ok tank size for koi?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
ok, so its a raised pond, which is cool, but in my opinion it is best to have a lot of room and be able to house more koi with it than what you're doing. i think the main problem will just be that its not going to be suitable size for them for life. koi just arent like tank fish at all.
 
RadleyMiller;599438; said:
They grow really fast and I don't like doing growouts for ponds. Ponds are a lot different in tanks because they are closer to a natural system. They are open systems with many different factors present. Ponds don't get established in 1 month like a tank does, so they need time to be ready for these fish.



Bizzaro, did I already talk to you about your stocking? Please don't pull this newbie stuff with me, because you have been asking pond questions and I have been answering. Koi are large POND fish and I lot of people don't understand that. Have you ever seen carp in the wild? They swim around scouring the bottom for food. They are a 3-4 foot fish so you want a pond that is twice as long and 3 to 4 times as big as the fish. 2.5 feet is the minumum depth I would go for a pond (unless it is heavily planted, and separated from the main pond) Also, ponds should be that deep so it doesn't need freeze solid in the winter, and so the fish don't get sunburnt in the summer Many of you do not have to deal with this,but deeper waters hold more oxygen, take longer to change temperature, so it is less stressful on the fish. Not to mention, deeper ponds provide protection from predators. Ponds should have straight or strairstepped sides (with plants on the stairsteps) which will protect the fish from wading birds such as herons. Also, straight sides prevent Koi from "rocketing" up the sides. Don't belive me? Well I have seen it happen before. So back to what I was saying earlier. With some conservative calculations, the pond that I have described is 950 gallons. Need I remind you that these are conservative numbers.

Some of you may disagree with me, but Koi are monsters in their own right. On MFK we come together to share advice and experiences, and in fishkeeping, what works for one doesn't work for another. What I am trying to do is make this as simplified as possible for maximum fish health.

Also, overstocking a tank or a pond causes a large amount of nitrogenous wastes to be produced. I agree that ponds should be over filtered, but not just by a commercial or DIY pond filter with biomedia. You also should run a UV sterilizer and plants/bog filtration. The UV will kill parasites and prevent green water and the plants/bog filter will remove nitrates from the water. Submerged aquatic vegetation will also increase the DO in the pond because surface area is also another thing that is important. Without the plants and UV, overstocking like that will most likely cause green water in a few weeks. Also, killing all of that algae with algaecides is a huge stress on the biofiltration.

Like I said before, ponds are a much more complicated system when it comes to set up (almost like the complicated systems in a planted tank or a reef) and it doesn't just happen overnight. Actually, it doesn't happen over a summer, but really takes about a year for a pond to be mature.

Koi are not a fish to be taken lightly. They are ]V[onsters, but they are peaceful. They are long lived, beatiful fish that demand as much respect as any cichlid, catfish, ray, arowana, polypterus, or marine fish.

So please, if you don't want to listen, go right ahead, I can't do anything about that. If you want to listen and have more questions, go ahead and ask. PM me if you want and I will try to answer any question you may have. Keep posting threads on MFK and other forums and we will all come together for the betterment of your fishes' lives and so you may enjoy your fish even more. I can tell both of you have questions about ponds so I am trying to help, so don't take offence and listen to us. After all, we love these fish.
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RadleyMiller, How big are your ponds?
 
Dr Joe;601365; said:
RadleyMiller, How big are your ponds?
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I don't have one:D
But I tank care of my neighbors 600 gallon pond, a person asked me to take care of their pond, so I do that, I am the pond guru at work, and I am building a pond for my former supervisor. I have read a lot and have a lot of experience with what I have worked with.

Wait, DrJoe, are you agreeing with me on the post a spent a half hour writing?
 
RadleyMiller;601442; said:
I don't have one:D
But I tank care of my neighbors 600 gallon pond, a person asked me to take care of their pond, so I do that, I am the pond guru at work, and I am building a pond for my former supervisor. I have read a lot and have a lot of experience with what I have worked with.

Wait, DrJoe, are you agreeing with me on the post a spent a half hour writing?
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So you'v e got like 5-8 years experience then...

No, not really...I did give Midnight what he asked for in the beginning. Nobody actually responded to his post with a full answer. Of course he knows he should have given ALL the facts in his first post...Don't You Midnight...

Oh, deeper water doesn't hold more oxygen...colder water does.

And he did phrase his question wrong and should be chastised to the fullest extent of MFK law... :D :ROFL:

Dr Joe

.
 
lol dr joe.
next time i will say...
ok tank/container/tub/tupperware/pond/hole/watering hole/ditch/crater/troft/esc.esc./ size for koi?
:ROFL: just jokin.

but ya your right i did type that i guess,oops.
but also,this is in the pond section not aquarium.
so right when everyone stepped across that "pond section" line,its been a pond so na na. :ROFL: :D
 
Dr Joe;601482; said:
So you'v e got like 5-8 years experience then...

No, not really...I did give Midnight what he asked for in the beginning. Nobody actually responded to his post with a full answer. Of course he knows he should have given ALL the facts in his first post...Don't You Midnight...

Oh, deeper water doesn't hold more oxygen...colder water does.

And he did phrase his question wrong and should be chastised to the fullest extent of MFK law... :D :ROFL:

Dr Joe

.
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Well, if it is deeper, you maximize volume by minumizing surface area then you have a greater volume, you have a greater mass. With a greater mass you have a less change in temperature because the heat capacity of liquid H20 is 4.184 J*g. To make a long story short, if it is deeper it takes longer for it to get hot and if it stays cooler longer it holds more oxygen. That is what I was trying to get across.

Also, I only have about a year of practical experience, but years aren't that important. I met a guy that had been keeping fish for 20 years. Oscars in 20 gallons and never doing water changes. Midnight, I was trying to explain stuff to you, but Bizzaro cut in and said it would be fine even though he and I already had a discussion about his fish choice (2 Koi, channel cat, LMB in a 60 gallon)
 
minimum gallons for one koi is about 300.
don't keep other fish with your koi, they may be good to geather for a while but koi like to eat EVERY THING. my koi have eaten 3 placos(around 5 inches long each). and my moms firends koi took out her bottom feeder shark(not exactly sure what kind of shark or why you woud keep it with koi but all the same its dead).
 
missyme06;601533; said:
minimum gallons for one koi is about 300.
don't keep other fish with your koi, they may be good to geather for a while but koi like to eat EVERY THING. my koi have eaten 3 placos(around 5 inches long each). and my moms firends koi took out her bottom feeder shark(not exactly sure what kind of shark or why you woud keep it with koi but all the same its dead).
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What are you doing with plecos in the water, you live in Minnesota:screwy: They wouldn't mess with a full grown common though.

The shark was prolly a hi fin banded shark, they would be fine but they take forever to grow to adult size (3 feet) 300 gallons is a good rule of thumb, but if the length, width, and height are wrong then it is pointless.
 
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