how big?

[RockabillyChick]

this coming spring i'm going to be helping my parents build a new pond in their back yard for their 6 koi and 2 goldfish. they are seriously outgrowing the 150 gallon one in the front yard. the fish are as follows:

metallic orange koi = 8"
black and white butterfly koi = 6" -tail
platinum koi = 5"
black and gold snakeskin koi = 7.5"
blue koi = 11.5"
peach butterfly koi = 6" -tail
calico shubunkin = 5" -tail
long-finned comet = 5.5" -tail

how big should the pond be? keep in mind this will be a TEMPORARY home for these fish, as in a couple years, my parents will be moving to their new property where they are building a house, and a new large beautiful pond. the pond we're building this spring only has to hold the fish for a year or two.

we were thinking of getting one of those huge water troughs for livestock and using that as an above-ground pond in the back yard. we can't dig in a pond because there are septic lines and power lines, and all kinds of other things under our back yard, so above-ground will have to do.

 

[ghinksmon]

As big as you can get.. or get rid of some fish. Idealy you'd probably want 1000 g +, but you note that it's "temporary" thus you see you're comprimising. Increasing filtration/aeration without turning it into a whirlpool also helps in crowded conditions.

 

[RockabillyChick]

the water conditions are perfect, and have been the entier time we've had this pond. i tested a few weeks ago. its more a question of swimming space than anything. the fish will be fine until spring, as they're not being fed right now and are inactive due to the cold.

 

[TheMightyQueenPixie]

Stock tanks are a good alternative for a short term solution...You are going to have to rig up some sort of filtration system that will do the bio/particulate filtering, but other then that they should be fine... if you live in an area that has water that will freeze over, you may have to move them indoors or install a bubbler...