How many gallons

[SquishyFish]

How do I figure out how many gallons my tank will be? And...how many gallons is reccomended for koi and how many for goldfish?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I am assuming by tank you mean pond. Up at the top of the page there should be a link to calculators. Just breack your pond down into roughly square sections and calculate your volume based on that.

 

[SquishyFish]

Yeah..I meant pond. I'm an old salty from way back, so my fingers automatically type "tank."

I'll check out the calculator.

Now...is there a size that most of you reccomend?

 

[tommiejr]

The number of gallons depends on how much work you are willing to put into your pond. The bigger the pond the more work it will take. Of course the bigger the pond means MORE fish!!! We are currently adding a second pond with a creek from thefirst. The big pond is 2000 gal and the little one is about 1000. The other thing to remember is the bigger you go, the higher the operating cost will be.

For the most part, it is all up to you.

Goldfish do not need very much. While kois on the other hand do not need much at first, but they will quickly outgrow a small pond, less than 250 gal. Koi can get very big in just a few short years. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

What you want to keep in the pond is the bigges question as far as size.

 

[SquishyFish]

I'm not really picky about the fish in the pone. I would be just as happy with gold fish as I would koi. How about small cat fish. They are suppose to eat anything and everything. Would they be a good addition as part of a "clean up crew?" I dont mean cats out of the local lake. More like cats from the LFS. I also want it to look as natural as possible, so I would like aquatic plants as well.

As far as operating cost, are we just talking more electricity for the pump?

 

[RogerMcAllen]

What are your temperature flutuations? Depending on how warm it stays you might be able to keep tropical cats in there.

 

[stoneydee]

For comets, commons or fantail goldfish in a pond, figure on about 20 gallons per fish.

 

[SquishyFish]

What you want to keep in the pond is the bigges question as far as size.

Ambient air temp or water temp? If its air temp Dallas usually ranges from 100 in august to just at freezing a few times a year. Definately not for extended periods of time. Heat is more of an issue in TX.

If your asking about water temps..I have no idea. Pond wont even be in for another few months.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

That is all I needed to know. If it freezes, even if only for a day, it would be too cold for tropicals. A yellow bullhead might do nicely, they tend to stay smaller and would be easier to see in a pond.

 

[SquishyFish]

And I can get those at an LFS or on line?

 

[tommiejr]

I had a channel cat that we ponded well over the winter here in NC. Problem was the rascal outgrew the pond. Got him as a 2 incher and in a few years of well feeding, he hit the 24 inch mark. Started taking over the pond and would not let any of the other fish eat.

Most of the true cat fish that can take the colder water temps are not true "cleaners". They will scavange for food, however they usually will not eat "trash" and such. Dead fish and sometime plants is about the extent of "cleaning" they will do. And they will learn to feed with the rest of the fish real quick. Why eat scraps when you can feed from the table I guess is their thinking.

A rubber lip placo would work nicely as a cleaner, but you would have to pull it for the winter.