Koi

We Stock a Range of Sizes of Koi from 5cm through to 30cm. Larger sizes and special colourings may be available on request.

Maximum Size: 90cm
Lifespan: 40-60 years
Origin: Japan
Diet: Omnivore
Breeding: Egg Layer
pH Range: 6.5 – 9.0

Koi are suitable for larger Ponds only! They will grow large quite quickly. Good Filtration and Aeration is required as Koi Produce more waste than most other Fish Varieties.

Koi are an extremely popular pond fish for their variety of colours, patterns and scalation – They also come in long or short fin varieties. There are several classifications for certain colouration of Koi.

The biggest thing that people need to take into consideration is how big Koi can get so you must make sure you have enough room. You can purchase Koi from as small as 5cm – they will not stay this size! In absolute perfect conditions Koi can grow between 15-20cm in a year. The size of the pond WIILL NOT restrict their growth fully. If they are kept in too small a pond you will have issues with water quality and they may try and jump out of the pond. We recommend at the very  least 1,000 litres for a Koi Pond, the bigger the better! The bigger the pond the easier maintenance will be. A depth of at least 40cm is good but the deeper the better!

Filtration is absolutely essential for a Koi Pond and should be well thought out. There are several ways you can go about this. See our help centre for the different types of filtration or talk to our staff for advice.

Feeding: Koi will eat a variety of fish food, we recommend food with at least 30% Protein, such as Saikoh or PondMax Premium Diets. Koi can be also feed live or frozen foods such as Bloodworms or Brine Shrimp. They will also happily eat vegetables such as peas and lettuce as a treat.

During the summer months Koi can be fed up to once a day. You can even feed them every second day or less, depending on the pond environment, this will allow them to eat more of what is in the pond. This will help to keep the pond cleaner as they will eat algae and any pesky insects like mosquito larvae. Feeding can also be limited to 1-2 times per week during the cooler months as they are less able to digest food and are less active during winter. You can also swap their feeding over to something lighter like the PondMax All Season which has quality Ingredients for easy digestion.

Reproduction: Koi will generally start spawning in Spring when the temperature starts to warm up. During the spawning you will notice the males chasing the females. The male Koi will ram into the females to encourage them to deposit the eggs. If you find the male Koi are being too rough and bullying the females it may be a good idea to remove the females and place them in a separate pond. It’s a good idea to have plenty of aquatic plants (which we know can be quite hard to do as Koi can be prolific plant eaters) in the pond if you wish for the eggs to hatch and the fry to grow. The more places for the eggs to hide the better the chances of their survival, otherwise the Koi will eat any eggs and fry. It can take one to two weeks for the eggs to hatch.

Gender Differences: It can be quite hard to determine the sex of Koi but there are a few things you can look out for:

1. Male Koi are generally more colourful and have longer thinner bodies, whereas Females tend to be a bit plumper (although this isn’t always an accurate way to tell). Females do tend to get larger than the Males.
2. The Fins – Males tends to have more pointed colourful fins whereas Female fins are generally rounder and tend to be translucent. Again, it’s not a super accurate way of telling.
3. The easiest way to tell is during spawning season. During the breeding season the males will chase the females around, so obviously the ones being chased are the females.

Introducing Fish: Make sure you have put a Water Conditioner/Chlorine Neutraliser into your new pond before introducing fish. We suggest to not overstock a new pond with fish too soon, the water needs time to balance and age. If you have just filled the pond, you will need to wait at least a week or two before introducing fish!! Keep an eye on new fish for the first few hours after they have been released into the pond to make sure they are settling in well. Koi can jump when getting settled. Make sure to have a cover over the pond for the first few days!