Koi too big for pond?

[TTuckertbnc]

We have a approximately 900 gallon pond , 8 ft x 6 ft , 30 in to ground level , with a circle in the middle , dug 10+ in down into the ground .... a planted waterfall box of ? probably 50 gallons . We are wondering if it is possible that our 4 koi are outgrowing the pond .... 4 that are 15in to 2 ft long ... water quality is not a issue .. Just wondering if the 4 will outgrow the pond ....

 

[Lisak1]

That's a whole lot of fish for 900 gallons. It's always a matter of debate as to "inch of fish per 10 gallons" or "pound of fish per 10 gallons" or whatever, but you never hear anyone say "wow! I have way too much water for the number of fish I have!"

The common theme seems to be "everything was great for X number of years, and then all of a sudden all my fish got sick and died". You reach a tipping point where it's just too much for the pond to handle and it happens often without any warning at all.

I would start trying to find good homes for your beautiful fish and then convert to a goldfish pond... OR you could expand your pond... JUST AN IDEA!

 

[Faebinder]

I have a 900 gallon pond with one koi and lotsa goldfish. I have the same sense as you do. I look at my pond and imagine it being a big cage with a dog in it (the koi).

It's why I only got one.

 

[Lisak1]

One "rule of thumb" that was shared with us early on was that you should have 1000 gallons for the FIRST koi, and then calculate from there, whether you use the 10 gallons per inch or whatever your preferred method. I think the basic idea there is that you need a pond of a certain size to even consider koi - anything under that 1000 gallon mark is perfect for goldfish.

I think you hit the nail on the head @Faebinder - the size of the fish in scale with the size of the pond is important. Too big of fish in too small of a pond just looks... cramped. The beauty of the fish is in it's ability to swim about freely. Same would be true of an aquarium - a big fish in a small tank just looks weird.

 

[Usman]

hi , i like your fish very nice colours specially red black , you seem to have alot of space in garden , why dont you extend pond or create new one and divide them ?

 

[Tula]

Very nice pond I understand your concern about space, as I have 4 koi and my pond is 1700 gallons. I've read of experts keeping koi in pretty small spaces, with excellent filtration....but it's probably a lot of effort.

It does look like you have space to expand

 

[carolinaguy]

When we push our koi population bigger than is wise, several things happen. Our cleaning schedulie jumped to a filter flush every three days. We had 57 fish in a 5000 gallon pond. If the auxiliary air pump, waterfall, aeration trays, and vortex pipe weren't there, they would suffocate. Lost fish once when the power went out. You can do it, but it's dangerous for the fish. Estimating your fish at 33 pounds of total body weight on a guess, that would mean feeding them at 2.5 % total body weight about 14 ounces of food a day. Measure that out on a scale and see if you are feeding at that level. With our 57 fish we were feeding 40 ounces a day. That creates a lot of waste. Just saying.

 

[adavisus]

When a koi is a foot long, one rapid surge of its tail can fling it 6' high and well out of a pond....

 

[TTuckertbnc]

When a koi is a foot long, one rapid surge of its tail can fling it 6' high and well out of a pond....

That is why we have wire over the top of the pond .. we had a 18 inch one disappear out of the pond one night .. vanish without a clue as to what happened ..

 

[TTuckertbnc]

The 4 do not 'seem' to be crowded , the pond is probably closer to 1000 gallons , but the 100 gal more won't make a difference , if the ratio is supposed to be 1000 gallons per koi .. We sit and watch them almost every day , and we were just wondering if we would have to find them homes someday in the future ... What do people do when their koi grow too big??

 

[Tula]

I think it's a personal decision, one based on how much maintenance you're willing to do. Have you considered if your filtration is adequate, if not, perhaps you could increase it?

 

[TTuckertbnc]

I think it's a personal decision, one based on how much maintenance you're willing to do. Have you considered if your filtration is adequate, if not, perhaps you could increase it?

Filtration is fine . We did a filter cleanout and put the clarifier back into the 'system' this past weekend ... we have 1 box filter that pumps the water thru the clarifier and into the waterfall box .. and another box filter that just pumps 'up' and makes a small 'fountain' in the pond .... We clean out both every weekend , that's always been our routine .. Between the waterfall box being filled with plants , lilly's in the pond + the clarifier & filters we don't have water issues ... we were just thinking , wondering , if all 4 grow to 2 / 3 ft+ what will we do ? ....

 

[Lisak1]

You mean "when" - because they will!

 

[Lisak1]

I think the other consideration beside your ability to maintain the water quality has to be quality of life for your fish. If they don't have room to swim more than a few feet in each direction, their health will certainly be impacted. A two foot long koi in an 8 foot long pond - that's about 4 feet to swim and then turn around and go the other way. Kind of like pacing back and forth in a room all day. And night. And day. Then add in three companions and things really get cramped.

 

[TTuckertbnc]

So how do I go about finding these new homes ? I am assuming that they would be worth a few $ to someone wanting big koi ? The big gold one is a butterfly koi with beautiful long fins ,, the snow white one & the 2 tri colored ones are quite big also ...... My husband was not happy when I told him that they were too big for the pond ..