ok...well it is happening all over again! a year ago, i saw a beautiful goldfis tank with all kinds of goldies and fantials, also loaches and pretty plecs! so...a year later, i have 24 inc tank with all my baby gold fish...i was addicted from the second i saw these babies!!

so...yesterday i went to an aquatic centre, and saw the koi ponds...all i can think about is getting one! but i know i cant....im 23 and move around lots and i need to be settled in one place before i even think about it!!

but i really want koi! i hear its a bad idea to have indoor koi fish right? is there a small species that only grows a few inches? cus i am toying with the idea of getting a koi tank...or something...wit a few koi babies but i want to know if there is a variety that stays small!!

by the, i know the golden tench is for ponds, but does anyone have them? are they good to keep if you had the space? and what about orfes??

thanks guys - im now fully addicited to fish!! lol

sean x

Koi that stays small? Hoho it'll be great if someone could make that
Every koi babies will grow into a giant koi no doubt. Unless if u want to invest in a 500-gal tank to accomodate your koi babies, then keeping koi in adquate conditions indoors is a bit out of your league I'm afraid

You have 24 fish? How big is your tank if you don't mind me asking?

well..do butterfly koi stay smaller? Im not sure on that one....anyway, they need soooo much room. A tank is out of the question for most people. Unless like Riz says, you want to buy a HUGE tank. I mean thats a little out of most people's budget! lol. Im getting a 110 gallon pond for my deck and I am not going to put a SINGLE koi in there, although Id LOVE to, its just not enough room, even for one fish. Im going to have fancies and my commons instead.

lol oops when i said a 24 fish tank, i meant to say a 24 inch tank!! lol i got fish on the brain!! sorry my mistake!!

i got two goldies,and two dojo loaches, and 2 sucker fish (hill stream loaches)

nuts, i wont be buying a pond anytime soon lol

will keep it in mind for one day tho x

YES there are smaller koi. I've not seen them for sale. I myself have some koi that seem to have reached their potential growth at around 7 or 8 inches. I read an article maybe a year ago? At most two years ago about these smaller koi that are being bred in Japan specifically for people that live in apartments. They are so overpopulated there that most people don't have the room for a pond.

Okay, the only thing I've found on this was a link to a message board where people are talking about these koi. They call them bansai koi, here is the link;

http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1433.html

Scott

My koi I rescued from the feeder tank seem to have topped out at about that size. They live in a 1,000 gallon pond and have not gotten any larger than that so I feel that they are staying that size, but they are stunted. A lot of the feeder fish I've gotten have not gotten to their full potential size. I feel it has to do with the way they were raised in their first few months.

That is so interesting about the bonsai koi! I am going to go have a look.

all koi are the same species with the exception of the butterfly "koi" which are not considered actual koi to the japanese. the butterfly "koi" is a hybrid of a long fin carp and koi.

As far as i kno there isn't really any "dwarf" koi just koi that have been stunted by lack of proper conditions.