Do koi need to sleep?

[kingkong]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spike Cover These researchers say they do, http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjmbr/v32n10/3339m.pdf

Now I know why my Father used to get so ticked off when I tapped the glass, as a kid, on the 'Big' aquarium. It would be my luck to get picked for the Ingestion Test on the cannibalism experiment.

[Doug Ward]

KingKong is a prime example of " too much work".. lean and mean but cant lift what my lazy azzz can..

[Akai-San]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spike Cover These researchers say they do, http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjmbr/v32n10/3339m.pdf

Thanks Spike,

But thats too deep for me. Hahaha.

So I guess, behavior sleep is as far it goes. Maybe having a variety of places in a pond is a good thing for koi. Differing depths, currents, etc. Spice up their lives a little, keep them happy. How would everyone feel if we lived in a box? Hahaha.

[ranskye]

sharks sleep while they are swimming. they swim slowly. most sharks would die if they didnt swim as it keeps the water moving past the gill inlets.

i reckon koi sleep, it probably doesnt mean that they have to sit still on the bottom to have a sleep. it might be like an autopilot where their mind shuts off from most things. id agree a slow spot in the tank wouldnt be a bad idea.

it makes sense that fish dont just sit there and close right off from external environments or theyd be snatched up too quickly by a predator, so even if we think they are wide awake they are probably actually catching a few zeds.
id even reckon that although they may have to swim against a current in a stream or agianst a current in a tank they are still getting what would be considered sleep to restore the body and mind.

for example if they had a flooded creek they would sometimes have to be awake for days and days becasue of that. surely their sleeping mechanism or what would be termed by us as sleep would have evolved to suit them in these situations as with most other fish that are always in current.

if your gonna run their energy out constantly against a hard current then they may not get enough energy out of their food to supply the first requirements they have and leave over a lot for maximum growth... as such id imagine that they may not be able to grow weight as fast as a fish that wasnt expending energy all day.
possibly negligable though and when you take into account that most water that is moving is higher in oxygen and the exchange over the gills is better that may well help the fish metabolise and grow better anyway.

oh yeah and hello again to all!!
ive been busy breeding fish in our season over here in oz.
the first crop of baby koi was a success.

[koifishgirl]

Ranskye, where the heck have you been, does it take months to spawn koi and do some culling. Glad to see you back. I really enjoy your long winded post and I learn from them.
Get us some pics ok. I would love to see what you are up to. Also I have had to line two of my ponds and still trying to figure out what to do about filteration, ponds are so big just wondering if I really need it.

Stay with us for a while ok.

[ranskye]

yes KFG it takes me a while, the first crop was put down as early as possible so they take a while casue of the colder water. then i have to get round to the sorting. ive done most of it now. just a quick job with the fish that got..we got a lot of fish but nothing too special..mainly orgons.
so i just picked out some bright ones and some metalic looking ones and a few odd leather skins.
should be about six weeks this time from hatch to harvest seeing as we are nearing the warm part of our year.
then we get another crop in late which we let stay small throughout winter so we might have small fish to take us through to next season and keep the customers happy. this year we will probably get in four crops of koi as we do a lot of goldfish and a pond of livebearers.
the good thing is i have four more pnds this year to play with and let some nice koi grow out.
i dont cull, call it naughty or whatever but i just let them out of the lip of a bucket into a cage and pull aside the ones i like most and set them free. all the rubbish stays small in the cages and gets sold quickly , it goes as feeders which is 99.9 percent. this first crop was mainly yellow ogons but im getting a few shu sui and some kahaku.

ill be sure to get some pics happening in the coming weeks. filling the second pond for next spawning tonight so ill take some of the next pairs early next week.

shame you had to line the pond. ive got some plastic ponds that leak and they are a pain in the butt when you think youve sealed it and you fill it and then you see a water trail again.
if you have a big pond you probably dont need filtration if you manage the water, unless you have a lot of stock holding. i still havent gotten round to setting up filters on the 1 meg ponds, though they would be nice but would cost a fair whack. it might take a while for you to get the numbers up before you require them. good if you havent gone broke alreeady KFG and can afford a filter still.

the losses we had on the farm where the first major brood losses in ten or more years so i think now we have hit full stocking capacity without filters and better air equipment. we really should have a good 2 horsepower paddle wheel going on the farm.
we have lost a good portion of a crop of koi before due to pumping the pond too low in the dark.

[koifishgirl]

Hey my contstruction plans have taken a turn since the ponds will not hold water. I have two that I think I can use without a liner and letting them go through the winter rains to see how they are going to hold up. If they dont hold like I want them to well its liners for them also. I had wanted to build four more ponds but with the problems I am having with the ponds leaking so bad I dont have the water I need. The land next to mine is for sale and has a large creek on the property but I dont know if I will be able to afford to buy this property to get the water I need. If I can get a good batch of koi to sell and make enough off the koi then maybe I can get the other place and all will be ok then. I just have to wait and see. I dont plan to give up on this project as I am determind to do what I want even if it cost me more in the long run and takes more time.

I dont know if you know what has happened since the last time you were online but I fell down the banks of my mud pond getting small koi out of the pond and now I have been out of work since Aug. 28 th. Still dont know when I will be able to return to work. So that is hitting my purse pretty hard. I am one of these people that when I want to do something bad enough I dont let nothing get in my way.

Cant wait to see some of the koi that you are growing out and wish I was their to see how your operation works.

Judy

[ranskye]

hi kfg, sorry to hear you had a stack down the wall..

we use ladders on our walls to get down but still sometimes when your carrying buckets you can slip.
ive fallen into the pond numerous times. 2 times i had a new mobile phone and they got wrecked.

ill be sure to take some farm shots soon to give you an idea of how it works and ill explain the processes we do.

when you send me some milt form those good lines you guys can get thats when youd see some nice fish coming outa my farm.

you people are spoilt with good gene pools but ill see what i can come up with this season. who knows maybe theyll get a second look.

maybe you can get a license to pump water form the creek and permission to run a pump line through the farm next door.

didnt anyone mention doing a soil test before diggin your ponds or is it just leaking casue of iregularities in the land?

if its not leaking casue of the soil type you may be able to plug her up with a clay liner. itd be expensive to do the whole thing but better than buying more land that dont hold water.