A lot of Koi in a small pond?

[clark kent]

I finally got to meet my neighbor, and he showed me his pond. It's small, appears to be about 500 -700 gallons, maybe thirty inches deep with what I would guess is maybe a thousand gph pump and bio filter feeding a small waterfall. There are lots of rocks and plants in it. What I found strange was that there are maybe two to three dozen koi and goldfish in it. The biggest koi is about a foot long and most of the other fish are in the six-inch range. The water is quite clear and it's a gorgeous pond. Isn't that waaay too many fish for such a small pond like that?

 

[combatwombat]

Could be shubunkins that look like koi? Could be 1 koi and a ton of goldfish? Could be moments away from an ecosystem collapse? Clear water does not = healthy water.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Sometimes a pond functions beautifully when all logic says it shouldn't. And then things go on well..... until they don't & fish start struggling or dying. The 'lots of plants' is definitely going to help, but there is no guarantee that this happy pond will continue in the same manner, long term.

 

[Jhn]

Agree with @BKHpondcritters and @combatwombat.....Those fish aren’t that big, at the moment, Sooner or later the pond is going to hit a tipping point and when it does he will end up with dead fish and a mess.

 

[clark kent]

I'm sure not going to be the one to tell him he's doing it wrong, but like you guys, I wonder what will happen when those koi grow some. BTW, they're definitely koi, and lots of them.

 

[Lisak1]

Yup. And then he'll say "I don't get it! Everything has been fine UP UNTIL NOW!" How old is his pond? There's a house in my neighborhood with a very small pond - it freezes solid every year. She thinks nothing of just going and getting new fish after she scoops last year's fish out of the pond, dead, every spring. She treats them like annual flowers... very sad. Maybe your neighbor does the same - fish die, get new fish.

There's really no magical way to keep too many fish in a too small pond - the balance will tip eventually.