These are pretty crazy fish!

[Craig Brown]

After a year of construction, I finally put fish into my pond. I bought a few small Koi from a Garden center. I got 7 medium to large Koi on Craigslist.

I've had fishtanks, I even was a Marine Bioligist (doing shark research) 35 years ago. So I have spent a good deal of time watching fish. These guys have "issues". My daughter made the observation that it looks like they are attempting to "school", but there appears to be no leader. They don't seem to know the concept of "personal space" and bang into each other alot (I also know it is mating season

I put in strings of underwater led lights. They are not very bright, but good enough for me. I was afraid they might agitate the fish. The fish seem to swim up to them and "zone out" (not that I believe there is a lot going on in that inbred head

The woman at the garden center told me that Koi like to hide under floating vegetation. I think all her experience might have been based on little Koi. These guys spend a lot of time pushing around the plants. Even after throwing food in the water, they go back to the plants.

Anyway, they certainly aren't boring to watch

My only problem (as descibed in a previous post) is brown water.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Koi are not 'schooling' fish, but they do shoal.

 

[Smaug]

That's quite a few big koi to add all at once. How big is your pond? No koi don't school,they are just disoriented. They also do not hide unless stressed.

 

[Craig Brown]

The pond is 1600-1800 gallons. I suppose the words medium to large are not accurate. I have not seen a lot of big koi. I have 6 that range from 12-18". One that is 24 inches.

Schooling may be the wrong term. But they do seem to swim together in groups of two or three. Or maybe they just happen to go the same direction.

 

[sissy]

I know my 2 biggest aggie and bert usually stay together and seems the other fish follow them at times but I think that is because they think there is food where ever the bigger ones go .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

But they do seem to swim together in groups of two or three.

That is shoaling.

 

[Smaug]

And they aren't given much if a choice in the tiny environments we give them. Koi are carp,in the wild there may be many of them in a given area but they aren't there because other carp are there,they are there because it's the environment they are doing well at the time.