New pond rookie...

[shw104]

Just and a small garden pond installed.. it's a little over 500 gallons with a water fall. The size was limited by the location.

How many fish should I limit myself too... my kids really, really want to add fish today. I have a neighbor who has a big pond who is going to give us some gold fish... my kids really, really want a koi but I'm thinking it may not be large enough... I'm thinking 3-4 small goldfish to start with and then MAYBE add a small koi later? Is that OK or am I already overstocking it?

Also, part of my pond will get some morning and early afternoon soon... do I need to worry much about water temperature.. my water fill is in the sun so i'm a bit worried the sun will heat the rocks which will eat the water. I going to add some more shade but it will take some time to grow in...

I live in Maryland, just south of Baltimore

Thank you everyone..
Scott

 

[dieselplower]

Good idea to start off with about 4 fish. Once the pond and filters get established with the beneficial bacteria that complete the pond cycle, I would say you could have up to 10 goldfish in 500 gallons comfortably. Many people say you want 1000 gallons of water if you are going to keep Koi but if you have a good filtration system you could probably get away with having a couple koi in there as long as you are willing to only have a couple goldfish as well. What are the dimensions of the pond?

 

[j.w]

Scott
I'd stick w/ just goldfish in that size of pond. Koi need lots of room and you would only be able to keep about 1 koi in there and nothing else unless you want to really keep that pond super clean for him. There are many varieties of goldfish and I love the Shubunkins and the oj/white patterned ones and solid white ones and oh just all of them. You can find them all at your local Petsmart and other stores as well. Neat that your friend will give you some to start and I think that you are right to start of w/ just that small amount and go from there.