Stocking Your Pond With Koi

03 May 2011

When stocking garden ponds with Koi, it is quite important to make sure that you do not overstock your resources.

In aquariums, a common rule is 1 inch of fish to 1 gallon of water. This is a bit much, even for a large aquarium. Since aquariums are not the same as ponds, we must seek our answer elsewhere.

Surface water and water movement as well as filtration determine just how many Koi a garden pond can reasonably hold. In order for the fish to thrive and yet keep the pond fairly clean, it is recommended to allow at least 10 square feet of surface area to each fish. This means that if you have a 10 ft. by 10 ft. square pond, then you would have 100 square feet available. The maximum number of Koi you would desire for this pond would be no more than 10. However, less is always better when considering the health of the entire pond environment.

Another tip if you plan on stocking your pond with Koi or Goldfish is not to use any products that contain the active ingredient copper sulfate. Copper sulfate products are great for killing algae but will also harm Koi and Goldfish. Be sure to use preventative pond maintenance products like pond dyes and beneficial pond bacterias to prevent growth.

For more information on stocking your Koi fish pond Contact Sanco Industries.