Many commercial enterprises have built indoor Koi ponds in their businesses to attract customers as well as enhance the interior landscape. There are a few challenges with keeping Koi inside as their typical habitat is an outdoor environment and to enable the fish to maintain their lifestyle certain accommodations must be made.
The number of fish living in indoor Koi ponds should be restricted to not more than one inch of fish per cubic foot of water. This will give each fish the room it needs to move around freely and will not overtax the food system. Koi does not have a stomach; rather a single vein extracts nutrients from the food as it passes through. Overfeeding Koi is possible because, with no stomach, they do not they are full. This will result in ammonia buildup in the water and will cause the pond to give off and odor, not noticed in the outdoors due to natural ventilation.
Additionally, the coloring on these decorated carp is enhanced by natural sunlight and keeping them in indoor Koi ponds may shield them from the natural light, causing their coloring to appear faded. Windows and skylights can provide some sun, but nothing like the real thing will keep their coloring bright. Some food additive have been developed to help them with color retention, but it too does not replace natural sunlight.
Accommodations To Make Fish Feel At home
With each indoor Koi ponds holding about 240 gallons of water for each fish, a quality filtering system will be needed to keep the water clean and less odorous. However, it may be necessary to change the water regularly, with about half of the total amount changed every week. Additionally, a dehumidifier in the room will help reduce the humidity due to the open water. The humidity can also add to the possibility of mold growth and will have to be monitored closely.
Filtration systems can be large and noisy and some commercial business opt to place them away from the open areas with tubing carrying water to and from the filters. Even with adequate filtration measures for indoor Koi ponds in place the need to change the water will become evident by watching to see how dirty the water becomes and how bad it smells. After a while a cleaning and water changing schedule can be established.
The area around indoor Koi ponds should be designed to keep the occasional jumping fish in the pond. If one gets out and no one notices, it can become a health hazard as well as an odorous problem.
