Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I set up a wheelie bin at home with about 10 Koi .. 3 deaths out of 10 fish.

The fish were 2 bucks each .. about 2 - 2.5 cm long.

I also have set up a fairly large aquarium at school.. again 10 koi and have had a few deaths!

Strange .. my goldfish are thriving, my tilapia are thriving, but these Koi seem to have a very high death rate in two different places.

The water looks clear, I am bnot over feeding (the kids at school may be overfeeding).. but are these fish a little "fragile"?

I thought Koi were pretty robust?

From what I have heard, koi like moving water.... I think... Whenever you see them in shops they always have fairly rapidly moving water in the tanks or ponds... And yes, I dont think they are anywhere near as tough as goldfish, you certainly couldn't put them into a plain bowl of water like you can a goldfish...

But this is all on hearsay, I have never had experience with koi myself.

Thanks mate .. I have seen them in massive slightly green ponds in Asia ... fat and healthy .. but thinking about it, everywhere I see them locally, massive water througput.

I think you hit the nail on the head .. they like a bit of current maybe?

My nephew had an incredible filter system and massive pump for his little pond... I pooh poohed his set up seemed massive oversizing to me as an amateur ... seems that maybe he knew his stuff!

I think I would be better off messing with some other coldwater fish or perhaps some rare fancy goldfish ... my fantails are growing at an amazing rate ...

Don't discount the cheap feeder goldfish or bronze commets that you get at many shops Johnnie, I have bought many over the years for a buck a piece or whatever they are. Some of them stay fairly boring bronzy colour, but some of them change their colours, turning from boring bronze to interesting golden and red colour, black and red speckles etc... It can be quite surprizing when you sort of forget that you even have on in a dodgey little pond down the back, then you discover a beautifully coloured fish when you clean out the pond.