15 replies to this topic

[chesters1]

i was soft then or was it cold

Edited by chesters1, 18 February 2011 - 07:28 PM.

[Bigfish1966]

I've been doing this for years. Have often kept small Mirrors and commons in my 4 foot aquarium indoors. Feeding them on a range of different foods that I would use as bait such as hemp, various pellets, pieces of boilies etc. It's a great way of finding out if a new bait interests them or not and good fun.

Once the fish get to around 6 inches (12 ounces or so), I would suggest moving them out to either a pond (which I do) or to a local lake (which I have done in the past). The reason for this is the bigger fish obviously eat more and cr*p more and therefore your filter gets very full up quickly - especially if you have 5 or 6 fish around 6 inches. I found I had to clear the filter every 2 or 3 weeks, instead of every 2 or 3 months.

It's best to stick to several smaller fish. Up to 10 or 12 around 3 inches long. If you keep bigger fish then have less of them 2 or 3 max. I rotate them by moving the bigger ones out to my ponds in the garden around spring time. If my fish have bred in the pond and have babies, I then put these in the aquarium.

I've recently (last November), added a few koi to my tank (around 1 to 2 inches). These are much harder to keep alive - have had a few casualties, but 4 or 5 of them seem hardy. Never had problems with mirrors, commons, or even grass carp - they are much more hardy.

[corydoras]

I've recently (last November), added a few koi to my tank (around 1 to 2 inches). These are much harder to keep alive - have had a few casualties, but 4 or 5 of them seem hardy. Never had problems with mirrors, commons, or even grass carp - they are much more hardy.

One probably could keep even large koi in a tank, if one could stretch to an aquarium in the 400-600 gallon range with professional temperature control. The condensation such a beast would cause in the average centrally heated home may be a problem though.

[Renrag39]

One probably could keep even large koi in a tank, if one could stretch to an aquarium in the 400-600 gallon range with professional temperature control. The condensation such a beast would cause in the average centrally heated home may be a problem though.

Idea to overcome your condensation problem!

Small gutter (use whatever you feel fit for purpose/aesthetics), flushmounted round base of tank, silicone sealant is excellent to smooth the top edge.
Window wiper, the rubber edge, not the spongy bit!
Small tube running from guttering to- sump/bucket/plant.

Renrag39

[Steve Walker]

Once the fish get to around 6 inches (12 ounces or so), I would suggest moving them out to either a pond (which I do) or to a local lake (which I have done in the past).

If anyone fancies having a go at this, moving them out to your own pond is absolutely fine but please don't go dumping unwanted aquarium fish anywhere else. It's illegal without consent from the Environment Agency and risks spreading disease and introducing species where they don't exist and don't belong - even if it's only carp.

[corydoras]

Idea to overcome your condensation problem!

Small gutter (use whatever you feel fit for purpose/aesthetics), flushmounted round base of tank, silicone sealant is excellent to smooth the top edge.
Window wiper, the rubber edge, not the spongy bit!
Small tube running from guttering to- sump/bucket/plant.

Renrag39

I don't have any condensation problems, but yes something like that would do. Keeping a large cold water aquarium is too much work for me. I'm aquarium free at the moment, but if I ever have another aquarium it will be a large (>100 gallons) tropical freshwater because they are dead easy to keep. If I had the time to invest is something more demanding then it would be tropical marine, not half a dozen scabby carp or glorified goldfish.