New Koi Pond Build apox 8'x12'

[Mgessert]

I think you would be better off with goldfish. They get bigger than you might think and come in a variety of colors. Koi would be very crowded.

 

[Jhn]

Yea that's what i said but hardly what i did , am doing , done, never done 5 years latter and still decorating the pond

Haha yeah you didn’t last long at all before you started adding onto your pond. Not that I am one to talk, either.

@Landman who recommends odd numbers for koi, other than someone trying to sell koi, never heard that before.

 

[GBBUDD]

Lets see . Re -built the 8x20x6 matrix bog for the single reason to make a taller waterfall, built a 4 foot tall x 12 feet long stone wall. made the new 3 foot tall waterfall, and decorated the cistern just this year alone. and that's not counting all the moss tree stumps and driftwood. but I'm done now......" yea and I have a bridge for sale in Kansas"

 

[Lisak1]

After all your hard work to build your pond, please don't turn this into a disappointing situation. Your pond is TOO SMALL for koi. And there's literally nothing about koi - other than sheer mass - that makes them more desirable than any other fish in your pond. While you MAY be able to keep things balanced and working for a while, you WILL reach a tipping point with koi in a pond your size. And it's devastating when that happens.

Listen to the advice you're getting - you built a great pond for goldfish. Start there and learn about your pond.

 

[Lisak1]

I just read through your intro in this thread and see that the VERY FIRST piece of advice you got was to make sure you build your pond big enough if you want to keep koi. Every single person here knows what will happen if you don't, either from personal experience or from hanging around here.

 

[GBBUDD]

Yeah, ah yup NOPE! That setup is huge!
Maybe it can be dropped by helicopter? You know, a Chinook, one of those big ones with the two rotors.

That can be arranged. With enough money anything is possible

 

[addy1]

I will be having lots of plants in my bog, in my waterfalls, stream and pond edges

Most of the time any plant the koi can reach will be munched down, dug up, etc. They love to up root lilies.

I have a biggish pond, I only have shubunkins, love the ease of care, plants survive, the water stays perfect. And the shubbies are beautiful.

 

[Landman]

After all your hard work to build your pond, please don't turn this into a disappointing situation. Your pond is TOO SMALL for koi. And there's literally nothing about koi - other than sheer mass - that makes them more desirable than any other fish in your pond. While you MAY be able to keep things balanced and working for a while, you WILL reach a tipping point with koi in a pond your size. And it's devastating when that happens.

Listen to the advice you're getting - you built a great pond for goldfish. Start there and learn about your pond.

Thanks I like other fish just thought koi would be cool and I know with other fish I might still be able to hand feed and have them come up to me the other issue is cold freezing winters here so I need fish that can withstand the winter. I know goldfish can as I had some once.

 

[Landman]

Well, I appreciate the advice on fish but at the moment I'm having pump issues so no fish for a while probably. After a lot of testing what I thought was the priming pot sucking in air after 4 min and putting grease on all of the gaskets I actually figured out that I can't run my bog and my waterfall at the same time no enough pressure to my waterfall I'm sure there is more to it than that but I have to go check on the pump again and its almost 32 here outside.

 

[Lisak1]

Cold freezing winters? In Arizona? Well koi could certainly handle it, but with a small pond you risk oxygen deprivation over winter if you get any ice overs. Goldfish have so much less body mass and produce so much less waste that they don't carry the same risk.

I am not a big fan of teaching fish to come to the side for food. Predators can take advantage of that behavior pattern. We always throw food to the middle of the pond to encourage them to look elsewhere for food. But goldfish will still recognize you and get excited when they see you coming. Mine follow me from one side of the pond to the other, just being nosy about what I'm doing when I'm out there walking around.

 

[Landman]

Cold freezing winters? In Arizona? Well koi could certainly handle it, but with a small pond you risk oxygen deprivation over winter if you get any ice overs. Goldfish have so much less body mass and produce so much less waste that they don't carry the same risk.

I am not a big fan of teaching fish to come to the side for food. Predators can take advantage of that behavior pattern. We always throw food to the middle of the pond to encourage them to look elsewhere for food. But goldfish will still recognize you and get excited when they see you coming. Mine follow me from one side of the pond to the other, just being nosy about what I'm doing when I'm out there walking around.

Yes we live in the white mountains we have a beautiful forest and get snow in the winter. Arizona is not just a desert but this year we haven't gotten much snow yet. I have an aerator on my pond for oxygen other than just a bit smaller than it was supposed to be do to space on the length and making it 4ft deep instead of only 3 and then wider it was designed by reputable pond company for me to have koi but we will see what happens I want lots of color not just a bunch or orange goldfish no offence and I know they can have some variations in color I will look around and see what I can find. Thanks much for the advice and input.

 

[Landman]

So far the pond ran fin all night but the bog and the waterfall can't run at the same time so the water fall just has enough water running into the waterfall box with aerator on and can't get any higher but it is keeping the plumbing from freezing. I will be talking to the people that designed my set up and see if I can add another pump to the same line or what to do.

 

[Lisak1]

it was designed by reputable pond company for me to have koi

Ok. Please do not take offense to this... but you have a pond "designed by a reputable pond company" but you're finding you can't run your waterfall and bog at the same time. "Reputable" is a very fluid word unfortunately... A bit smaller in width and depth can be the difference in several hundreds of gallons of water.

I will 100% guarantee you that you cannot successfully keep koi in this pond long term. Young koi? Yes. One or two koi? Yes. But more than that is a recipe for disaster. Am I reputable? Who knows?

 

[Landman]

Ok. Please do not take offense to this... but you have a pond "designed by a reputable pond company" but you're finding you can't run your waterfall and bog at the same time. "Reputable" is a very fluid word unfortunately... A bit smaller in width and depth can be the difference in several hundreds of gallons of water.

I will 100% guarantee you that you cannot successfully keep koi in this pond long term. Young koi? Yes. One or two koi? Yes. But more than that is a recipe for disaster. Am I reputable? Who knows?

I figured out my issues with the bog and waterfall I was at fault because I was having too much water come out of my bog and my return jets. Once I got my settings dialed in everything is good. I’ll try and take a video of the waterfall later today. I did look around for some other fish and found a few I liked or that could be with koi and in the winter but not many.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Shubunkin goldfish are really pretty, winter hardy & would be fine in a pond of your size.