Fish Lovers 2.0

[Dakotak]

In a goldfish tank yes it would be imporant, but I dont have goldfish, I have Koi. I have been raising Koi for 7 years now though theres not much difference between comet gold fish and Koi, there is still a bit of difference, they arent like your normal pet goldfish. Kois are carp and are made for living in ponds, lakes, and rivers, I raise my Koi as natural as possible wich is the best way to raise Koi. In large ponds which I have, you dont need to do water changes it is very unnessisary and would do more harm to the Koi than it would good. My main Koi pond doesnt just have Koi it has some very large plecos and catsish as well, and in a natural community pond you want stuff like alge to grow. Alge is an important part of raising Koi, in the winter the tend to not eat as much pond pellets or grapefruit, they just nibble at the alge at the bottom of the pond and eat some of the pellets. As it starts to warm up the alge can be a good way to determine when to feed them more, because as they get hungerier they will come up to the top of the pond and nibble at the alge along the skirting of the pond. Also you dont need to add water and replenish trace elements and minerals in the pond when it rains healthy water is added. However in small ponds yes you would need to do alot of maintnance, though not all Koi keepers are the same. Some like me only want thier Koi to thrive as they would in the wild, while others tend to lean toward the more chemicals I pour into my tank the happier my fish will be.... idk Im not trying to argue with you, but I have never lost a Koi in my main pond because I prep them for pond life first. I have only lost new kois during preperation for pond life but I havent lost very many, some die from not being well cared for from the person I baught them from. Other than that I have only lost fry, but thats because everything has to be perfect in order for the fry to thrive, and I do water changes in the fry pond because it is a small pond, and Im not sure why they arent thriving, sometimes it takes a while before you get the hang of it, I only started breeding my Koi 2 almost 3 years ago, because none of my Koi were sexually mature. Also when you have Koi in a prep tank and your preping them for pond life its not good to get them used to frequent water changes, because when you put them in the pond they wont be used to the natural elements and will most likely go into shock and die. Also to much water changes puts alot of stress of Koi, so many of my friends have tried to maintain indoor Koi tanks and killed thier Kois because they thought it was basically the same as raising goldfish but its not, thier ecosystems and habbitats have to be perticular for them to servive in indoor tanks thats why I only house 2 or 3 at the max in my prep tank, for a good 6 months to a year depending on thier size and health. If I feel they arent ready for pond life I dont dare put them in the pond, theres not much at risk in losing a 500 dollar Koi. Alot of the knowledge I have now about Kois can only be gained through expeirence, its not just something you can read in an article. Again not trying to argue just thought id put that out there, these are just my beliefs and experiences about my Koi.

Not trying to argue with you either dear. I'm sorry if it came off that way.
Its cool to hear how you do it and I'm glad you shared. I learn something new every day.
I have always been taught water changes are needed in ponds. The rain replacing the trace elements and minerals does make sense. I didn't think about that since it does not rain here much(yay 7 year drouth) so a lot of the pond keepers do water changes have to do it that way.
If you can you should post pics of your pond. I would love to see it.
Im glad your method is working out though.

[DesireeCollins]

Not trying to argue with you either dear. I'm sorry if it came off that way.
Its cool to hear how you do it and I'm glad you shared. I learn something new every day.
I have always been taught water changes are needed in ponds. The rain replacing the trace elements and minerals does make sense. I didn't think about that since it does not rain here much(yay 7 year drouth) so a lot of the pond keepers do water changes have to do it that way.
If you can you should post pics of your pond. I would love to see it.
Im glad your method is working out though.

Not a problem , I will post pics as soon as I can. Some things work for some people and not for others, and a 7 year drout ) No bueno wouldnt be able to stand living there if there werent any rain! On another note my uncle wants me to build him a pond in his large back yard but Im thinking it might not be whats best for him, he hasnt had fish in a long time, and I tried to explan to him how costly it would be, hes mulling it over. He said he would pay for everthing, but thats not the problem, I would hate to put in all that work if in the end the Koi end up dieing cause he couldnt properly care for them.

[Dakotak]

Yea I'm debating if I wanna do a 300 gallon mini pond for comet and commons. The dought has been rough, I am lucky enough to live on my grandpa's land where he has an under ground river running under the property with a well. The water is nice.
If you are up for it invite him over when you do cleanings on filters and while maintaining the pond and show him how you do it. I have people ask how I keep up my 110 gallon goldfish tank and they decide to stay out of the hobby beacuse they don't wanna "waste time" on fish.

[DesireeCollins]

Yeah, I find all of the hard work I put into my Koi to be worth it in the end, I like having fish for a long time. It makes me feel good when my fish live out thier full lives, I used to have a white fancy tailed goldfish that lived for 5 years, I named him Inuyasha cause he was all white and he grew to be very large. He lived with a young lion head gold fish in a 50 gal util one day I came in to feed him and he was belly up. the lion head was fine, so Im assumiing he died of old age? Unsure he wasnt tiny when I got him and when he died his body was roughly about the size of two of my fists put togeather? (Rough estimate)

[Autotomy]

Hmm. Just got a new bronze Ryukin today. Percy is so lively and cute. He's even a bit smarter than Ryuki. ^^"

That would make 2 three inch fish, 2 three and a half inch fish, and 1 one and a half inch fish inside a 39 gallon tank with very frequent water changes and a heavy duty filter. They have plenty of room to swim around in, even though they sort of school. Two orandas, a calico, two ryukins and a few of my best ramshorn snails.

When they get bigger, the ryukins will stay there in the 39 and I'll move my orandas and the calico into a 65 I think. That is if they all make it to about 5 inches. But everyone eats fine and all are growing quickly!

[Dakotak]

Yeah, I find all of the hard work I put into my Koi to be worth it in the end, I like having fish for a long time. It makes me feel good when my fish live out thier full lives, I used to have a white fancy tailed goldfish that lived for 5 years, I named him Inuyasha cause he was all white and he grew to be very large. He lived with a young lion head gold fish in a 50 gal util one day I came in to feed him and he was belly up. the lion head was fine, so Im assumiing he died of old age? Unsure he wasnt tiny when I got him and when he died his body was roughly about the size of two of my fists put togeather? (Rough estimate)

Goldfish can live up to 20+ years if given everything they need, its hard to tell what it could have been now.
I agree that every bit of work and money I put into my tank is worth it. Its helped me mentally and health wise. Plus, fish are just adorable. How could you not love them?

Hmm. Just got a new bronze Ryukin today. Percy is so lively and cute. He's even a bit smarter than Ryuki. ^^"

That would make 2 three inch fish, 2 three and a half inch fish, and 1 one and a half inch fish inside a 39 gallon tank with very frequent water changes and a heavy duty filter. They have plenty of room to swim around in, even though they sort of school. Two orandas, a calico, two ryukins and a few of my best ramshorn snails.

When they get bigger, the ryukins will stay there in the 39 and I'll move my orandas and the calico into a 65 I think. That is if they all make it to about 5 inches. But everyone eats fine and all are growing quickly!

I would recommend getting a bigger tank very soon. They will more than likely reach 5 inches if not more, goldfish are big fish and if given the room and correct diet they can grow quite quickly. My Oranda grew about an inch in just under a month or two and almost doubled her size in weight.
You could end up stunting them in a smaller tank that is overstocked. You also have to consider bioload. Bioload is one of the reasons goldfish need so much room. A tank that size with that many goldfish wont last long.

Congrats on the bronze Ryukin.

The rule for fancy goldfish is 20 gallons for the first fish and 10 gallons for every one you add after that. With a filter double the size of the tank and the GPH of 10x the size of the tank.

What type of goldfish is your calico? Calico only points to the color of the fish, not the breed.

[Bettahorse]

Ugh, Aranea is pretty much kissing Jewel's face and he's just sitting there like "Hurr hurr, it's a girl. How do I respond to this invitation to spawn? Derp. I'll just stare at the wall."

[.Survivor.]

Ugh, Aranea is pretty much kissing Jewel's face and he's just sitting there like "Hurr hurr, it's a girl. How do I respond to this invitation to spawn? Derp. I'll just stare at the wall."

Lol. That is something one I my favorite guppies did. I would put females in and he would turn his back and star at the wall...or hide in the little decoration I had in there.

[Bettahorse]

I'm thinking of pulling this female from him and putting her in with their uncle, who is ready to spawn, but his female isn't ready. Female swapping! I'll see how things look tomorrow and maybe I'll try it.

Edit: Screw it. I'm switching them tonight. Maybe I'll have eggs in the morning or at least when I get home from work.

[DesireeCollins]

Ugh, Aranea is pretty much kissing Jewel's face and he's just sitting there like "Hurr hurr, it's a girl. How do I respond to this invitation to spawn? Derp. I'll just stare at the wall."

Lol, with me last breeding season it was my Tancho Sanke female Kagome who is acting derpy, I have her with my Hikari male Seshomiru ( Yes Im an anime nerd, lol I name my Koi after anime characters....) there in my prep tank and Seshi is trying to spawn with Kagome, and she keeps running away like "Ahh rape!" Im pretty sure shes not ready, but he has reached sexual maturity already, Im probibly going to be putting him in the pond soon, but first I need to get rid of these nematoads.... T.T dumb worms.... Idk maybe this June I will breed him with Lucy my Orenji Ogon.... still udesisive, who ever I breed him with I will breed him with Ichigo my other male Hikari, so it will be a 2 to 1 ratio this year thinking of buying an indoor breeding tub.