Hi folks, I'm hoping a few here keep carp indoors.

I've been offered a reasonable sized tank and fancy keeping a few mirrors in it. How difficult is it to keep the water at a suitable cooler temperature. Especially in the winter when the central heating is on. I'm assuming their pretty hardy and easy enough to keep if the water temperature is ok.

Thanks for any help.

In reply to Post #1
Don't do it. They will outgrow any tank in no time. Only suitable for a decent sized pond. Trust me I've been there.

In reply to Post #1
Don't need to be worried about keeping them cool mate. Unless you live in a sauna the water temp will never get too hot for them.

They will outgrow the tank pretty quick though so make sure you have somewhere for them to go...legally of course. You'll need a good filtration system and avoid sandy substrates.

In reply to Post #2
I've read they only grow to their environment size? That's *****? 😩

In reply to Post #4
Trust me you will need a pond in no time. Carp in warm water with good feed will outgrow an aquarium in no time. Remember you can't just dump them in the nearest water or you risk a fish kill.

In reply to Post #4
Utter ******** mate. Within months they will outgrow an aquarium

In reply to Post #6
Gutted, that's that plan out the window. I'm assuming koi are the same? Sod goldfish, might have to be tropical then

In reply to Post #7
Yep exactly the same. If you want some interesting fish, get some American cichlids. Not the easiest things to get hold of, but way more interesting than the more common Africans imo

In reply to Post #7
Some of the ornamental goldfish species are quite nice (Fantail, Pearlscale etc.).
If you do end up getting into fishkeeping then I would recommend reading up on "the nitrogen cycle of an aquarium" before starting out.

In reply to Post #9
We've kept fish before but the usual temperate ones. It kept the kids happy for a day I'll look into the suggested. So the ornamental goldfish won't keep growing?

Thanks for your help folks.

In reply to Post #10
Yes they will keep growing mate. Slower but they'll outgrow a tank at some point.
Siamese fighters maybe?

Depends how big your tank is really.

In reply to Post #11
I don't know the litres of it, it's a reasonable size. For fighters you'd need like 10 to know they were in there but I wouldn't be happy having any more than 5 4” goldfish. Been looking at google and goldfish ‘aquascapes', some of them look epic to be honest. Might go down that route 🤔

In reply to Post #1
I took home some carp fry from a local lake 20+ years ago (with the owners permission) and kept them in a small tank in the flat we lived in at the time.

Within 2 years we had moved and moved the fish into a small outdoor pond, now, two moves later those same fish are in a pond of 10,000 gallons just outside my back door.

The biggest mirror, Jaws, as christened by my step daughter when she was 3, is now well over 20lb.

Given that they live to 50 years plus keeping carp in an indoor tank isn't ideal.

In reply to Post #13
Fair point on age, I hadn't thought of it To be honest. There's a cyprinid of some type in my grandparents pond that I caught and put in when I was a kid. It's been in there around 20 years and Still going strong. Their hardy buggers thats for sure.

Thoughts have now turned to finding the most obscure goldfish we can find. Bubble eyes are on the list

I had a small common of about 4” in a tank in my late teens, the bugger kept jumping out even used to be able to move the plastic lid to do it, think it was just a kamikaze! Any way I knew it's antic so always left a book on the lid until one day I forgot. I went out on the razzle with the lads and got back in at silly-o'clock to find a bone dry rock hard common on my bedroom floor, I was gutted. So having had a few too many I threw him back in the tank and crashed out. Got up the next day and the bloody thing was swimming around 🤔
Hardy things carp are. Needless to say that I moved him onto a neighbours pond where he might even still be to this day. My advice, dig a pond if you want carp 👍

In reply to Post #1
There's a Facebook group called ‘king carp keepers of the future' if you need any other advice there's some guys on there who really know their stuff.

In reply to Post #15
I put the fish from my pond in a holding tank (a large 3ft deep pool) a couple of years ago in order to clean out their pond. Stupidly I forgot to cover it over night and found one of my favorite fish, a beautiful 17lb linear, dead on the ground, sadly a fox had had some of him so no chance of putting him back. Lesson learned.

In reply to Post #16
Thanks, I've asked to join the group.

On one of the Baitworks podcasts, Mark talks about a carp that jumped out of his tank at their factory. It's crazy what they can go through and survive.

I have grown some fry to 2lb in a year in a 3ft tank, but it needed regular water changes to maintain some water quality.

Perch look stunning in a nice clean tank.

In reply to Post #14
How big is your tank?

In reply to Post #21
I don't have the litres at the minute. Need to measure it up.

Perch sound good. What would a daily diet be?

In reply to Post #22
Bloodworm frozen or live. I'll be honest with you mate you'll need a serouis setup an internal filter you get will not suffice. Ignore the 1" per gallon rubbish as well. Cycling of the tank PH/levels Hardness levels etc all need to be accounted for.. You'll be a scientist before you know it.

I prefer a schooling fish neons for example are more interesting than something we catch on a hook and think that'll look cool..

In reply to Post #22
I only ask because some of the fish you have mentioned have a massive bioload and require very large tanks. For example the goldfish you mentioned earlier. Say you had a tank that was 4ftx2ftx2ft, that would only really be suitable for 2-3 common goldfish depending on which sources you believe. Apologies if you are already aware of this, I just didn't want you going in blindly

In reply to Post #23
I've kept tropicals and wild caught fish in tanks. At the end of the day all you become is a keeper of water quality. Then you put fish in and they bloody ruin it. Always remember there is no such thing as too much filtration.

In reply to Post #24
Crack on with the advice Thanks.

The tank is roughly 220 litres. Filtration wise, I'll try buy the best I can within budget and advice from the store. Shoal fish is another good idea 🤔

In reply to Post #26
Decent size mate. Go for the best external filter you can get on whatever your budget is. As said you can never have too good a filter. If it's for your kids then smaller community fish would be a good shout, plenty to choose from, mollys, platties, tetras, gouramis, corydoras catfish too. Nice and easy to keep, and no aggression to keep an eye on. Barbs can be nice to, but a bit nippy sometimes

In reply to Post #26
I have a couple of similar sized tanks with carp up to 3"
They usually outgrow the tank in a year or so, depending on how much their fed and the temperature.
I use two external filters (EHEIM PRO3 2073) per tank but one should be ok.

In reply to Post #22
My mate used to feed earthworms from the garden.
They were truly stunning. Beautiful colours.

Thanks for all the helps folks. Going for a wonder round an aquatics gaff today.

In reply to Post #30
Do you understand the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle your tank prior to adding fish? Whatever the aquatics place tells you, you CAN NOT add fish to your tank right away. It can take upto 8 weeks for your tank to be ready to accept fish. If you want any advice feel free to pm me.

In reply to Post #30
Fish can start to go in after a week mate, done it many times and never had an issue. If you stock the right fish it's perfectly ok

In reply to Post #32
But also unethical. Especially nowadays when we know so much more about it. Why wait a week if you aren't going to fishless cycle? May as well drop them straight in. Also just because all the fish don't die, does not mean they are not affected.

In reply to Post #32
Dp

In reply to Post #33
Disagree totally, plus really? Unethical? Some would say keeping fish in a tank is unethical. A couple of Hardy fish after a week or so, leave for a couple of weeks, then a couple more, and so on. I was advised to do that by a good friend with over 20yeard in the trade and its always done me well. The fish have always thrived, in fact the very first fish I ever put into an aquarium lived over 10 years, so it can't have been so bad, can it? Putting something like discus straight in, of course bad idea. But some of the catfish species for instance are tough as old boots and very adaptable

In reply to Post #35
We will agree to disagree then. Fish in cycling is hugely outdated and yes is unethical no matter how you look at it. No offense to your friend, but he works within the trade so it is in his interest for people to buy fish as soon as possible. Pretty much the only people who recommend fish in cycles nowadays are aquatics chains. Even most decent Independant stores will rubbish it now.

Ammonia and nitrite cause harm to fish, that is fact. So dropping a fish into an enclosed environment that isnt able to yet breakdown ammonia or nitrite into Nitrate is causing unnecessary suffering. And purely for the sake of your own satisfaction because you are too impatient to wait for your tank to cycle.

I haven't read up on the nitro cycle yet, I will do before putting any fish in. I am aware and have in the past let water settle, treat for chlorine etc. I'm not a complete noob, I won't throw fish into tap water.

In reply to Post #37
There are some very good guides to fishless cycling on YouTube buddy, check them out

In reply to Post #36
Thing is my mate had no interest in selling me fish straight away, he didn't benefit from it in the slightest. Fish in cycling is done way more than you think I bet. Each to their own and all that, but ethics don't come into it. It's the same as people harping on about ethical angling. If ethics were really a big concern, people wouldn't fish. It's just people trying to justify it in their own minds imo

In reply to Post #36
I don't disagree with you Monstamunch and if cycling naturally then yes 8 weeks is probably about right.
However it can be done quicker especially if using the correct water treatment chemicals.
I know a lady that was respected in the trade as a fish supplier for years and she reckons if done properly it can be cycled in about a week.

If you treat the water and leave it with the filter running you can put fish in after a week. It is better to prime the filters with bacteria from another successful tank and leave the whole lot running. You could introduce 1 fish and feed it sparingly to aid the feed for the bacteria in the filters.

In reply to Post #40

In reply to Post #42
Really interested in the Perch in an aquarium environment angle.

I guess you can feed them frozen dead maggots. Meat/spam substances, and other dead bugs. Prawns, etc. Left over, dinner. Bits of kebab, etc. Ha.

Not sure if it is workable though, when away, etc.

In reply to Post #43
Few live small goldfish will go down a treat when they are big enough

In reply to Post #38
Fishless cycles can work but can be tricky to get right. Bear in mind the nitrosoma bacteria have to have ammonia to survive and the nitrobacter need nitrite, if the right amount of this isnt present bacteria starts to die within 12 hours or so. Introducing fish slowly, rigorous testing and minimal feeding is a better option, now i have minimal scientific info on the subject but i did spend over 20 years in aquatic trade specilizing in aquariums and have literally helped thousands of people especially novices who have no clue. All of the fish i sold ian were at trade or less so as a shop it made no money but thats what mates do!

In reply to Post #45
Indeed which is why almost all fishless cycle guides will involve adding a source of ammonia. In most cases, kleen off household ammonia cleaner. I'd argue that adding an ammonia source and keeping the ammonia at 4ppm is far less effort than having to do partial water changes almost daily during a fish in cycle to keep your ammonia low to avoid causing fish harm. It certainly is in my opinion anyway. Don't get me wrong when I started out I did fish in cycles. It was the done thing back then. But times move on and with it so does research and we are now far better informed than we were even just 10 years ago.

In reply to Post #45
Wasn't going to mention Dan's special discounts

In reply to Post #48
Err, no.

In reply to Post #49
I don't think that putting carp in the aquarium is an excellent idea. If you want to grow your carp and sell or eat them, the better way is to build a good carp lake in your backyard. I did it last year, and it is much easier than setting the right carp aquarium ecosphere. The most important thing you need always remember is to provide proper plants into your carp lake. If you face any problems finding good aquarium/lake plants for your purposes, send me a private message, I will share my shop with you.

In reply to Post #50
What weight would you recommend eating them at?

In reply to Post #51
It depends if you want fish fingers or a full sized fish and chips

In reply to Post #52
That made me laugh 😂