Koi & Community Tank

[dzsigmond217]

So I purchased a Koi fish to eat all the baby snails that my tank was infested with. He managed to eat them all within two days, and I had atleast 100 baby snails! I did some research and asked my local tropical fish store guy whether the koi would eat my small tropical fish and all answers pointed to no..as soon as the fish were large enough to look like fish the koi would not eat them. Of course now I'm missing 5 neon tetras and I'm not sure if the koi ate them or if they died and then all the fish ate them. Being that they all kinda disappeared at once I am very suspicious of the koi. I've had the koi for around 2 weeks and he never bothered the neon tetras before but... My uncle has koi and I was going to give him my koi when it got a little bigger but I think maybe I should get rid of him now before I buy more fish. Anyone with actual koi handling and knowledge (not just read up online knowledge)? Appreciate the advice! Plus is there any other way besides chemicals to get rid of the snails? I dont want to have to handpick 100 baby snails outta my tank every time! Thanks!

 

[onlinebug]

To get the snails, place a jar in the tank with some veg with everything anchored down and in about 5 hours most of the snails will be in there Repeat it untill you are happy.

 

[Lindsey88]

Koi are too big for any tank. They are meant for ponds. You should remove the koi as soon as possible and take him back to the fish store. Also he probably did eat your neons.

 

[crazyaussie]

Hi
a koi is for a big pond not a tank i think its cruel to keep a fish that can get to a very big size in a tank the poor thing


TAKE IT BACK! to the pet shop

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah absolutely take the koi back, completely unsuitable for a community tank both size wise and because they will eat the fish.

to get rid of snails you need to look at the root cause. if there's no left over food for the snails to eat, the population won't multiply so you won't end up with loads of them. Lots of snails generally is a sign that you are overfeeding.

It'll be laborious but one evening pick out every single snail by hand, then from that point on cut back your feeding drastically, you'll find even if one or two get into your tank you won't end up with loads of them.

 

[Matt_northants]

Normally I am the first person to point out that a fish is too large for somebodys tank, but did you guys actually read all of the post? Why does he need to take it back to the LFS when he's going to give it to his koi keeping uncle?

 

[dzsigmond217]

To get the snails, place a jar in the tank with some veg with everything anchored down and in about 5 hours most of the snails will be in there Repeat it untill you are happy.

Normally I am the first person to point out that a fish is too large for somebodys tank, but did you guys actually read all of the post? Why does he need to take it back to the LFS when he's going to give it to his koi keeping uncle?

Thanks for your replies! You guys actually read my whole post. The koi is going to my uncles koi pond and not back to the pet store. As I stated I know the fish is too large for my tank but right now he is only 2 1/2 inches long. I also stated that I did not want to have to hand pick the snails out if I didn't have too (as one person suggested). So thank you for the jar idea, I think thats great and it sounds like it would work. I will admit that I did overfeed when I first started the tank but that has been corrected. Just to let some people know: I refuse to comment on ignorant and uneducated accusations of cruelty.

 

[Lindsey88]

I honestly don't think kois are suited for a community tank for any amount of time no matter how small they are. If you want a cool fish and a snail eater get some kuhli loaches. They look like little eels and they love to eat snails they are also small and wont eat your other fish. Sorry that I didn't read your entire post before.

 

[rabbut]

Though this may not be of nterest to you, since I don't acctualy keep koi myself, I don't think that a 2 and a half inch koi would be large enough to take neons, unless the neons were immature. Koi are very similar to Goldfish (relatively), which I have bread, and I know that they will try to eat anything that fits into their mouth. Though their mouths are large, I would not have thought they would be large enough to eat a 1-2 inch neon untill they were about 5 or 6 inches in lenght themselves. However, it may still be possible. That coupled with the fact that your tank is tropical would lead me to surgest that you move the date of transfur to you available pone forward, to before you add any more fish. The heat will speed his/her motabolisum, leading to his/her life being made a little shorter, and increase its waste output. This is the main reason for them only being suited to tanks, while they "grow out"

HTH
Rabbut

 

[dzsigmond217]

Thanks for the input. The 2 largest neons are still with me but the smaller ones which were around an inch long are gone so I think the koi could have eaten them. I will be transferring the koi to my uncles pond this weekend. Thanks for the advice about the snail eating loaches!

 

[em54lee]

i put a tiger loach into my tank friday and all my snails bar 1 or 2 have since gone!! it wont take him long to finish the others off though!!

 

[rabbut]

i put a tiger loach into my tank friday and all my snails bar 1 or 2 have since gone!! it wont take him long to finish the others off though!!

Just watch him. Tiger loaches can be very nasty when older. Nice looking fish though, and usualy well behaved while young

All the best
Rabbut

 

[stang1]

Kuhli Loaches, as far as I know, don't eat snails. You need to find a loach from the Botia family as they are more likely to eat the snails. Check out this site to give you more idea on sizes, diet, requirements etc.

Loaches

 

[statenfish]

Lighten upon the guy. I keep koi un my 90 gal and you could drink the water its so clean. It is cruel to keep any fish in a tank and not in nature where they belong. As long as he keeps the koi healthy and it has room i say enjoy the fish while you are lucky enough to have him. Good luck

 

[stang1]

While Koi may be of for a huge tank whilst small, it is not recommended. They not only produce lots of waste but need plenty of oxygen.