Got Rid of 14 Comets Today - Bitter Sweet

[pecan]

When I started my pond three years ago I built it as a garden pond for comets (14 of them). After about a year I picked up 4 Koi on a whim. Well it was almost immediately that I fell in love with the Koi and wanted more Two years later and I now have 11 Koi. The comets in the meantime have been breading like bunnies. LOL I have known since this last spring I NEED to thin them out and want to have only Koi. I thought it would be good to do this before winter so the remaining fish aren't crowded under the ice.

So finally today I spent all afternoon chasing fish. I was able to catch 14 comets and took them to a local fish/aquarium/pond store just down the street. They have the means to take large pond fish off your hands and they re-sale them. They have 20,000 gallon outdoor pond and 5,000 gallon indoor pond. Plus a huge area of aquariums with fresh water fish and another huge area of aquariums with salt water fish.

So my 14 comets were put in their indoor pond to over winter there until they go up for sale in the spring. The did say some of my comets were bigger than what they had ever seen and had great fan tails so they will probably keep a few to live for good in their outdoor pond.

Just a guess but, I probably have another 15 comets in the pond. I think I will try and catch them next spring to take in to the pond store.

Now if I could just get rid of these darn mosquitofish, that weren't supposed to survive Utah winters but 3 years later are going strong

Eventually I'd like to have the pond cleaned out with only Koi left. And in a few more years dig deeper and put in bottom drains. I will probably go from the current 5,000-6,000 gallons up to 8,000 gallons or so.

A ponders work is never done! LOL

I will miss you little fishies. I hope you have a wonderful pond life ahead of you making babies and doing what you do

 

[dieselplower]

I rehomed 18 commons and a bluegill! No idea where that one came from!

 

[Tula]

I rehomed 15 comets and shubunkin on my own. I had my pond drained, cleaned and gravel removed this week. They took 25 more comets and shubunkin. I'm only keeping my five koi. My pond is only 1670 gallons, so it was way overstocked.....they just kept reproducing.

The 15 I re homed went to an indoor pond in an aquarium store. The pond guy took the other 25 to another pond. I feel they will all have a good life....but I do miss their long flowy tails.

 

[Dave 54]

How big is your pond Tula and what filtration do you have on it tto support your 11 koi , I ask because koi can be very prroductive toilet wise so you'll need one man enough tohandle the load ?.

rgrds

Dave

 

[pecan]

I think Tula said he has 5 koi Dave.

I have 11 in 5,000-6,000 gallons of water (24'L x 17' W x 6" - 40"D) with two skippies (100 gallon & 75 gallon) and a small bog.

My new pond will be around 8,000 gallons (24' x 12' x 6') with 2, 4" bottom drains to a filter pit with 2 settlement tanks, 2 mechanical filter drums and pumps that will pump the water to a large bog and back into the pond.

 

[dieselplower]

Just out of curiosity how big of a terd does a 2' or 3' Koi make? We talking hot dogs here? LOL. Just wondering cause I have 2 Koi. About 6 to 8 inches now without the tail.

 

[pecan]

Just out of curiosity how big of a terd does a 2' or 3' Koi make? We talking hot dogs here? LOL. Just wondering cause I have 2 Koi. About 6 to 8 inches now without the tail.

Think German Shepherd! LOL

Just kidding, I don't know.

 

[BlueOrca]

My parents pond has 1 koi, about 24", an albino catfish which is larger than the koi length wise and finally about 60 medium sized comets of all shapes and colours. I plan on thinning their pond in the early fall (going to drop the water level down below the shelves and remove all pots). This pond has been way over populated for years and I fear if I don't do it before this winter, they will lose their favourite fish and be left with gold and black comets (you can't even see the black ones most of the time). Their pond might be 1000 gallons!!!

Since we are talking Koi "droppings", do they slow down during the winter months when the pond is ice covered and the filters aren't running?

 

[Tula]

Since we don't feed koi / fish, once the water temp is around 50 degrees, their systems slow down, not producing much waste.

 

[Tula]

I think Tula said he has 5 koi Dave.

I have 11 in 5,000-6,000 gallons of water (24'L x 17' W x 6" - 40"D) with two skippies (100 gallon & 75 gallon) and a small bog.

My new pond will be around 8,000 gallons (24' x 12' x 6') with 2, 4" bottom drains to a filter pit with 2 settlement tanks, 2 mechanical filter drums and pumps that will pump the water to a large bog and back into the pond.

I looked at your pond pictures last night....just beautiful! You've done an amazing job landscaping your yard and pond.....your passion for it shows I'm thinking of a small bog to assist in filtration and allow me a protected area to enjoy more water plants. Kim

 

[mahisehar]

If you look at the last of my thumbnails, the two predominantly black comets have changed color. One is now all orange and the other is orange except for his tail and dorsal fin

 

[JohnHuff]

They have the means to take large pond fish off your hands and they re-sale them.

Is this your neighbor?

 

[brad_A]

see my post on some people complain about fish predators. I have 18 comets which resulted in 327 (found two more in the inch pool at the bottom a week later after I drained the thing). only 1000 gallon pond so it was ridiculous.

 

[fishin4cars]

Pecan, I had to drain my pond completely and clean to remove all the mosquito fish. It actually took me two tries to get them all out. As for building bigger, There will become a size when the pond gets too big. I thought I would really like two BIG ponds, as time has passed I wish I had stayed with two in the 5000-6000 range and applied the money difference in better filtration set-up. Like mid water suctions and TPR returns along with a BD circuit in the LF pond. I really prefer having two ponds. That way if spawning starts getting rough I have a place to separate the female, also If a problem comes up there is always that second pond that can hold the best. This spring is going to be hard for me, It's become time to reduce the # of big Koi, and I mean reduce by 50% or more. They are getting so big and the amount of poop they put out is becoming more and more of an issue, especially in the LF pond where there is no Bottom drain. The food bill is starting to really get up there as well. I prefer feeding better quality food so more food is absorbed and less waste. But it's a trade off. I went from about $100 worth of food for the year last year to almost $350 worth this year, and that's buying at discounted and bulk pricing. TM, is coming down to get a couple of the butterfly koi, and I already have three of the standards placed when we get them out. Now only 20 more to re-home. LOL

 

[pecan]

Pecan, I had to drain my pond completely and clean to remove all the mosquito fish. It actually took me two tries to get them all out. As for building bigger, There will become a size when the pond gets too big. I thought I would really like two BIG ponds, as time has passed I wish I had stayed with two in the 5000-6000 range and applied the money difference in better filtration set-up. Like mid water suctions and TPR returns along with a BD circuit in the LF pond. I really prefer having two ponds. That way if spawning starts getting rough I have a place to separate the female, also If a problem comes up there is always that second pond that can hold the best. This spring is going to be hard for me, It's become time to reduce the # of big Koi, and I mean reduce by 50% or more. They are getting so big and the amount of poop they put out is becoming more and more of an issue, especially in the LF pond where there is no Bottom drain. The food bill is starting to really get up there as well. I prefer feeding better quality food so more food is absorbed and less waste. But it's a trade off. I went from about $100 worth of food for the year last year to almost $350 worth this year, and that's buying at discounted and bulk pricing. TM, is coming down to get a couple of the butterfly koi, and I already have three of the standards placed when we get them out. Now only 20 more to re-home. LOL

Thanks Larkin, that is really helpful actually. Something I had not considered.

I am in the beginning planning stages of a smaller second pond as we speak and would start digging today if my construction on the house was done. It is going to be a smaller (1200-1500 gallon) pond, with a water fall and bog. I am thinking the long term plan for it is no permanent fish. The main purpose of this pond will be to have a place to keep my fish while digging the main pond deeper and then once they move back into the main pond using it as a QT. It will be simple about 9'x6' oval and 5'-6' deep (2' above ground), no bottom drain, and a small bog above the falls for filtration. I will temporarily run my 100 and 75 gallon skippies to it when it has all the fish from the big pond as well for extra filtration. Right now I only have 11 Koi from 4" up to about 18".

That will give me an opportunity to drain the big pond and get rid of the mosquito fish.. When you say you had to drain your pond twice to get rid of them all, did you drain it completely dry and they survived?

The re-design of my big pond will have less surface area than my current 17'-24' pond but much deeper (6') with a constant depth. Right now I am at 40" at the deepest with evenly space shelves up to about 6". I will have two bottom drains to two sieves in a pit under a deck, that run to two mechanical filters which will house the pumps and pump the water up to the much larger bog then down the falls into the pond.

I plan on making deeper areas in the pit near the drains on the tanks where I can drop a 5 gallon bucket and flush the sieves and mechanical filters if needed.

I am hoping with this design the only thing I will need to do to is drain the gunk from the filters in the pit.

I have never had Koi spawn so I am not sure if they will in the bigger pond once all the comets and mosquito fish are gone, but I think I will keep the fish load in the big pond after the rebuild to to more than 24-30 Koi.

Let me know if you see any huge flaws with this plan or any concerns I should have that you have experienced.