaker]

I do not heat my tank. All my fish dont mind. My biggest fear is him getting along with the other fish. No one keeps Koi in aquariums?

Thought I'd heard it all in the years I've been keeping fish, but this takes the biscuit!

About me not heating my tank? I have been successfully keeping tropical fish for 15 years and have never used a heater. I guess I am a retard. If you can show me one reason why i HAVE to heat my tank ill eat my hat. (and it is a pretty dirty hat) My fish all survive fine. I never see any negative effects, so what is the issue? The two times i ever used a heater all of my fish promptly died.

This is my first Koi though.

 

[OohFeeshy]

And hopefully the last... Koi are pond fish, like common goldfish. There's a very good reason people don't keep them in tanks, the same reason people don't keep (or at least, shouldn't) RTCs, TSN, sturgeons etc. indoors.

 

[StarMaker]

And hopefully the last... Koi are pond fish, like common goldfish. There's a very good reason people don't keep them in tanks, the same reason people don't keep (or at least, shouldn't) RTCs, TSN, sturgeons etc. indoors.

Thanks:

Think im going to build a pond for him. I have everything i need, just need to get it done.

 

[FishFriend11]

I do not heat my tank. All my fish dont mind.

What is your water temperature?

Those tropical fish you have like temps in the mid to upper 70s.

 

[StarMaker]

I do not heat my tank. All my fish dont mind.

What is your water temperature?

Those tropical fish you have like temps in the mid to upper 70s.

It stays from 68 as the low to 72 ish as the high

 

[smmetz]

I guess if you live in a tropical area, or keep your house quite warm (mid 70s), then most tropical fish would be fine in an unheated tank.

A quick search of my database found these recommended temperature ranges for vairious fish.

neon tetras 68 - 79
cherry barbs 73 - 81
zebra danios 66 - 78
female betta 74 - 86
bamboo shrimp 72 - 79

As you said, keeping them in an unheated tank will not kill them outright, especially if your tank stays warm without the heater. If your tank gets much below the recommended temps though, the fish would be more prone to diseases, parasites, etc. Kind of like how a pregnant woman smoking crack does not guarentee death or severe deformity in the baby, but it sure increases the chances.

Anyway, I guess the general concensus is that the koi will easily grow larger than a foot, which is about the largest size fish most people recommend putting in a 75 gallon tank. (allows room to turn around and swim a couple feet, turn around again, etc)

 

[three-fingers]

sort out the blackmoor, either buy another tank with no heater, or return him.

IMO fancy goldfish can be kept easily in a low-end tropical temperature tank. Though I'd say 24 degrees is the celcius is the highest you should keep them at, they can certainly tolerate higher temperatures but It will shorten their life and can cause other problems over the long term. What goldfish do need is very good filteration, lots of oxygen and water changes (the other fish in the tank will die before the goldfish if there's too much nitrates).