If you’ve ever considered taking care of koi fish, chances are, you’ve had second thoughts, thinking you’ll need a pond for them to thrive.
What if we tell you it’s possible to raise koi fish in an aquarium? Can koi fish live in a tank or not?
In this article, we’ll walk you through the basics you should know when raising koi fish in an aquarium.
Once you learn how to raise your koi fish properly in a tank, you’ll be able to watch them grow without needing to create a pond for them.
Can Koi Fish Live in a Tank?
Fish lovers often raise koi fish in ponds because koi tend to grow to a large size or up to eight inches.
Aside from this, koi fish are also quite active pets; they love swimming around, day and night, without rest.
They would be happier in large areas, such as ponds, where they have a lot of room to swim around and grow.
However, this doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to live inside a fish tank.
You just need to make sure you prepare a good enough aquarium for them.
Why Raise Koi Fish in a Tank?
Still unsure whether or not it’s a good decision to raise koi in an aquarium tank?
Here are a few reasons you may want to consider when it comes to caring for koi fish in an indoor fish tank:
Koi easily adapt to their environment.
Although koi can grow from a few inches to almost a foot long, they are hardy enough to adapt to their environment.
They can grow according to the space available to them, where you won’t expect them to outgrow the tank they’re in.
Additionally, koi fish can be very tough.
They can live in temperatures from 40 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, so there’s no need to worry about water temperature as much.
Koi can stay active regardless of the season when indoors.
Koi are cold-blooded fish, so they tend to go dormant during the winter when the weather is cold outside.
However, since the water temperature is more stable indoors, this won’t be much of a problem.
Your koi fish can stay active even during the winter, as they are in waters with a more regulated temperature.
Koi are friendly and can be a great companion.
Koi fish are friendly fish. They’re said to recognize their caretaker and easily eat food from their hands.
This means that koi fish can certainly be your friend and a great companion while you stay indoors.
Taking care of koi can help relieve stress.
In general, having an aquarium at home can help relieve stress.
Taking care of lively, friendly fish, like koi, can undoubtedly be an enjoyable activity for many people.
How To Raise Koi in an Aquarium
Think you’re ready to raise koi fish in an aquarium indoors? Here’s what you need to know and prepare for:
Choose a good location.
Before anything else, you have to consider your fish tank’s location.
Koi fish require a big aquarium that can hold many gallons of water, and this can get very heavy.
Make sure you have a solid, flat, and structurally sound location capable of supporting this weight.
Ideally, the tank’s location shouldn’t be exposed to direct sunlight, too.
Exposure to sunlight can inevitably raise the water temperature in the tank, causing algae to bloom and oxygen levels to decrease.
Additionally, a quiet place is preferable, as constant noise and walking around can agitate and stress out your koi.
Set the proper water temperature and pH level.
Although koi fish can generally survive in waters between 45 and 90 degrees, the ideal water temperature for them to thrive is 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Despite a stable temperature indoors, installing a heater in your fish tank can also be a good idea, especially during the winter.
A pH level of seven to nine is ideal for koi fish.
Choose a big aquarium.
Koi fish are very active animals, so they will need to have enough room to move around in.
Aside from this, they can also grow quite large, so having a big fish tank is a must.
We recommend choosing an aquarium of at least six feet.
It’s also a good idea to choose aquariums with deep and shallow waters, which the koi can visit depending on the weather and the time of day.
Be mindful of the number of koi in your aquarium.
Since koi can grow to a big size, it’s a good idea to check if they’re able to move around freely before you add extra koi.
As a rule of thumb, add only one to two koi fish at a time to your aquarium.
Also, consider their size before adding extra koi to the tank.
Conclusion
Whether or not can koi fish live in a tank depends on the preparations you are willing to do to make it a suitable living environment for them.
As you may already know, not only are these fish expensive, but they are also not easy to care for.
Hence, you will want to make sure that you are ready for the commitment.