Large pond with 7 koi - should I add more?

[carpe diem]

My pond is about 30,000 gallons and has 7 koi (1 male, 6 female). Every year they spawn, and every year the hundreds of bluegills gobble up any possible fry.

I'm getting the pond cleaned this week, and the bluegills and snapping turtles are being rehomed, so it will just be my koi left. For once they'll be able to breed, and I'm excited!

Should I look into getting some new koi to add? Or will 7 koi quickly breed and take over an 80' pond?


Edit: I tend to lose a lot of fish in the winter/spring because it's hard to treat a pond this big, and even harder to catch a sick koi. I guess I'm worried that I'll lose more fish before I have the chance to breed more.

 

[Mmathis]

Where do you live? Does your pond have any kind of filtration or aeration (to keep the water moving)?

 

[GBBUDD]

I would look at fb and other forums . Koi quickly out grow many of these garden ponds. Thus many look for a good home the only issue there is you MUST DO THOROUGH QUARANTINE procedures you don't want to add anything to your pond. If a pond does not look healthy move on.

 

[carpe diem]

Where do you live? Does your pond have any kind of filtration or aeration (to keep the water moving)?

I'm in Mayland, so the weather's just beginning to get into the 70s. It ranges from about 20F to 95F most years.

I think the water movement's pretty good. I have 2 aerators (one on either side) and a floating fountain in the middle. The pond has a gravity feed filtration system, with a submerged pump on one side pumping the water to a smaller filter pond. The filtered water comes back out on the other side of the main pond.

I ordered an oxygen meter to test the levels, but I haven't had a chance to calibrate it yet.

 

[carpe diem]

I would look at fb and other forums . Koi quickly out grow many of these garden ponds. Thus many look for a good home the only issue there is you MUST DO THOROUGH QUARANTINE procedures you don't want to add anything to your pond. If a pond does not look healthy move on.

I actually have a friend of a friend who's constantly culling his small pond, so that's a great idea! He's a pretty hardcore enthusiast, so he might even have a quarantine setup I could use. I didn't even think about asking him.

He tends to go for high-end koi, so even his rejects are probably nicer quality than mine (although I love my weird mutt koi, they really do have great personalities).

 

[GBBUDD]

The nice thing about muts is they can be very unique and really stand out. Just saw your in Maryland and on my PC the next post on the forum below yours is looking to rehome in maryland

 

[carpe diem]

Just an update: No new fish for now. Before I put the current koi back in the pond, I did a thorough inspection of each one while they were netted. Two had ulcers which I treated topically, and some have what looks like the early signs of fin rot. They're all acting normally, so I hope the water change does the trick. But I won't be adding any more fish until I can find a vet to treat them.

I wish I'd discovered this a few days ago when they were in their temporary tanks, but they're so agile that I couldn't net them even in a 500 gal. I spent 30 min chasing a two foot butterfly in circles before giving up. Even the pond experts couldn't net them until the water level was down to a foot.

Thanks everyone for your help! Fingers crossed that they make a full recovery.

 

[carpe diem]

I had to make a second update, because the situation quickly turned hilarious. As soon as the koi were in the clean water, they lost no time and spawned the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. In fact, they've been spawning once a week for the last month, which seems odd, right?

Turns out I have 6 MALES and 1 female, not the other way around! Even the vets who came to see them were confused, since the males are huge and blimp-like, and the female is small and sleek. If I hadn't seen them spawning with my own eyes, I'd never believe it either.

A month ago, I was worried about not having enough fish for the 30,000 gallon pond. Now I'm praying that 99% of the fry don't survive. These photos don't do it justice - there are thousands of them, and those are just the ones I can see!

I'm doubtful that many will get big enough to survive the winter, but if they do, I may have some pretty golden koi to give away next year. They're currently about an inch long, and I have to admit they're very cute.

 

[JRS]

there are thousands of them

Your plan worked....too good. Might have to bring back the turtles and bluegills.

 

[carpe diem]

Your plan worked....too good. Might have to bring back the turtles and bluegills.

Be careful what you wish for, right?
Funny enough, once the pond was drained, all of the turtles were gone. No idea how they escaped the fenced yard, but I live next to a nature preserve, so I'm sure they found a good home in one of the creeks.

 

[GBBUDD]

I know the feling that was me last year, i was lucky they were not cold water fish and didn't survive the winter THANK GOD

 

[jakedog35]

if any of you guys need to relocate your big KOI, I have a 1/4 acre spring-fed pond and I'm looking for 4-5 large koi to put in. I am in Mount Airy, MD.

I don't mind driving to pick them up from you.

 

[carpe diem]

if any of you guys need to relocate your big KOI, I have a 1/4 acre spring-fed pond and I'm looking for 4-5 large koi to put in. I am in Mount Airy, MD.

I don't mind driving to pick them up from you.

Right now the koi from my flock spawn are all fingerlings, but depending on how many survive the winter, I might take you up on your offer next year. There are maybe half a dozen that have made it to 3-4", so they're on track to be 6" by the time it gets cold.

The rest of the fry are only about 1-2", and if I don't see significant growth in the next month, I'll be looking to give them away to people with indoor setups. There are some kohaku that look promising (even though the hi isn't finalized yet), and even a tancho I've seen a few times. And of course, lots and lots of metallic gold ones. I'll make a thread with photos when the time comes.