36 replies to this topic

[Mheaven]

Hello I’m new to this garden pond hobby. I purchased a 265g preformed pond can’t remember the dimensions but I do know its 18" deep. I’ll be setting it up next spring. My question is I plan on having about 6 3-4" koi in it, and was wondering if that will be deep enough for the fish to survive the winter time in NJ. I’ll be adding a preformed water fall also. Should I go with a pond liner or just stay with the preformed? I really don’t want anything bigger or much deeper as I have two small children. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you, Danny

BTW great info on this web site.

[koiguy1969]

265 gals is not near big enough for 6 koi..well maybe for a year...and 18 inches is really cutting it close on depth.exspecially with that small of a capacity..buy a liner and forget the little prefab.

[oldmarine]

Welcome Danny,

I installed a 365 gallon preformed pond a year ago, and due to limited space found that I had no room for anything bigger. Beacuse of it's size I only have six Shubunkins, and one Sarrasa, (comet). I figured that my pond would not be big enough for koi so I went with the Shubunkins. They have the same bright coloring and won't crowd my pond and each other.

I believe that your pond will winter NJ just fine, but you may want to concider a submersible heater just for the winter months. Last winter I used a 150 watt submersible aquarium heater in my skimmer / pre-filter, and the water temps never dropped below freezing. Even with a foot of snow on the ground for a week.

I agree with koiguy, you need a bigger and deeper pond for koi. Preplanning your pond should start with, what are you going to put in your pond, and then do your homework from there. Koiguy knows his stuff, I would go with whatever he recomends.

[Mheaven]

koiguy1969,oldmarine: thank you for the quick replys.

I think im going to try to return the preformed pond. I hope they take it back since it was on sale... Ill try out the liner. Now i think ill go with a 6.5'x 5'x 30" pond would that be a better size for the fish i would like to keep? I just hope i can dig that far down , i belive my soil is made up of clay like dirt(from planting plants 4-6"). Dont know what it looks like past that.

This is all new to me(ponds) so please any info would help.

[koiguy1969]

your fish will thank you for it!! the rule for a pond is figure out what you want and double it..LOL .. GOODLUCK!!

[Mheaven]

Well I dug some test holes to see what I’m up against. First location had quite a few stones at only 5" deep and second location had stones and a root from a nearby tree at 5" deep. Looks like in not going past 18" deep. I guess I’ll have to change the type of fish I will be keeping.

[y2kdejesus]

Welcome to the forum Mheaven. If you dont have much room or just cant dig deep enough because of rocks or roots you may want to go with a raised pond about 2-3' up. Plus it would also be safer for your little ones. Just a suggestion, good luck!

[Mheaven]

i dont think i could do that with the weather here in New Jersey.

[DrDave]

Mheaven said:

Well I dug some test holes to see what I’m up against. First location had quite a few stones at only 5" deep and second location had stones and a root from a nearby tree at 5" deep. Looks like in not going past 18" deep. I guess I’ll have to change the type of fish I will be keeping.

I had ponds for over 30 years that were no deeper than 18". My upper pond today is only that deep.

[koiguy1969]

you can keep koi in a 18" deep pond.. but in Jersey like here in michigan, youll have to keep an air stone and/or a heater going thru the winter to keep a hole in the ice to allow for gas exchange...we need to do this at 3' deep!! but 265 gals is just not big enough for 6 koi..that can grow to 30"+ each.. if you put in 3" / 4" koi in a year youll have 8" / 10" koi

[Mheaven]

thats some fast growth in one year. do they really grow that fast? As for the winter part i dont mind putting a heater /air stone. I have plenty of heaters from my salt water tanks.They range from 50w to 300w.

[DrDave]

Colder climates obviously need a deeper pond. My post was only to illustrate that 18" will work in southern climates just fine. No bottom drain, no skimmer, no UV, 100% sun, perfectly clear water all year round.

[Mheaven]

so here is a list of the equipment so far: Pondmaster 1700 & 25W Classic Sterilizer 3/4" NPT w/Wiper (Aqua UV)

I had the uv light from my salt water tank, the pondmaster is new and only paid $110 for it.
Is there anything else ill need?

[koiguy1969]

r u going with the 265 gal prefab? planning on a waterfall?

Edited by koiguy1969, 17 September 2009 - 07:38 PM.

[Mheaven]

yes i am.