Good beginner fish?

[KenG]

As I already said in my intro, I'm still in the process of digging my pond but I wanted to get my fish already and keep them in an indoor aquarium until I finish. Being new to ponds and fish I'm curious which fish are good for beginners? I really like Koi but I'm looking for something lower maintenance that will be easy to take care of. From what I've seen I think I like comets and shubunkin. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks

 

[sissy]

just not koi and just make sure you protect them from predators as that is a dinner bell for them .I love my koi but they do get very large and produce a lot of waste .They are terribly friendly though

 

[koiguy1969]

Ken...in my opinion and experience koi are no harder to care for than the goldfish varieties. if your pond is of adequate size for koi ...and you want them ..get 'em! ( i might suggest starting with a couple 3" or 4" fish either way, and adding just a couple at a time monitoring water parameters) the differences in waste production between the two shouldnt be an issue for a couple years, depending on how you feed and what you feed. i've had koi and goldies. i no longer have goldies. but i dont do anything different than i would if i just had the goldfish. the difference is you can keep more goldies in the same volume of water. because koi grow so much larger. if your pond isnt large enough to keep all the koi as they get larger, its easy to thin the herd by selling a couple or giving them away on craigslist or similar sites. according to many, my 1200 gal pond is too small for koi...yet i keep 6, 17"- 20 " fish, in a crystal clear pristine pond with consistantly ideal water parameters. i currently have those fish and 45, 3"-6" koi in a 800 gal wintering pond in my basement. no problems!! here a video of the basement pond... theyve been there since September.

 

[KenG]

Well I don't think pond size will be an issue. My pond as of right now is going to be 12ft x 8ft at 4ft deep and if anything will only get bigger as I finish digging. I was just under the impression that koi were more high maintenance than others. don't want to get them just to end up killing them. I also still need to figure out pump and filtration for my size pond. I already had some spare things I would need to build a skippy style filter like your design (koiguy) but I'm curious if one would be enough for my size pond with fish in it.

 

[koiguy1969]

whats going to need more filtration? a larger or a smaller pond with identical fishloads and feeding schedules? the smaller of course!! my 70 gal works on a 1200 gal pond with a good size fishload and feedings 3 times daily. and my 800 gal basement pond filter is a 55 gal plastic drum. carrying the same fish load but slightly less feeding... a 100 gal stocktank should be more than adequate for your pond. unless you overstock and feed heavy. the filtration you need is governed by the wastes created by your fish..the less eaten = less wastes = less ammonias = less need for filtration

 

[KenG]

Yea that makes sense. Like I said I'm new to all this. I already had a 55 gal drum so I was hoping I could get away with that for the filter. I want to DIY as much as I can to save on $.

 

[koiguy1969]

you may very well get by quite nicely with a 55 gal filter....especially the first couple years when the fish are smaller and eat less. you can always add another drum in 2 or 3 years if needed....your gonna want to start with smaller fish anyways if your uneasy with your inexperience. besides it nice to grow your fish out yourself and see the color patterns change and bond with your fish...nothing like the first time they all start feeding from your hand. dont overthink things and panic...sometimes slow and steady wins the race.

 

[j.w]

Koi do eat a lot more than smaller goldfish so more pooh and you don't really have to even feed goldfish at all. They can live on whatever falls in the pond or flies over it. I did that w/ mine for several yrs and it keeps the population down as they will eat the eggs they lay or the tiny fry. Koi I think will starve to death eventually if not fed. Koi are harder on plants in your pond and like to re-arrange the furniture. Koi are more expensive to buy unless you can find some good sales like some do here. Goldfish pretty cheap. Koi do get very big. Love the looks of the koi.....they are beautiful fish! You can find pretty gold fish too tho w/ long flowing fins and nice colors too. You would love both kinds of fish and we just give you info we have learned w/ our own fish stories which we are full of,lol!

 

[KenG]

I'm definitely not going to go overboard with it. Either way I planned on starting from smaller fish and let them grow with me. At a maximum I probly won't go with more than like 4-6 fish. I think since I already have most of what I need like a barrel and plenty of scrap pipe and fittings that i'll start out with one 55 gal skippy and build from there if I end up needing it. Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[addy1]

Don't forget they will have babies, lots of them.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Ken, Your pond needs to properly cycle. This can take 3-6 weeks. I would build it first then put in a few small fish and let it cycle and keep checking ammonia,nitrate, nitrites etc. and add more fish later. Goldfish can tolerate higher ph than koi so that is something to keep in mind when choosing fish. Also you need to decide if you are building more of a water garden with plants that goldfish would be happy in or something with steeper edges and fewer plants that would be more suited to koi.

 

[addy1]

I love having plants and fish so sticking with goldies and shubunkins, which to me are beautiful. They don't get as big as koi, but eat out of my fingers like the koi do.

 

[KenG]

It's going to be more like steep edges with few plants. Minimum of 4ft all the way around and now I think the only plants in the pond itself will be a few floating type. I think I've decided that I do want to go with koi. I'll probably start looking for what i want and keep them in an aquarium inside until time to start adding them to the pond.

 

[koiguy1969]

i see your looking at a pond in the 2,800 - 3,000 gallon range...if your going to stick with 4 - 6 fish. you can easily buy them all at once. as long you dont get large ones. like i said earlier...you control the waste production by the amount and frequency of feeding. my first pond was only 450 gals. and i had 2 dozen fish in it within 3 weeks, in 6 weeks i had over 30. 18 of which were 5"& 6" koi. (not that i am recommending this). first week= 1 feeding a day ...2nd week= 2 feedings a day, 3rd week on = 3 feedings a day.....never had a bad reading. koi can handle a wide range in ph, just slightly less than goldfish...ph swings are whats dangerous to both, more so with koi. a little higher or lower ph thats stable is far more acceptable than a ph that fluccuates. you can start off the system with some beneficial bacteria to accellerate the cycling process. on the plant situation i would reccommend building a floating plant cage maybe 1/3 the size of the pond. water hyacinth and or lettuce thrive in them and really pull the nitrates from the water, they have flowing long fiberous roots, and reproduce at a good quick pace.

 

[KenG]

Yea ill only be starting with 4-6 smaller koi. I'm sure they'll do a good job of adding to it for me. Like I said above I plan on having them inside until the pond is finished anyways so I won't be in any rush to get them in there. I'll be able to make sure everything is stable and running smooth first. Is there any special consideration I should take in mind with keeping them in an aquarium in the house?