koi again

stampie

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Aug 29, 2003
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I just bought a Koi (which is about 3 inches long) last Thursday and all day he would hide in the same corner behind the pagoda decoration I put in the 10 gallon tank. He would never move away from that same corner all day. But when he finally swims around the tank he swims normally so I know that he's not hurt or sick or anything like that. However, is that normal behavior for new fish?

How do you determine the gender of koi???

Also, the day I got my Koi he barely ate anything. He ate a few pellets later that night. But then the next day, he refused to eat anything at all for the entire day. So I switched to feeding him flakes hoping that maybe he didn't like the pellets and he finally ate in the morning on the 3rd day that I had him. But I think he is probably physically healthy since he does go to the bathroom frequently. However, I don't understand how he goes so much when he barely eats. According to books I've read about freshwater fish, they recommend feeding them twice a day, but my koi chooses to eat only once a day or even sometimes less. Is that normal behavior for a new fish as well?

CAN ANY ONE ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FOR ME PLEASE????
 
Yes, that is normal behavior for a new acquisition...you'll see it start to ignore you even more if you overfeed it as it can find food in the substrate and won't "need" the food that you give it fresh.

Keep in mind that a 3" Koi will outgrow a 10g in very little time if fed properly...what they can eat in 2 minutes is a good rule of thumb. You are probably overfeeding it and it will take some time for it to metabolize what it's had already.

Gender of koi -- males are (generally) slimmer than females of the same size. I can't find anything else in Axelrod's koi book, so I can't help you much more on sexing them.

Your koi, I'm sorry to say, is in for a short life unless you get a much larger aquarium for it and feed it less than you have been.
 
just an addition to what Childawg said..
Your koi, I'm sorry to say, is in for a short life unless you get a much larger aquarium for it and feed it less than you have been.

another option is a pond. These are quite cheap for the gallon. They are most oftenly used outside but ones such as a 300 gallon pond are sometimes found inside. Check the indoor/outdoor ponds section for more info.

Aaron
 
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No prob, Aaron. I was happy when my babies in the whiskey barrel turned out to be Comets rather than Koi because of that stat so I figured that I'd pass it along.
 
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