# Ok..soo...?



## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

Ok, here's my deal. I recently purchased 2 koi. Small koi. In the tank I had set up for them, I had gravel and some tiny white pearl things to mix in and shine. Anyway, the first day I had them, they kept actinglike they were trying to eat the tiny pearl things. They would put them into their mouth, then spit them out. Well, I went on a business trip and in the 2 days I have been gone, my boyfriend told me that they had taken ALL of the tiny pearl things and made a pile of them. He said they cleaned out all of the gravel.... Why would they do that?? The first koi I have is a black/blue with white and the other is a golden color..I am not sure whether they are male or female, but can anyone help me out with this??


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

Maybe they didnt like them... I dont know....
Bu tI hope the tank isnt permanent... Koi should be kept in Ponds or VERY large Aquariums.


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

I really have no choice about the tank right now... it is 180g though.. they are about 2.5 inches long right now. I thought that would be enough until they got bigger. I had a koi pond before, but I moved into an apartment and there isn't anywhere I could make a pond... I just missed my koi..  anyway, here's another question, I bout a 10g tank that said it was a great size for betta, (didn't really read up on them..sorry) and i let it sit for a week, then I bought a male betta, I am not sure what kind it is but it's about an inch in length and it's a dark red almost purple color, anyway after a few days, it just sat near the bottom wasn't really active(I thought it might be lonely), so I went to a locally owned pet shop to buy a female and they said they didn't get a shipment in or whatever, so I bought a little RELLY colorful fish..I think it's a tetra..not sure though..anyway the betta keeps flaring it's gills at it and chasing it around the tank and fighting it for food eventhough I feed the betta pellets to him...Why is he doing that and should I buy a larger tank for them??


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

180g is pretty good... 
about the betta, they will chase anything that looks like a threat... ie. colorful fish.
Females and males cannot live together... one will kill the other. 
Tetras need to be in schools of 5+
Take the tetra back....
Bettas prefer to be by themselves.


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

I cant exactly take it back, but I can buy another tank, prolly a bigger one than for the betta, and buy about 6 more tetra to put in.... I don't know I am not even near home right now lol. Anyway, thanks for the advice!


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Goldfish/koi/carp are all diggers. They will rearrange the bottom of a tank looking for food. Maybe they stacked them all in one spot because of the taste in their mouth when scavaging for food. They could tell the texture was different and placed them in a spot for future spawning/ egg scattering.


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

Thanks fish_doc..do you think If when I got home, and I posted a pic of them, anyone could tell me whether they were male or female?? Or can you tell me how to check for myself??


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

The best and most accurate way to tell is to look closly at gill cover. The fish has to be mature and ready to breed in order to tell them apart. Otherwise they are a hard fish to determine the sex of. 

When looking at the gill cover (that is the space in front of the gills but behind the eye) you will see what looks like ick under the scale. There will be small white spots there. Other than that there is very few ways to determine the sex of these fish. Only a very clear close-up photo would do the trick and even then it would need to be a mature fish. Usually at least 2-3 years or older for this breed.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

You wouldn't be able to tell in Koi that young.
Well, technically you could, but you'd need a strong magnifying glass. Compare the urogenital pores. If they are different, you have a pair. Once again, though, in fish that young you'd have a reeaally tough time with this.

Koi stack gravel of different styles. They also play with other things. It's just something they do. They get bored, I guess. You can give them toys like hoops to swim thorough and little balls to push around if you'd like.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

I found a link with some good photos that show a bit more about what I was trying to explain.

http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/info/sexing-fs.htm

Best pictures I have found yet on the subject.


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