Fish Number Comparison Question

[mant01]

Thank you for the welcome and information. Hopefully the filter and pump I bought will be decent enough. How often is it recommended to test the water levels? thanks

 

[sissy]

at first I did it everyday 2 times a day until the readings were all the same .Took 3 months with all the rain I got

 

[mant01]

Cool thanks, I'll buy some test kits once the water goes in and see how things go.

 

[sissy]

remember liquid test like api are best

 

[mant01]

Thanks a lot I'll make a note of it.

 

[Gemma]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[mant01]

Hi thank you

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Something else to remember.......Mother Nature could come into play......last year I had 10 fairly large Koi in a 3000 gallon pond.......(I know I have learned my lesson the hard way ).... It wasn't a couple of months I had 70, and they grew to 4 to 5 inches before I gave them away....... When there is a will there's a way

 

[LarryM]

Always remember goldfish populations can explode in a single season. I had two goldfish going into the season and now I have around 30 or more. My pond can handle the numbers but not when those 30 breed next year and become 300 or more and my koi grow larger. My pond is so large there is no way to catch them. My solution? I'm raising twenty Ozark Longear Sunfish in my 100 gal quarantine tank inside.I plan on putting them with the koi next spring before the breeding begins. The sunfish should roam the pond like a pack of wolves to snatch up any newly born and unwanted goldfish or koi.

 

[Lisak1]

The sunfish should roam the pond like a pack of wolves to snatch up any newly born and unwanted goldfish or koi.

Sounds like a horror movie - "When Sunfish ATTACK!" Haha!

 

[LarryM]

ROFL!!!! I'll let you know how it works out when put them in with the koi next spring. Right now they're less than an inch long so the only thing they can attack is frozen brine shrimp and blood worms. They are a truly beautiful fish when mature.

 

[Sparky]

Hello and welcome! Not new to fish keeping but this my first year with my “pond” and gallon wise we’re close. As you trudge along the wonderful world of ponding, feel free to ask anything here as that is what I did and it has been nothing short of fantastic. But as someone above said, this is about you learning. Not about the best liners or pumps. You could give a number of people an endless pond budget but if their finger isn’t on the pulse, it ain’t worth a hill of beans. You are starting off on the right foot by coming here.

 

[carolinaguy]

fish density in an aquarium or pond partly depends on the type of fish and partly on your purpose for having a pond. with brackish cichlids for example, these fish require a very high density to keep the fish from fighting and tearing each other apart. 30 5 inch fish in a 250 gallon aquarium is considered common for them. for koi the purpose of the pond dictates the fish density in part. a championship pond has from 60 to 80 gallons per pound of fish. my display pond usually runs between 30 and 50 gallons per pound. poundage is a better measure than inches. a female koi at 33 inches weighs more than a male at 33 inches, and the aquaculture industry focuses on fish weight rather than length. the range in the literature runs from 10 gallons per pound to 80 gallons depending on the type of pond.

a championship pond, for example, must have a large volume of water per fish to control health and condition in these fish who may take 8 years to reach show quality. statistically, a show fish with 8 years in a pond must have an illness frequency approaching 5 sigma events which is the level of commercial airline safety. since we do not show our fish in competition, i'm not as interested in controlling to that level. one of our members who shows has only 4 fish in a 5000 gallon pond. we have 57 in 8000 gallons because we are interested in the school display.

A more interesting measure is how often you want to clean your filters. if you have a lot of fish and feed them properly, the school will turn you into a waste treatment technician who must clean the filters every other day. koi are the cows of the sea who turn your pond into something similar to what a herd of cattle do to a ranchers pasture. probably more fun to clean a filter once every week or two, and that takes fewer fish. and dont forget, these suckers grow so plan keeping the end in mind. your 8 seven inch koi start out weighing a total of 4 pounds. the same 8 three years later as mature koi can weigh 160 pounds.

 

[MitchM]

In the old days, inches of fish and watts per gallon were used to stock and light aquariums.
After more research has been done, you can now more accurately measure the ammonia a certain size fish produces plus measure the correct amount of radiation a plant needs for photosynthesis.
Outdoor ponds also have a layer of periphyton on all submerged surfaces, which is stripped from most surfaces of aquariums.
Periphyton is the green fuzzy matrix that is home to beneficial bacteria and algae, along with beneficial zooplankton that contributes to good water quality and is a food source for more complex animals.