iam thinking of useing a 500 gal cattle water tough as a pond tank

[crsublette]

she was about 1 inch long when i got her and so she grew at a very slow rate i feed her one time aday every other day

That's probably why.

Most I read of koi are looking for growth so they fed the fish 1 or 2 or 3 times a day, every day, high protein fish food. This feeding schedule produces a good load of ammonia. Ammonia produces nitric acid as it is being broken down by the bio-filtration; the nitric acid must then be buffered by your water's pH causing carbonate, that is a pH buffer, to be consumed. With a high quality, high volume feeding, the high level of ammonia will cause the carbonate to drop faster. Pond's with more water have a higher carbonate surplus versus pond's with less water. Koi can growth quite fast if allowed the proper variables in the environment. A koi growing 6 inches, with as little food ya gave, over 9 months kind of shows how well koi can grow. In a scenario with 12" koi in 50 gallons of water, fed with a high quality and regiment of food, will cause the carbonate to be consumed in less than 2 days; a low carbonate hardeness increases the potential for a pH crash. pH crashes kill the aquatic life that we've come to enjoy. So, in the scenario I provided, ya would have extra maintenance using crushed oyster shells and baking soda to help replenish the carbonate source. That's the general jest of it as far as I am aware. There's much more to it, but I didn't want to get too technical. There's alot of good info on this forum and koiphen.com. Give a yell anytime. Don't mind taking the time to explain at all. The most common recommendation I have read is 1 koi per 250 gallons. So, ya could have at least 2 other koi in the 500 gallon pond, but nothing more would be the general recommondation for beginners.

 

[capewind]

Ohhh I am baddd about over feeding LOL... once they hit about 3" or so, they get moved to the ponds in the basement... we have a 750 that is normally used for QT and recently built a 600 gallon for plants (and of course if it had room for fish, ya know I was gonna use it too). I addition to the 140ish or so babies that were born here that we kept, I just bought a bunch of babies on ebay...

 

[Blackdog128]

today iam going with a friend go check out a pond and rethink about my own pond i going to get soon as long as i feed them every other day it should be ok oh yeah i went away for a week and it lived a whole week with no sickness i did not have someone come over to feed it so a week is the longest i would ever leave my fish alone with no food it will be ok it was looking for food but it was happy to see me back lol

 

[dieselplower]

Uh wow amazing how some people only seem to read the posts that are telling them what to hear, whether they are correct or not.

 

[Blackdog128]

i got back from seeing a pond in a friend back yard and found out i have to have a fountin going all year around so iam looking for a good but cost saving one does anyone have any ideas on this ? and by the wa our friend is wanting to use a hot tub as a pond so right now its up in the air on what iam getting lol

 

[fisharefishy99]

All I can say after owning a 300 gallon pond and a 500 gallon pond is that the last thing you want to do is overstock. For starters you will want an oversized filtration system because I almost guarantee you will overstock it. Maybe not right away, but eventually the fish will become too large for that pond and you will have a lot of problems. Also do not buy feeder goldfish, at least in my opinion. Because even 20 will grow way too large. Instead just try to buy fish individually and go for a few good looking fish rather than buying fish in bulk. I learned the hardway. I bought 50 feeder goldfish, for my 300, then I moved them to my 500, and then I built a 2,000 gallon pond for them and they are still outgrowing it! I would much rather prefer five handpicked Koi instead of my giant mass of fish.

 

[capewind]

LOL... if they survived, you could always give them away later... or build more ponds like you are LOL... I cant talk, because we aquired a fish that started life as a feeder ... and he is now 12" LOL. The comets however, we really need to place some... buggers keep reproducing, and me being the dummy brought them inside to watch grow!

 

[crsublette]

Because even 20 will grow way too large. Instead just try to buy fish individually and go for a few good looking fish rather than buying fish in bulk. I learned the hardway. I bought 50 feeder goldfish, for my 300, then I moved them to my 500, and then I built a 2,000 gallon pond for them and they are still outgrowing it! I would much rather prefer five handpicked Koi instead of my giant mass of fish.

Very good idea to build filtration to be oversized when stocking a pond like this. Also, all bio-filtrations have different efficiencies and different foot prints. This is why it is tough in recommending bio-filtrations.

For stocking fish, I use a general guess of what their size will become in a few years according to how I plan to feed. Also, ponds with more depth or bigger surface area will allow nature to provide more food; so, gotta think about this as well when wanting to feed fish. For comet fish size and limiting extra food in a small pond, I am guessing the fish will grow to be near 8 inches. For koi in the same environment, I bet it would be closer to 14~17 inches. Also, remember koi produce much more waste than comets of equal size. Generally, if the potential total inches of fish is more than 2 inches per 10 gallons of water, then you need some type of bio-filtrations. Also, remember extra water features such as streams, waterfalls, and fountains gives extra filtration.

 

[Blackdog128]

iam looking to get one more koi fish i love to see how big they can grow with the care i can give to them that is my life long goal is grow the biggest koi i can with out doing it harm

 

[fisharefishy99]

iam looking to get one more koi fish i love to see how big they can grow with the care i can give to them that is my life long goal is grow the biggest koi i can with out doing it harm

Just out of curiosity, can you make the pond bigger than 500 gallons? I don't remember seeing anything about size restrictions in previous posts but I may have missed it. A pond liner big enough for a 1,000 gallon pond is probably less expensive than buying a trough new. In my experience, if it is only a little more work to make the pond bigger, do it.

 

[Blackdog128]

oh thsi post is over with iam going with a old hottub now so it is well over 1000 gals iam looking at 1500 gals now

 

[ashirley]

I used a 700 gallon one for a few years and it worked great. I live in SC though so if it gets very cold there you may have to worry about solid freezing. I run my filter system year round but mine did get ice on the top but it wasn't completely covered due to the water movement.

 

[Blackdog128]

oh i seen a friend pond who has theri going for 20 plus years they gave me some good ideas on where to go with my plan

 

[sissy]

My stock tanks have heaters but never kept anything but plants in them and even here I would worry about it cracking and freezing up .

 

[Philphine]

to keep a air hole open u put in a big ball during the winter so it don't freeze all the way

Can this quote be explained further please? I dont get it.

i'd like to know too. my set up is pretty simple and i'd like to see if this is something i can use. thanks.