What other kinds of fish can Koi coexist in a pond with? I'd like to have a setup with them and a couple of other types. I was thinking Yellow Perch and Brown Bullhead might be nice alongside them? Do you guys think the Koi would make the water too dirty to have together with Yellow perch or outcompete them or anything, I've always heard perch like pretty clear water but no idea how dependent they are on it? I've heard koi are fairly docile but maybe other factors to consider? Like to hear some thoughts?
Its big, its a few acres. I don't have any large predator fish in it though and I've heard Koi will lay a lot of eggs. The pond is visited by mammal and avian predators but its deep at 8 to 9 feet so tehres lots of hiding spots. i'm wondering if anyone has any experience keeping Yellow perch/Brown Bullhead and Koi together in a pond setup?
i should mention also for further info I have lots of cover in the pond water lillies, and other types of water weeds and i don't have to aerate.
A pond with koi, YP and bullheads will soon be overpopulated with many stunted fish and murky water. Koi are common carp with color.
Probably the nicest fish for any large pond, a small flock of koi. With abundant grazing, hand taming with meat nibblies, you will probably wonder why you consider any other fish mutt
I am having a little difficulty wrapping my head around your thoughts of stocking Koi and Bullheads. Please take no offence in my newness to the pond world, but most of what I read implies that koi and Bullheads become a nuisance once overpopulated and stunted (along with the green sunfish). I suppose it would be a nice combo in a yard pond that could be manually managed with respect to the actual numbers of fish, but a few acres of water will be very difficult to turn around if you ever became unsatisfied with the results.
Bill said it as plain as can be said IMHO.
If you have your mind set on Koi, respectfully so, you should explore stocking the larger predators as a means of keeping the population in check. Carp (Koi) and catfish are known to keep a pond muddy and with no predation their numbers will skyrocket and there will be little chance of seeing them through the murky water.
Shubunkin goldfish they are a fast swimmer like koi fish too.
I would strongly suggest against koi. They will overpopulate and in 1 or 2 generations they will lose all color and revert back to being carp. Bullhead will stunt and aren't good to eat. If you want pretty fish I would suggest albino CC. Even if they breed they will keep their white color.
If you want perch I'd suggest stocking perch and walleye and possibly adding to that HBG and albino CC. You can get a lot of big fish in a pond if it is over an acre and personally, I think stocking koi would be a waste.
Original color of koi does not basically change as the fish ages and becomes much larger. When koi reproduce many or numerous one are drab colored. These drab koi often have a good survival rate and become the numerous drab colored individuals.
in first week yellow, second two colors appear black and yellow on the third week white colors appear I documented my koi fish breeding with
my koi fry are 8-week old already
I think that results will vary for Koi depending on region and water clarity.
Many folks around me have a few Koi in their game fish ponds, and the koi cannot seem to reproduce. The keys being the predator fish being already established and plentiful, and the water clarity reasonable for the predators to see the koi fry. This is my situation as well. I have 1 butterfly koi, and 3 standard koi, and for the past couple of years, no sign of any reproduction. (Thank God!)
My other fish are Walleye, Yellow Perch, and Black Crappie. The baby perch are voracious hunters, and go around in large fast schools. I cannot imagine much escaping them when they come upon it.
There is one pond in town that has been overrun by koi, and it is a muddy mess. I would guess that once it has been overrun, predator fish have a very difficult time seeing prey and getting handle on the koi population. The owner of this pond put koi in before anything else, and the koi own it now. The only way to deal with a pond in this condition is nuke it from orbit and start over, or seine it over and over and sell off the koi until empty.
I have never heard a good thing said about bullhead in a pond. Another pretty messy fish, stirring up the bottom.
agreed, but also they will inherit their parents genes, also the food they eat will also influence their coloration, for example if you feed them plenty of shrimp they became red, I observe it to my kohaku I gave them shrimp and daphnia and their red coloration became intense
My koi fry now are 9-week old the amazing part is the tobi grow fast and larger than their siblings
Are you sure those overrun ponds have only koi in them? I'm trying to track down a source now, but from what I have heard, koi will not overpopulate a pond. They only spawn If their habitat will support more fish. Goldfish, on the other hand, can look very much like koi, and will breed no matter what.