Will our pond be big enough for koi?

[Weirdness555]

Ok yeah obviously starting out with koi would be jumping in the deep end but I am more wondering if we'd be able to ever put koi in, because that will affect how many goldies we buy

 

[Tula]

The only problem I had with my shubunkin and comets was they reproduced like crazy!!! Once I added koi, they ate the fry, but I still had to re home fish as they grew. I now just have my five koi.....and I struggle to keep them out of my lilies.

Guess there are advantages and disadvantages to both set ups. Kim

 

[sissy]

very true but there are some really pretty goldies out there also and if you only get 2 or 3 you should have no problem for a couple of years and you will really get to enjoy the babies as they grow up .Koi destroy everything in my pond plants and snails are just fun for them .

 

[Tula]

I know, koi are maddening! I covered my lily baskets in bird netting and zip tied them closed this fall, hoping this might work, but not getting my hopes up. I miss my pretty pond plants and a few shubunkin.

 

[Weirdness555]

Any fish I could get to eat goldfish fry, like tench I think they sell?

 

[Mmathis]

I am focusing on Shubunkins and a few pretty comets, as well as a couple of fish called Wakin and Watonai. Wakin and Watonai are goldfish, very hardy, very pretty, but not commonly found. Not sure how easy these guys will be to find in the UK, but look into them, especially the Watonai. Imagine a Shubunkin with flowy, double-tail!

 

[addy1]

I have some beautiful shubunkins, they have great colors, here are a few of my pond mutts, i.e. bred in the pond.

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[adavisus]

A single Golden Orfe will do the birth control patrol.

Regards, andy

 

[Mmathis]

Addy, you have some very nice mutts!

 

[Dave 54]

Here in the UK 4 ft is the minimum depth you can have with koi 5ft being the deepest
Our on is 4.5ft deep and weve safely overwintered outside for many years now.
Not all koi grow to jumbo size our largest is around 24", hope this helps you make up your mind

Dave

 

[DOUBBLE TAP]

If you like koi you should get koi. I would bet that there are thousands of koi out there either in ponds that are a little to small or on ponds that are way over stocked. If you are looking to keep koi in a smaller pond you can do it you just have to step up the filtration system. But even then if you buy them small you prob wont have to really worry about that for a coupple years as long as you dont over stock with smaller ones, remember they get bigger so a pond that looks kind of empty this year with 5-6 koi at 3-6 inches will seem quite full when they are almost 2 feet long. Is it the best circumstance? prob not. Is it a bit more work? absolutly. But as somone who started with sarasas and shubi's because they where easyer and I was new to ponding and scared. Then pulled all but one shubi and completed my dream of having a "Koi" pond it is well worth it.YMMV Nothing agenst goldfish but the reason I wanted a pond in the first place was to have all of the colors and veriaties that you can get with koi.

Also you stated that you havent started digging the pond yet you coulad alwayse go deeper and add gallons that way and you wouldnt change the footprint of the pond if space is a concern.

 

[dieselplower]

Digging deeper is always good. You could also build up, above ground level, to add gallons.
If you start adding goldfish id say you won't have room for koi later.

 

[Weirdness555]

I worry about going deeper than 4.5ft because I am only 5ft tall and if I ever need to go wading I'll need my head above water, so to speak. Of course if that's not something I'll ever need to do then we could dig deeper. We don't want to go above ground because the pond will form part of the landscaping for my brother's railway, and bricks are not to scale

 

[DOUBBLE TAP]

I worry about going deeper than 4.5ft because I am only 5ft tall and if I ever need to go wading I'll need my head above water, so to speak. Of course if that's not something I'll ever need to do then we could dig deeper. We don't want to go above ground because the pond will form part of the landscaping for my brother's railway, and bricks are not to scale

lol. Since you still in the construction fase you could keep that in the plans for example a hole in the middle of the pond that goes deeper than the rest of the pond you could easily gain another 100+ gal doing this. But to be honest since you pond is not going to be that wide most things can be done from outside of the pond with an extendable pool net and pumps can be pulled up from the cord from outside of the pond. Worst case you could drain down the pond a foot or two if you have to get in there and refill when your done like a big water change. I usually drain mine down if I have to take the plung Mine is only 4 foot deep and I am six feet tall but its just easier to tuch the botom to arange things by hand if i drain about a foot off and that only happens maby once a year if that I like to see my fish not swim with them. Just dont forget to give youself a step/plant ledge so you can get out lol

 

[Weirdness555]

We're planning a ledge. How do you go about draining it? Without a bottom drain thingamy (i've been advised not to bother as we're using liner) do you just get a pump/filter of some sort and let it sit on the bottom?