newbie needs help with pond resurection

I am figuring about 370 gallons assuming the plant shelves are taking up some volume.

Asuming you get a good plant population going, you could keep 30" of koi. or 2 good sized koi. You could double the fish count if you were keeping gold fish.

Most important! Use lots of plants and you really should run your pump through a filter. A simple filter can be made from a plastic tote with filter materials in it.

Feel free to contact me further.

kowtown said:

I am figuring about 370 gallons assuming the plant shelves are taking up some volume.

Asuming you get a good plant population going, you could keep 30" of koi. or 2 good sized koi. You could double the fish count if you were keeping gold fish.

Most important! Use lots of plants and you really should run your pump through a filter. A simple filter can be made from a plastic tote with filter materials in it.

Feel free to contact me further.

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Please do NOT keep koi in that small of a pond. It could be a nice pond for some shubunkins or wakins. Koi will VERY quickly outgrow that pond. Koi should have a minimum of 1000 gallons, though many people keep them in smaller ponds. Doesn't mean it's best for the fish.

The tote above will make a great filter, even lava rock can be used for bio in the filter with filter batting on top and it could feed a little water fall even!

Kyle you will also have to take freezing weather into account if you are in a location where it gets cold.

kyle3 said:

thank you so much for your replies!

i guess the size was what i needed most in order to do my own research.

holy smokes i didn't realize it was that big!

but when i think about the size of my tanks i guess it sounds right.

i had hoped it could handle koi but is there's 1000 min. i guess i'll stick with orandas or something.

as far as freezing goes- yes it will i'm in MN, I need to do more research to see if it's possible to heat it enough for the fish or if we'll have an indoor tank for the winter.

i also don't know if plants will need a certian temp thru winter so i might be best off to do an indoor any how.

thanks again!

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Check out Shubunkins and Wakins. Wonderful goldfish varieties with color and personality. That pic was taken last spring. Those fish almost doubled in size over the summer. The solid gold are just common comets, the 3 multi colored in the middle and below are shubunkins. The fan tailed fish are the wakins. When they are out in their pool in summer they come when called..to get fed of course :laugh:

You can probably heat it enough for the fish, especially if you can put some kind of greenhouse hoops/cover over it. Most hardy watergarden plants just like to not be frozen, some of the tropical plants need to be warmer. I winter over all my goldies in a greenhouse with 350-500 watt titanium aquarium heaters in kiddie pools of about 300-400 gallons. Our cold temps aren't quite what you have in MN, but here is what my pond tends to look like all winter

Because of volume and depth ... and a layer of ice thick enough to hold up the neighbor dog :dog: ..my water temp is between 38-39 degrees.

that sounds like a smaller pond than that. although even if it is, it is good to assume it is that big for filtration, just not the stocking level of the fish. it wont hurt to have a filter that could handle a 400 gallon pond running on a 200 gallon pond. fancy goldfish (round-bodied with fantail, including orandas) shouldnt go below 50F, since you are in a colder area you should stick with the long bodied goldfish like sarassas and shubunkins.

reptileguy2727 said:

that sounds like a smaller pond than that. although even if it is, it is good to assume it is that big for filtration, just not the stocking level of the fish. it wont hurt to have a filter that could handle a 400 gallon pond running on a 200 gallon pond. fancy goldfish (round-bodied with fantail, including orandas) shouldnt go below 50F, since you are in a colder area you should stick with the long bodied goldfish like sarassas and shubunkins.

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Good suggestions!!

Wakins are fantailed but are a hardy goldfish. I forgot to mention the sarassas..and I even have one :duh:

are wakins just as hardy as sarassas?

reptileguy2727 said:

are wakins just as hardy as sarassas?

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Absolutely. I like them better.. incredible personalities. My wakins would come when called for dinner...heeeerre fishy fishy fishy...My hubby isn't really into the fish..but the wakins could convince him to feed them