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ITT Koi Anonymous
Do any of you own any koi? This seems like a really cool hobby. Are they hard to raise? Can you own them in warmer climates because I read that they are a cold water fish.

Anyways lets see some motherfucking Koi!
>> Anonymous
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Wish i owned some.
My boyfriend recently bought me a book on aquarium and pond fish (since i am a massive fish geek). Has a whole section on Koi and now i want nothing but the bastards.

I've heard, and seen, that they can be kept indoors. Though, you're going to need one hell of a tank. They start out pretty small, about common-goldfish size. Give em a couple years and they get massive, though.

As for the warmer climate thing... it would depend where you live. http://www.japanese-koi-fish.com/chris%20on%20koi/water%20temperatures%20and%20koi.htm

If you get some though... try to find some Hikari (pic related). Saw a few of them during my trip to japan. Fucking beautiful fish... They look almost carved out of marble or pearl.
>> Anonymous
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I would want one of these. He looks like a BAMF.
>> Anonymous
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GENTLEMEN! I HAVE CONSTRUCTED THIS KOI SUB TO LIVE AMONG THE KOI AND LEARN THEIR WAYS!
>> optic !!FOVow5LFd65
how big can these guys get anyways? i've seen some the size of a shoe while others really tiny :\
>> Anonymous
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>>278905

With fish (and with reptiles, really), growth doesn't stop with maturity... They kinda keep growing as they age. Not as fast as they did in adolescence, but generally speaking the bigger the fish - the older it is. And since koi can live over a hundred years...

Average size seems to be around 20 to 35 inches... though i've read of individuals that get over 4 feet in length....
>> Anonymous
I know a couple people with koi ponds in Atlanta, GA. They seem to be fine in this climate.
>> Anonymous
Size also depends on the size of their pond. My dad and I dug out a Koi pond at his house about 6 years ago, it's about 6ftx6ft and 4-5ft deep.

Right now there's about 8 koi in there. They're about 4-6inches long. 6 years ago we started with 5 or 6, 2 of them are still there and the other 6 are descendants of the original group.

It's in northern virginia, he has a stream/waterfall leading to the pond so water is always moving and doesn't freeze during winter (but's a black tarp over it when it gets really cold, usually during january-februar).
>> optic !!FOVow5LFd65
>>279036
my dad has a little 4x4 pond the when we buy fish for it they never live through winter :(

>>278908
yeah the one i saw was abit smaller than that o.O thats really big
>> Anonymous
I used to work at an upper-middle class catering pond storein Texas. Koi can survive rather well in warm water. You need to have a pond though, they will not do well in a large tank. As long as you have it ~a foot deep they will be fine if the water is turned. They are rather expensive though. I would recommend getting some small, cheap koi to start with. Where I worked, that ran you about 5-8 dollars a fish. True Japanese/Israeli koi would cost ~25-50 dollars for the same size. They aren't hard to raise. Feed them once a day if they can't live off of the crap in your pond. And make sure there are no water snakes around, around here I've lost a few to them.
>> KZN
I think I might dig myself a Koi pond once I move out of this house. I live in Northern AL; if the water is turning and being cycled with a waterfall or something, will they be ok in the winter? It rarely gets to freezing around here.

Also, do they need live feed? What can I feed them?
>> Anonymous
>>279064
they will be fine in the winter this far south, as long as there is about a foot of water, they should do well. Feeding during the winter is not needed, they slow down and hibernate. If you go to a large petstore or even just look on Amazon, you can find koi pellets. Feeding is only "throw in what they can eat in 15 minutes and scoop the rest out after that so it doesnt rot"
>> Anonymous
>>279038

It probably depends on where you live but... if the water is deep enough and running, it wont freeze over, and the fish can make it fine.
Koi are pretty hardy buggers.
>> Anonymous
>>279064
i should have clarified: even if it freezes in the winter, as long as their is a foot of water at the bottom that doesnt freeze, they should live