How Many Koi Do You Have?

[JosephandGabby]

Greetings fellow ponders;

I've talked to several "pond experts" who tell me that it is recommended to stock one koi per every 250 gallons of swim area in a pond. I don't follow this guideline myself, but I was curious how many of you follow this rule when stocking your own own ponds. Right now most of my koi are still relatively small (less than 6"), but I may decide to get rid of a few in a few years once they start to grow. Most of the pond owners I've met are technically overstocked as well, but their koi all seem healthy and happy to me. Then again, I'm no expert. How many koi do you have in your ponds?

You can see pictures and specs of my backyard ponds at http://www.josephandgabby.com/pond.
If you visit, be sure to sign my guestbook!

Your ponding buddy,

Joseph

[Regenmeneer]

Hi

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this one.

In my opinion you can not use a rule of thumb saying that you need x gallons/tons of water for one koi. There is just to big a difference between one koi and another. ( a 5" koi is quite different than a 25"or even 30" koi )

I think the weight of the koi is a much better indicator, don't you?

rgds

Regenmeneer

[kingkong]

Hi Reg, How about a freshly cycled bio-filter can handle 1 pound of koi per 150 to 300 gallons of pond, or 1 pound per 1 ton.
10 gal H2O per pound of koi produces 1ppm of NH4 (Amonia) 2 hrs.
5o gal H2O per pound of koi produces 1 ppm of NH4 10 hrs.

[Regenmeneer]

Hi

if you ask me, weight is the measure to use.

About how much water per pound we can discuss.

Regenmeneer

[kingkong]

How much would a 25" koi weigh? Say 7 lbs., so one 25" koi prefers 6000 gal.
That is freshly cycled bio so lets halph that to 3000 gal. Could that be close?

[MikeM]

Well guys, I think you all have a part of the picture. Plus, you have to add temperature, rate of feed, and all the other inputs that impact koi development. The point, Joe&Gab, is that rules of thumb can give you a false sense of comfort. Then, just as you are sure all is fine and that just one more koi won't be a problem, everything goes wrong and your favorites are belly up. Check out the thread Brutuscz started 6 or 8 weeks ago.

All that said, I have grown koi in less than 200 gallons apiece when they were very small. Today, I'm closer to 800 gallons apiece ... they aren't so small any more. And, know what? At 800 gallons apiece, the pond seems pretty full. I'm thinking that as the 20" ones get up to 25", I'm going to need to reduce the crowd a bit.

Enjoy the little ones. Like children, they do not stay small for long, and then the day comes when they all need a room of their own.

[Mike T]

Joe:

As a rule of thumb I've found that 150 gal/koi works well for us if you have very good water quality, a 10% water change 24/7 and a year around growing season and don't care to raise "show" winners... We feed our koi 9 times daily with an auto feeder to ensure that they get little meals more often than two or three heavy meals...

We have 6 koi in a 900 gallon pond which is 17' long with an average width of 7' but only 24" dropping to 30 inches deep... Sloping sides took 900 gallons away from our original design for an 1800 gallon pond...

We purchased most of our koi in the 8-15" range over the past 3 years and they are all now 24-27", except for one Gin Rin Male who probably won't get any bigger than 20" because of genetics...

Aloha! Mike

[Clay]

The rule of thumb that I am most comfortable with is 500 gallons / male and 1000 gallons / female when discussing adult fish.

On the other extreme, water quanity is one thing that is an appropriate consideration, but also very important in the equation is the amount of filtration. I like to be way overfiltered. What is overfiltered to one person is not enough for the next guy.

Water quality is as important as water quanity. When you have both then you are setting your system up for success.

Rick

[Mike T]

Rick: Your Quote

"The rule of thumb that I am most comfortable with is 500 gallons / male and 1000 gallons / female when discussing adult fish."

I agree with you and Mr. Childers however, I can neither afford the ponds you guys have, not enough space, or the show koi that those ratios are based on... not enough money...

For everyday good looking koi the 150 seems to work for us... On point of clarification... Mr. Chris Neaves of S.A. also says that at the 150:1 ratio the koi probably won't grow any bigger than 27"... But again that's fine with us... Not sure if I'd want a 36" whale in our ponds... Truth be told, I'd rather have koi with good confirmation, pattern and color in the 20-24" range, than average 30 inchers, but then that's just our preference... If I had a pond the size of yours, it might be another story...

Good luck with your project, you know there's a lot of us out here waiting to see it completed and filled with winners...

Aloha! Mike

[Clay]

Mike the pond that is under construction (FOREVER) is one thing, but the truth is that my fish have lived 3 years in a 1000 gallons system (yes only one thousand gallons). There are currently 6 fish in the tank. 4 of them run 27 to 29" and two are the baby's, about 12". This extremely small tank has a 30" bead filter with a 2 hp blower and the bead feeds 8 cubic feet of Kaldness with a medo 120 aerating the small system.

This is the reason that I tried to temper the ideals. If you have huge water to fish ratio you can get by with less efficient filter systems. If you have huge filter capacity you can get by with less water. Again, ideally, if you have both life can be good. Rules of thumb are just guidelines.

I liked your comments on adding the shower after the bead. Again, I love bead filters but not as stand alone systems. I have always enjoyed reading your writings for a couple of years now Mike. It's nice to bump into you again more often now that I am playing with the pond again. Until next time - aloha,

Rick