How long could a butterfly Koi stay in a 16 gallon tank before moving to a larger one?

I am considering purchasing a young butterfly koi fish (preferably a black one).


I currently have a 16 gallon tank, would the Koi do ok in this tank to start with? For how long?


What would be a good size tank for this koi when it's grown up incase I can't put it in a pond?|||Years.|||To be honest to start a juvenile Koi you should start with a tank no smaller than 55 gallons and that's only for over wintering, they will grow fast, up to around 2" a month when small, they will get 12"-14" within a year, and 24" plus within 2-3 years.





Koi are strictly pond fish, fish tanks are the wrong dimensions for these huge fish. For a tank anywhere near the right dimensions it would be a couple of hundred gallons, over 300. But really they need a pond a minimum of 1,000 gallons.|||How long?





Long enough to get a much bigger tank cycled is about all.





A young healthy Koi should be growing about an inch per month - so is going to get too big for that tank in a few months, or else you are going to start stunting it and affect it's health.





Good size tank if you can't put it in a pond? About 500gallons!!!





Seriously don't buy a Koi unless you have a plan on what you are going to do with it in a couple of years time. A shubunkin goldfish looks very similar, but wont grow as big. You could start one out in a 16gal, and move it to a 55gal for life as it grew.





Ian|||Five minutes.


Seriously, you can't house a butterfly koi or any other koi in a 16-gallon tank. Don't even think about it.


An adult koi should have a pond of at least 1000 gallons.





There are many small fish you could keep in a 16-gallon aquarium. You might like some of the smaller barbs, which are related to koi.|||Never.|||You should be fine, until it reaches 15 inches.