Koi Pond Depth Conspiracy: Uncovering the Truth and Saving You Time and Money
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- In this video, we discuss why a koi pond over 4 feet deep is a waste of money and time. We go into some detail about where koi/carp live naturally all over the world and do not require deep water to thrive.
Hi, I’ve been keeping koi for 40 odd years. Your right koi don’t need a deep pond. They don’t need a heated or winter covered pond. But I like to look at a deep pond, just the way the fish move around, it just sort of adds another dimension. I can’t stand the brick tanks (they’re not ponds) that if you go on UA-cam you must have and you must have this and that. These same people are forever treating for everything. My other bug bare is having no stones or gravel on the bottom. My fish are always grubbing about on the bottom. You don’t need a bottom drain. You don’t need solid pipe flexible pipe is better for flow and durability as long it’s not the ribbed kind. But I do think if stocking levels are the same, a bigger pond is better. Unfortunately the UA-cam tank clan are probably putting off people who would, like I did and have done several times, dig a bloody great hole chuck a liner in it and some rocks, plants and fish. And enjoy it.
Great comment appreciate it
Finally some honest advice..i want a planted small pond and i want to avoid the ex0ensive filter. I have a lot of eco tanks and i know it wont house many fish or big fish.
Sadly there are too many pond UA-camrs who are full of crap. One guy on here says DON’T put rocks in. They don’t add anything for bacteria …….yeah right. What planet did he come from. Next are all the pond companies trying to sell you all those expensive chemicals. Additives , U V lights and whatever. They are happy to say you need it so they make money. Truth be told all you need is the time for a pond to mature. Let Mother Nature do the work. She knows what the hell she’s doing. And doesn’t charge a fortune either. As to depth. If you live where’s it gets freezing cold in the winter go 3 ft. If you’re in the south like me, 2 ft works just fine. Most important thing with koi is filtration. They poop A LOT. And be careful of what type filter set up you use. I have a DIY sieve filter that gets all the big crap and takes a min or two to clean. That runs to a bio falls ( have waterfall ) K1 for bacteria ( also have in the bottom of the sieve) then I use poly fill ( batting for pillows) it’s cheap. I wring it out over my plants and just throw it away. Ppl might want to argue with me but my fish are thriving and my water is perfect.
Me and my dad have been keeping koi for over 40 years and this lad is more informed that most and he is spot on .on every video I have seen
Cheers thanks for the comment
At last, someone who talks common sense. I've been preaching exactly what you've said in this video to my customers for years! Thank you
👌
We built the pond 30 years ago, but because of the solid clay we only went down an average of 4ft. We felt a bit disappointed as back then 6ft was often the recommended minimum. So we made it a bit longer, originally 15ft, to 18ft long and 8.5ft wide. Now the thinking is more horizontal swim room than depth for good body shape. We have no heater or covers and have had some bad winters, but have never lost a fish to the cold.
sounds like a great pond! lots of water without added depth makes perfect sense. Like i said in the video, they have evolved to cope with bad winters so no reason to heat or cover it thanks for the comment!
i could not agree more!. My pond is 16 x 13 feet with ledges down to 4 feet about 2500 gallons with a lot of flow and some of my koi are 80cm bought 25 years ago as yearlings!. I am well overstocked with probably 30 koi from 20cm to 80cm and have been for years running a very large home made moving bed filter with no problems!. I personaly think surface area is more important than depth for gas exchange and well being of fish etc and plants are a very healthy part of a koi pond or any pond for that matter!.
Thanks for comment glad all running well!
Hi thanks for this video. I built an above ground pond and felt after hearing advice that it wasn't deep enough. It is about 3ft deep and over 20,000 lts. The fish seem happy enough. They are just goldfish, shubunkins and a koi and been there for 10 years.
Yes that’s because most really don’t know what they are talking about they just regurgitate crap from what they hear other people heard from somebody else. It’s sounds lovely keep it up the fish will tell you if there are any issues, best thing is just maintain good water don’t over stock and over feed thanks for the comment
Saved me so much $! Appreciate the video. I'm building a additional koi pond to my existing pond around trees 🌳🌴
Fantastic! thanks for the comment
I’ve only been keeping Koi for 2yrs so a complete novice, we built a raised pond with total Depth of around 4ft, our filter system is an Oase pump fed, the water quality is spot on and Crystal clear and fish are healthy, but when we visited our first koi dealer we left the place thinking our pond depth was to shallow, our filter system was not up to much and we felt totally deflated, now we could have gone away and spent more money on making it deeper and buying a more expensive filter system but instead we went with what we built and it has been spot on, only just found you on UA-cam and slowly going through your posts and so far good honest information and spot on
cheers thanks for the comment
Good vid - well said mate
I am always amazed that koi enthusiasts think it is good for the fish to build a big fish tank half buried in the ground with absolutely nothing in it except water.
This has nothing to do with the fish and everything to do with cost of build, ease of maintenance and ease of protecting against herons. The prison cell approach also allows convenient installation of big filters to support over-stocking and over-feeding to accelerate growth. They heat ponds to allow continued feeding and growth during the winter. I don't think it is good for a fish to stuff it with way more calories that it is naturally designed to consume. If it's there they will eat it of course but that does not mean it's healthy.
I also think 90% of these bare fish tank ponds are an eyesore and much prefer the ones that look more natural
great comment thanks yes i agree with you 100%
More water volume doesn't equate to a bigger filter. The filter is dependent on the volume of fish not the volume of water. The more water you have the more stable your pond system is.
Yes but not with usual garden pond fish stock levels so you will need a filter and water volume does come into effect. Thanks for the comment
It's not even the volume of fish, it's the quantity of nutrient, which is mainly the quantity of fish food. There is a correlation between volume of fish and quantity of food, but you can feed fish 2-3 times per week, or of 9 times per day (max growth diet) Carp lakes and raising koi mud ponds HAVE NO FILTER.
@@OliHandy2008But much lower stocking levels with everything within the lake providing a surface for the beneficial bacteria to colonise!
So although it doesn’t have an external filter, the whole lake becomes a filter!
I. Agree with you ,thank you very much, from Trinidad
Cheers many thanks
I think there are many Koi keepers around and what seems to be missed by the rudest of people on Koi forums is that the MAJORITY of people who keep koi are doing so to enhance their garden with beautiful fish to look at. They are not looking for show winners...perhaps never even visit a show...or want monster size fish. Just KOI.
Kept in conditions that help the fish to thrive.
That's what we do, but we were sucked into the bigger is better, etc etc. With hindsight I'd have gone for a different pond, but that's not going to change now. I love my fish and they are healthy and I try and enrich their lives as much as I can, but we still have a lot to learn and if there was only one answer and one way that would be a boring hobby.
Long may my fish and everyone else's be healthy. I'd add happy, but that's inflicting our emotions on 🐟 🐠 🎣 🐡
Thanks for the comment appreciate it! 👊
hi, great vids, my pond is 6ft deep, i know its a pet hate, we didn't dig it out, we built up the walls, we had to bring up the ground in our courtyard, saved a lot of money and stone by building the pond and not filling it in, as for filters i use 4 aqua tempests and a barrel full of k3, i have had box filters, pressure filters various other nexus style filters, my water is cleaner than it ever has been, another pet hate of yours is heating, yes i heat, cost nothing, it runs of the house heating system which is wood fired, free wood, but the reason i heat is a few years ago during a major frost i had a number of pipes and a pump split due to frost, only heated to 8 degs. and like tony i love seeing the koi at the bottom of the pond. keep up the good work.
Dilution means larger stocking levels .
I agree with what your saying about general ponds there’s no need for koi style pond building this is for people wanting fine water gardens.
I’d like both to be honest both do different things .
You DONT need a drum filter to have a general pond and if you fancy a few koi in a general pond that’s got shelves in that works but if you want large stocking levels you dig deep to crate more gallons especially if you have limited space in a garden
Thanks for the comment!
Finally somebody who knows what they're talking about. Personally i don't like the above ground coffins people build and much prefer a planted pond. People will continue to pay koi tax though. Well said 👌
Koi ponds are a man made environment. Majority of them having no plants or gravel etc where a stable ecosystem/ environment is key for them to thrive and reach their potential.. shallow ponds and temperature fluctuations are fine if you just want to keep koi alive and not thrive, albeit, they won’t be to pleased compared to a deeper pond where temperature fluctuations aren’t so much. A consistent ecosystem or environment is surely important to all living things? Same with koi. A deeper pond or a shallow pond surely offers more regulated temperatures, especially through the winters?
You can take a horse to water but you cant make them drink, thanks for the comment.
@@thep0ndman what’s the relevance behind that? 😂😂😂
We cant reply to every comment that disagrees with us, we can give you info and its up to you what you do with it. Appreciate the comments =)
They breed and raise the top koi in mud ponds that are an ecosystem. These plain ponds are display ponds, not growing ponds. It's a balance.
Great content mate. Can not agree more. I have kept my Koi’s for years in a 350 mm deep pond and they were happy. Now my pond is 1200 mm deep what is still sallow compared to most ponds out there.
many thanks
I have a 2ft pond in CA but water temp only gets down to 40 so not a problem. Problem is it heats too fast in summer but thats when I do 10% water changes to keep the temp down to reasonable levels
yes i bet the temp does get super hot out there! lucky
Excellent advice, 25 years ago, I snuck some cheap koi into my parents' "goldfish" pond, which is a reasonable size but shallow. They've grown ginagorous 😂!!! The filter is a larger waterfall/pool filled with reeds and watercress bought from sainsburys very clear water. Keep up the videos and advice 💯 0:07
Thanks for the comment cheers
Very Good advice keep it Simple. I do believe so people with ponds really do over complicate things .Weekly 10%water Changes and Filter Cleaning .you Should not have any Problems.
Thanks for sharing
02:23 great frog, excellent advice, nice person ... my boss always says koi need food and air, people need water as clear as gin and twice as expensive
LOL "water as clear as gin and twice as expensive" please may I use that?
Thanks for the comment!! 👍
@@Kat-kv7fo of course
Absolutely great video now subscribed finally someone can voice out on the point of sale person
Cheers appreciate feedback
Thankfully I discovered your channel by accident and thankfully you talk common sense. My pond has 3 depths, deepest 5 ft 8, by mistake to be honest, then 4ft up to 3ft. Perfect size for us. Really enjoyed the video, keep em coming.
👊
after asking advice before building my new pond I went for 4 ft deep with 2 corner shelves for water lilies my previous pond was 3ft deep and the fish were fine I guess it's a personal preference 👍
Thanks for the comment, yes personal preference but what the fish need and do not need is a big difference. Your new pond sounds mint!
@@thep0ndman it's getting there cheers buddy 👍
All makes complete sense …. Great job
I’m building a 2.4m x 1.5m koi pond approximately 1.5m high with a feature stonewall and water blade 1.5m higher than the pond.I am going to install a glass viewing window as well.What type of filtration and pump system should I install for ease of use and eco running costs? Also would you suggest a separate pump for the water blade which is 60cm wide? Thanks kev
I thought that it was common logic that koi where extremely hardy fish and that they lived in mud ponds.
Honestly, it does surprise me a lot of the time the money people spend on filtration for koi fish considering the mud ponds they’re grown in.
Let’s be honest though. People want to invest in that filtration because they want to see their fish and the reason they have a huge pond is because they want many koi fish, so this should be part of the consideration
Thanks for the comment. Common sense isn’t that common for some reason in this industry. The main point of the video is that people seam to preach to others that koi need really deep ponds but they don’t. They are quite happy in many depths as long as the water quality is good. Muddy water doesn’t mean quality is bad, yes people want to spend money to keep water clear but you can’t make stuff up and try to sell equipment to people saying that koi need deep water as they do not. It should be sold that you need to buy this expensive filter if you want clear water.
Hi, very patronising. Surely the size of your pond should be dependant on what you want and what you can afford.
Thanks for comment. I did say if you want a bigger pond/deeper then that’s ok. Video is for people to understand that you can own and enjoy a koi pond without spending so much from the start
you have a 10 foot deep fish bunker in your garden, right?
Exactly what i was thinking. The more koi you want, the bigger the pond, surely? Lol
Surely every pond is different and to every pond builders taste and budget
I agree, in the past I had a 1000gallon pond 3 ft deep with shelves , living in zone 4 and the koi fish were fine. I rarely fed them. Natural looking pond. No above ground bath tubs for me.
I'm a coarse angler and fish loads of carp waters, I could not agree with you more, I see carp thrive all year in the UK in ponds that are 4ft deep max and to be honest when fishing they are not in the deep water that often! love your honest videos.
Yes 100% agree thanks for the comment
This is a really good and insightful video. Thank you for sharing. I only have space for a raised pond. Approx dimensions are 1.8m (L) x 1.2m (W) x .5m (D). Would you say it was sufficient space to keep koi, if so how many?
Yes decent size, spend money on a good size filter and don’t over feed, you can’t go wrong thanks for the comment
Thanks what would you recommend as a decent sized filter for this sized pond? Links would be products would be really appreciated
great video I agree what we should be doing is trying to create as natural environment as possible. One of my bug bears is people talking about extra deep water to maintain higher temperature levels- the same people also want to circulate the water loads !! ?? simple physics if you are effective mixing all the water all the time then the water no matter how deep will be the same temperature.
Thnx for the comment yes defo keep things as natural as possible!
Hi mate, well explained in the video.
I have a koi pond, rubber lined, vertical sides, 6ft depth 1 end then runs up hill to 3ft, where you have explained the no real need for either heat or air in the pond in colder months most people i speak to say it would be cruel to fish to go below around 8-6° whats your thoughts on this and at what temperature would you say an air pump could be switched off for the winter.
Many thanks
It’s not cruel it’s natural for them, most people seem to have no clue what animals need compared to what humans want. Thanks for the comment
What do you suggest for a low maintainence system that is both compact in size and provides great water clarity and easy on electricty bills? Cheers.
It’s tricky to say without seeing the pond etc. but we did do a video about how to choose the correct size filter then it just depends on your budget and how much you are will to spend thnx for the comment
i would love to be able to save money or be able to use less liner for the size but i also have to acount for when it freezes in the winter which needs to be 3-5 ft in order to allow the fish to stay in.
do you live in the states?
@@thep0ndman I live in northern Minnesota on the edge of Lake Superior
If it’s likely to freeze over completely I’d consider no less than 4 feet, preferably more and try and keep a small area unfrozen with an air pump of small floating ice heater
Well said- I have a koi pond 20 years old only 4 foot deep- with shelves runs on one 10 thousand gallon pump- one 36 watt light - one air pump- my fish are big and in great condition- 👍
Sounds great! Thanks for the comment
Iv seen a video on UA-cam that a pond was neglected for 2 years no food no filter
Deep green water you couldn't see if any fish were in there after draning there were 15 kio beautiful some large one's in there they servived one had a little bend in the tail but they were all good.
I think like you said its what they want you to think and spend in there shop as long as you have enough room for them a good filter and airation via a waterfall or air stone they will be ok.
Thank you for your knowledge i also was told not to keep kio and goldfish together but i believe that to be false
thanks for the comment
My kio and fancy goldfish do fine. I believe we're told that because my black moor goldfish has poor sight and the koi are faster at grabbing food. My goldfish learned how to shove his way through the crowd and eat, but maybe that isn't the case with others 🤷🏾♀️.
What’s the minimum requirement for a pond in depth
I have a 2ft deep pond. I put koi in because i assumed they would be fine, i have an internal pump and filter which is well capable of handling the water quantity including fish but have been told all my fish will die as i need it to be at least three feet and have an external filter. Is this true? Im panicking a bit.
They will be fine just ensure you don’t overstock, overfeed, filter properly and keep water quality good they will love it
While they are small.
But Koi carp will outgrow that depth within a few years and possibly measure 1 foot from belly to dorsal fin and will not have enough depth in colder weather to survive!
Also as they grow they will produce a lot of waste (Ammonia) which a small internal filter will just not be able to cope with!
I think a 2 foot pond is fine for goldfish but a 3 foot minimum is a must if you want to keep Koi and care about their well-being!
Also a modest external filter need not be expensive and can be made with simple plumbing fittings and plastic tanks, look up on UA-cam for diy tips!
@@ces69 i had a leak and had to evacuate my fish, I made the most of the opportunity and have expanded and dug the pond deaper now, I'm not sure of exact depth but most is over 3ft. Also added a waterfall and bog filter. The set up I had was frankly rubbish and I had no idea what I was doing. Still learning.
@@corencaldwell9901 At the end of the day when you own Koi, you are not keeping the Koi, you are keeping the water!
The better you keep the water the better your Koi will flourish!
It’s why many serious koi Keepers spend many thousands on their filtration systems!
I watch your videos a lot because ive been using Oase Pond Equipment for over 30 years
So then what is too shallow? Is 12 or 18 inch OK for a small number of koi?
Ive got a shallow 14ft pond it around 3ft deep but the back quarter of the pond under the water fall is 6ft for winter
Well said I used to work for a well know retailer and they knew nothing about keeping fish
amen to that
Looking at building a pond, 8ft by 8ft or so. Would I need a concrete base for that?
Very refreshing watching your channel and views. I’m planning a koi pond that will be a raised wooden structure of 3m x 1.2m x 1.5m deep. Do you think that would be a suitable size? I also want to add a viewing windows on the longest side of 1.2m x 0.9m but I’m unsure of thinkers. I’m thinking 35mm with would be two 12.5mm sheets together. Can you tell me if this sound feasible please?
not too sure about having two sheets together usualy best on decent piece thanks for the comment! hope it goes well
Hi sir I would like to know if koi will eat bacopa or elephant ears plants as I am thinking of placing bacopa and elephant ears in a babies bath basin inside the pond in a shallower area as I thought it would look good
If you do add plants it’s always best to use a large pond on a shelf with large stones on top to protect the compost from the fish trying to get into it cheers for the comment
@@thep0ndman thank you sir
I dug my own pond to 30inches deep. It's 3ft by 6ft and has about 10 koi. I've had it 7 years and the fish are in perfect condition.
The realisation when he said there just carp 😮😅.
Yeah it's true. Some people think the deeper the pond, the better it is for koi. They might want to make a Mariana Trench Pond for the koi.
Haha cheers for comment bro
If the sides don’t go straight down the heron use the ledges in the pond to just fish your pond
But they don’t use the sides 🤣
Love your style, and the advice is solid, in my experience. It would seem that many place their personal experience above the experience of thousands of experiences with thousands of build and pond styles. For me and mine, the knowledge garnered from multiple environments and multiple examples from thousands of owners is going to win the day. Hard to disagree with ideas built around others examples and mistakes, when it is pitted against a single persons experience. To each though their own...as they say. Thank you much. Liked and subbed my friend
Thanks for the comment and sub!
Very very good and very useful knowledge and information for thriving koi or harp.
Big thanks #simplypondz
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Most welcome 😊
well said, all these so called experts probably havent seen carp in a natural enviroment. Even in winter its not uncommon to see carp up in the thermal layers or shallows of a lake
Agree thanks for the comment
Ive just relined my 15year old pond it was 2ft deep in the deepest point 😂. I have now made the average depth 3ft with a few 4ft spots. But my mate who has a lovely pond is redoing it 6ft to 7ft with a bottom drain 😅. Gotta say about 9years ago the pond froze solid and we lost all the fish so id say you want a least a few areas 3ft deep
May I ask what the best solution is for a wall caving in on my pond? Is it due to water getting between my liner and the soil? Someone told me it was a mud slide.
Hi it can depend but most ponds we have come across tend to have too much weight around the sides like large stones/rocks which have no re-enforcement under neath like a good concrete base etc to spread the weight
Most of these Carp Fishing ponds hold fish up to 40 lb in 4_5 FT of water
agreed thanks for the comment!
This guy reminds me of the crystal clear aquatics channel.
I'm no pond professional but here in Canada we need to get below the frost line. We also have a lot of predators. In my mind 4' is the minimum safe depth. But again "I'm no pro"...
4 ft is substantial amount of water to be fair
I live in Sequim, WA USA, we have four seasons. My Koi live in a 2 foot deep six foot stock pind. To avoid Ezgles and heron...it's covered. Three years and they're fi e!
Great video!
Would 2’ be too shallow then? Location California,USA
I couldn’t agree more. You are spitting Facts🫡
Thanks for the comment
The shallower the pond the better you can see them.
Thats true thanks for the comment
@@brianpoe1683 I've thought a lot about creating a deep pond, but filtration on a large scale to a small timer like me seems out of reach. Good for you though.
Also I'd love to build a deep pond, but then I would worry about if my kids fall into it or something.
At last someone who speaks sense 👍
thanks for the comment
I totally agree with you. But I also think that the more expensive koi are interbreed that much that thay have loss alot of there natural hardiness which causes a lot more problems with the fish.
thanks for the comment
My pond is 2.5 foot deep is that enough for koi ?
While I happen to agree with this "blogger" about 4 foot being enough I'd had hoped for more science as well. It would be nice if he did something with "bog" styled filters.
Thank you for this video. I am going to build my koi pond 12 x 18…. 3 feet.
I’ve gone crazy with plants in my koi pond and the fish love nibbling on the plants and I’ve put in 60 moss balls the water is crystal clear
It kind of depends how big your koi are, doesn't it? If you have 3.5 foot koi an 18" deep pond might be a little shallow. If they're under 2 foot 18" is fine depending on the climate. I personally prefer the look of shallow ponds, it keeps the koi up close to the surface.
The vid is about building the pond before you buy them cheers for the comment
Thank you! I'm in zone 7 (lowest temp ever is 0 degree F), is 18" adequate? Is there a chart out there?
I agree you are probably right, but I worry, I live in Northern Minnesota (United States) in the winter here it can reach -40 which is the same in Fahrenheit and celcius and regularly dips below -20 which is almost -29 in celcius so pretty darn cold. I have a small pond now and bring my fish into the basement to overwinter. But I would very much like to build a much larger pond deep enough to overwinter the fish outside. Google claims 3 to 5 feet is deep enough that it is unlikely to completely freeze in winter. So 4 should work but I am definitely considering and obviously shelving it to go down to 4 feet and maybe have 1 more small area that goes down 1 more foot in the center just to be on the safe side. I just really would be sad to find the fish had frozen during our long cold winter. And of course I need to be able to keep an area open for oxygen/gas exchange. But I would never dream of digging the whole thing to that depth or even to 4 feet all the way.
that is super cold, but water is a good insulator, best gauge in how thick the ice gets in your area cheers for the comment
Have you considered a stock tank heater?
My Minnesota farming relatives use these low-electricity usage heaters that typically sit on the bottom of the tank. All it takes is a couple of degrees ABOVE freezing to keep livestock tanks liquid, even at -40°. Should also work for your pond.
Great content and advice, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Folks keep koi for various reasons, same with every other animal.
Some let horses roam and look after themselves, others are treated like babies, receiving the most expensive care, being trained to the hilt to become racing champions........
Thanks for comment. The vid is about koi don’t need deep ponds, some people may prefer to keep there koi in deeper water but so many preach koi as a species need deep water which is not accurate
Let’s be honest people if you decide to keep any sort of live creature the onus is on US to provide the best possible environment for them, not just the bare minimum!
We could all survive in a one room studio apartment but how many of us want to or do!
Always have that in mind when thinking about keeping any sort of creature including Koi!
ALWAYS try and provide a minimum of what’s required but the BEST you can!
I think comparing fish to humans is quite strange tbf. The video says clearly have it deeper if you want but the fish do not mind either way, as long as the water is healthy.
Ideally a pond should be 4ft minimum, although for my pond it was 5-5.5ft at some lower points. The depth of the pond is important for temperature regulation, especially in areas that can have crazy heat waves or cold spells. Deep ponds are also easier for fish to feel safe from predators.
What's really important is often not touched on my many koi keeper is the idea of surface area. Surface area of a pond is very important because it allows oxygen to saturate into the water. I would very much rather have a pond that's 20x20x4 vs a pond that's 10x10x8 ft. Not many people understand this.
I also think you don't have sufficient experience with keeping koi in a show grade type of setup. This is why you think a natural pond is good or nice. In any case, 4ft minimum, but anything more than 7ft is a little excessive.
Remember viewers: open air trickle filter will always beat submerged media.
Cheers for comment appreciate it. Yes surface area is always a good idea. Like the video states, if koi needed a 4 foot min pond, you would have to have a 4 ft min pond it’s as simple as that so what you say is massively incorrect. Also I think if people think that you can create a better environment than a natural environment then somethings gone wrong somewhere. I’ve seen some amazing more natural koi ponds full of life, plants, koi etc, clear water and happy fish. I don’t agree with keeping fish in just a pond it’s cruel, they must do their nut swimming around in a nothing pond.
I have never understood why deep ponds are better with regard temperature when bottom drain suck out that deeper water that you speak of. Plus aeration mixed upper and lower water levels!
@@georgecromar4094 it's a natural insulation from being deep
Yes you are correct about the bottom drains. These fish have evolved to live in extreme weather for thousands of years, just another day another dollar to them..thanks for the comment
@@thep0ndman I understand your position, but in this hobby the best koi for shows aren't kept in those settings for a reason.
We can all agree that most human can live in a hut too but if given a choice, we'd much prefer a nice open house that's modern and clean.
What about during the winter when the water freezes over, will they be ok, and for how long?
They don’t mind the temps it’s how healthy your fish are in general and the water quality is good and stock levels are low to normal
What do you say to experts about how many gallons of water needed for 1 koi . I was told by a dealer 250 gallons per koi
Not accurate as there more factors like filter size, the amount of food you feed etc
deep is nice when the racoons are raiding your pond each night and dragging your fish on the bank to eat 4 to 5 feet is best if you want to keep the blue herron at bay as well the netting works but its a eye sore and forget it one time and 5 pounds of fish are snacks
Great information mate
Cheers
Learning alot from your channel , good job
Thanks for the comment cheers! 👌
Agree with this… I keep koi, in a 3 foot pond. There thriving! I think most of what you hear and see is people just following bad advice/practice.
I’d guess a majority of the guys with ££££’s of pounds spent on koi and ponds have never kept a goldfish alive 😂 all of a sudden UA-cam experts…
Agree! Thnx for the comment appreciate it
It makes me laugh when they try to still call it a pond too, nahh mate you have an oversized ugly fish tank in your garden. Then they try and add Japanese ornaments around it. I’ve been to Japan and their natural koi ponds are beautiful, not those cement blocks with a roof on the top. 🤣🤣
the way the air is set up you cant even see the fish from the top!! the way they were meant to be viewed! only from the side, from a tiny little window. but hey not my money
Well said I know what you mean! Thnx for the comment
Manufactured (factory) vs natural (nature).
Allowing nature to cultivate the pond.
1 have a 1500 Gallon Koi Pond with which I,m very happy. I cannot see the Point of going over 4FT Deep
there isnt not for the fishes sake at least, if you like it deeper yourself then crack on...thanks for the comment
Interesting opinions. I was hoping for a more scientific assessment of the Koi needs but money is important.
thanks for comment
Completely agree, the amount of money people waste on the depth of pond and the amount of filtration costs even on smaller ponds baffles me. People waste so much money on huge filters and even heaters etc, may as well have a swimming pool lol
yes dont get me started on heaters lol video coming soon
@@thep0ndman hahaha, yeah it seems we may have the same opinion on them , my pond no1 goes from 18 Inch down to 4ft, its 14 ft long by 8ft wide, I have a hozlock easyclear 6000 fountain with pump that pumps the water 30ft to a 200 liter barrel filter with 20-30 litres of k1 like media in it which is in my green house, I have built an irrigation system so when I clean out the filter I just close one tap, give the media a swish with a broom handle then open the drain and it waters the plants... The filter return goes to pond no2 which is 6ft by 4ft and 18inches deep at max this pond then over flows into a small stream about 5ft long which goes back into main pond. It may not be aesthetically pleasing to all but my fish are thriving and my filter setup costs with pump all tubing, pipe work and ancillaries + barrel etc was under £300. Pond 1 only cost was the liner, plants and rocks around the edge(I dug it myself) pond 2 is a raised pond made with repurposed railway sleepers and bricks, I had to pay for cement, liner and blade water fall. I built it myself. All in all my ponds have cost me me less than 1k spread over 12 years . We can have nice ponds for for not that much money ;)
@@readmore7180 Your pond sounds fab. We'll done!🎉
We have a large backyard pond that I want to transform into a smaller koi pond on a budget. I sure wish I could get some advice on how to do it. There is no access for equipment.
Best check out vids out more too come cheers for comment
how do i control a over stocked pond pls without getting rid of eny of your fish pls.
Thanks for the comment. Either inc your filtration size or cut back on food to keep the water quality in good order cheers
Thanks!
Very kind of you many thanks ! 😎
when you dig it out 4 foot or 6 feet. what do you put on the walls to hold them up? I have a lot of clay in the ground. will it stay up? ot will it fall over time?
Good question. It really depends on the ground conditions and your budget. We would always recommend a decent concrete foundation at least around perimeter or edge of your pond at the top. This will provide a good spread weight which will massively help to stop ground subsidence. If you had the budget then You could just concrete base the entire bottom and block build it up. This is expensive and time consuming and a lot of the time (especially where we live in the south) the ground is pretty solid so it can be abit of an over kill. Thnx for the comment
We did a short video on an easy way to install a concrete edge here: Perfect Pond Leveling Hack- The Easy Way 😎🤗
ua-cam.com/video/Tpu5rH1Vlg0/v-deo.html
A lot of people do it for bird protection here. I also think it’s funny you explain a lot as being ok if the koi don’t die. Is that really the level that’s ok for you? If they survive in a bucket is that what we set as good and anything better is a waste.
Please send me a pic of a bird with 6ft long legs and I’ll happily remove this video
@@thep0ndmanwe have birds that swim under water here on the coast. Lots of birds that can also stand in 2-3 ft and hunt your fish in a deeper section. A shallow pond here would require more work to keep from freezing over. I haven’t watched much of your videos but come off as a prick and your comment reinforces that. You make so many assumptions and your attitude towards the fish you keep is crap.
Think 4ft is a good depth. Think deep pond makes it harder to catch fish if you need to look at them? Didn’t realise surface area is important. Difficult in small gardens, I guess this is why people have ponds that are like tanks. I prefer ponds to look like ponds. Love Greg wittstocks ponds
Thanks for the comment!
Mines only 18" and the 1 koi and goldfish are fine and going on 4 years. I'd only make it deeper because of the f$%ing heron.
I have a question because I am renovating a tiny concrete pond we had so I can have koi in it. The plan was to give the fish depth of 4-5 feet max. as our summers in Ca. are BRUTAL the temps get to around 103-120 F no problem. Also we have raccoons, heron, cats, possums etc.. The winters do get to be around freezing as well however but it hasn't snowed in decades so that is not a worry. My biggest concern was pond size (among other things) what is the smallest size you would go for? We can go only go in an L shape. The size we were considering is 8 ft.L by 4 across aprox in the long part of the L, the short part of the L would be almost 5'6 FT Long by 4 feet across aprox. What would you suggest. It might be possible to dig more in the 5'6 ft part of the pond to a 6 foot + run I just have to see what our landscaper says and if we would hit our sprinkler system! lol That would be no bueno. 😂 I would be hand digging this baby but our soil while hard pan on top is loose and loamy/sandy rocky below so pretty easy to dig. I then wanted to pour the concrete pond right on the soil then add rocks jets, lights, plants etc.. I could also cinderblock it in but I would rather not I was thinking at the most wire meshing. Why Portland concrete? Our water is VERY hard, so it makes our ph puuurfect with concrete and has never been an issue for any of our fish especially since we had foliage, etc.. Another question would be what about possible "stray" electric shocks? I keep hearing about this danger? Do concrete ponds need to be "bonded"? Right now our pond is run off an automatic electric switch and it is an old gravity feed system so it is literally concreted into the waterfall feed by a tube coming out of the ground. We basically we are not removing that just hooking it up to a more powerful filter. If we do that I was told to throw a submersible pump into a skimmer to keep the water free of debris OR set up an outside pump that routes through a UV filter and filtration system then waterfall. Please please tell me if this is salesman hype and overkill or a good choice? Thank you! 😀
if its sunk in the ground it wont heat up as much, ideally a few deep spots of approx 4ft, however the bigger the better but it doesnt have to be overly deep
Anything below 4 foot is two shallow in my eyes. Ideally 5 - 6 foot for me
Thanks for the comment. But from the fishes point of view it isn’t.
I’m looking to do an ornamental Koi pond which will have many bends, what do you recommend to hold the water ? Liner/fibre etc,
Hi Sam. Fibre is more expedience as you will need it block built etc. liner is more versatile but it won’t like to many corners, external are ok but internal (the middle section of a kidney shaped pond where it corners in towards the pond) are awful for folding. Most of it will just be what your budget will stretch too…thanks for the comment
Makes sense, thanks!!!
I don’t recommend putting any shelving in a pond because herons can’t stand in there and eat your buffet
Good idea because they obviously can’t stand on the edge either
You talk so much sense my pond is part below ground and part above the above ground section being built out of sleepers with a concrete slab caping stone this is ground level one end and about 18 inches above at the other due to the slope of the garden the depth is about 3 1/2 feet but fluctuates with evaporation/ rain and the interior has shelves, rocks and sand along with a couple of drainage pipes covered in stones and rocks that the fish can use as hides when the heron comes visiting ( if seen I run down the garden shouting and waving my arms but this is the only heron deterrent) the rest of the protection is by the fishes natural caution. I also feed sparingly and never more than once a day the rest of the time the fish eat all sorts of algae and invertebrates and crustaceans they find in the pond which have plenty of places to hide which increases their population but this is kept in check by hungry fish, I also have many fish that breed every year producing hundreds of frie most of which become food for something whether it’s the larger fish, herons , kingfisher or even the local cats but a few do make it to maturity but everything remains in balance and nature does most of the work for me.
So a 4 feet pond is better then a six feet deep one what about the growth of the koi it has been proven that koi get bigger in deeper ponds is that not true then ??
Why wouldn’t they grow? Keep the water good and feed them good food they will always grow. Thanks for the comment
Just asking as we build ponds for a living we always ask the client what they want isn't it better for them having a pond to go down to in winter if you have big koi?
Like we said in the video if they want to and can afford it up to them but the fish do not need it. Lots of people think it’s for the fish but it’s not, they are more than happy in shallower water. Just think if cheaper for you clients, chances are you will win more jobs too. Cheers for comment
The more fish you have the water you need so if you don't have a lot of room in your yard go deeper and if you have expensive fish make a traditional style koi pond with no rocks in it .if you want a water garden to put some PetSmart koi build a water garden that's what learned through out my 20 years of koi keeping traditional koi pond is for the expensive koi no way for them to get hurt on rocks injure a fin or scale
Water garden look nice in the yard but just throw the cheaper one in there