SOMEONE HELP!
I am getting a koi fish pond in New England I am having difficulty figuring out how many koi fish to put in the pond I have looked in the interent but there really isent any answer I don't want to overcrowd the fish but I also want to keep them from growng to big (about 6")
The tank is about 2.5 ft-1.5ft and is about four by four
PLEASE HELP!

If the fish are only going to grow to 6" I would suggest with a pool that small you would not want to put more than 6 or possibly 8 koi in the pool or they could easily get overcrowded. 6 would be better though.

Why don't you put common goldfish in the pond instead.
They will only grow to about 6 inches.
If you know how many liters the pond is I can give you an idea about how many fish to keep.

None.

A koi is a large riverine carp. It should easily grow to 24-30" long. There would barely be enough room to turn around in your pond. And they need a lot of volume of water. I'm calculating approximately 300 gallons for your pond. That would be about the absolute minimum needed for 1 koi in order for it to thrive. Koi can live for 12-15 years if in good conditions.

I say go with goldfish - there are a lot varieties that you could put several in a 300 gallon pond without a problem - Sarrassa's, comets, shubunkins (sp?).


Think of it this way. Would you keep a horse in a six foot square dog kennel? It would fit. And would survive. For a while. But it definitely would not thrive.

And believe it or not, I have had better survival rates with the cheap "feeder" goldfish from stores than I have had with the higher priced varieties of goldfish. Don't ask me why, I do not know, but that is just my experience.

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Originally Posted by MOWERMAN2468

And believe it or not, I have had better survival rates with the cheap "feeder" goldfish from stores than I have had with the higher priced varieties of goldfish. Don't ask me why, I do not know, but that is just my experience.

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A pretty accurate statement. While koi can take a lot of abuse, there are a lot stronger varieties of ornamental fish out there.

Take a couple of wild carp (who you can't kill with a 2" x 4") with strange color mutations, inbreed them for about 30 generations or so and you end up with a fish that is pretty but a lot more susceptible to environmental insults. Kind of like a the survival ability of a domestic turkey from Pilgrim's Pride vs. the wild turkeys in the woods.