new koi owner

Question
We have recently become the owners of two butterfly koi. When they were purchased we were told that a 10 gallon tank would suffice for at least a year. Well, here it is about 2 months later and they have outgrown the tank. They are both about 5 to 6 inches in length.  My dilema is this....we live in Illinois. Because of the drastic temp changes here, and the many predators that come into our yard I do not want to set up an outdoor pond. We are also only here for about three years. My husband and I are wondering if we should look at setting up some sort of indoor pond or if a very large aquarium would work.  Can you tell me please what would be the best type of home for our little fish?  We had also thought it would be wise to find them a good home as we may not be able to handle raising fish that get so large.  And finally..how fast do these koi grow?  Thanks so much for your time!  

Answer
Wow, I really get grumpy when people selling koi misrepresent stuff just to make a sale!

Let me take the last part of your question first.

The Japanese have established a system of growth and sizes on a yearly basis...

1st year - under 7 inches
2nd year - 7 to 10 inches
3rd year - 10 to 14 inches
4th year - 14 to 18 inches
5th year - 18 to 22 inches
6th year - 22 to 24 inches
7th year - 24 inches above

Koi don't grow much after 10 years. Some grow more quickly and some grow more slowly.

If you are really enjoying your koi and want to keep them, then a larger aquarium will work. But understand that koi indoors are not really in their natural habitat. They tend to loose coloration.

Also, koi are as dirty as they are pretty. I had a 70 gallon tank with 8 koi that were about 6" long. I had a massive filtration system in the garage to support the tank. After a year, I was changing out 2 of the 4 filters every day and changing out 50% of the water twice a week.

Once I finished my first 2500 gallon koi pond and moved them out there, they were just fine.

Keeping koi outdoors in your area is a whole big topic all by itself. Yeah, you can do it, but for 2 small fish buddies, it's more than you want to deal with.

I would suggest that you begin to investigate local koi clubs. They are a great source of support and will be able to help you with koi problems that are specific to your area. Check out...

www.akca.org

The website of the Associated Koi Clubs of America, to find a koi club in your area.

If you enjoy koi, koi clubs can be a lot of fun. You get to visit other peoples ponds and see their koi, then go home and not have to worry about the upkeep on a pond.

Let me know if you need some more guidance.

Chris Bushman
North Hollywood, California

filmlabrat@earthlink.net