Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I planned to have about a dozen gold fish, comets, and koi fish in the pond. I live in MN, USA which the temperation can get below 30 degree. How deep and wide should the pond be? If I have a pond thermo will that help if the pond is not too deep in the winter.

Rule number one when building a pond, make it as large as you can afford and stock accordingly.

It's best to consider the size of the pond you can build before even thinking about how many or what kind of fish you want to put in it. It's not the size of the fish but the size of the pond that is important.

In your area, you're going to want to make it no less than 4 feet deep and 6 feet would be even better. As far as how many gallons, the biggest mistake and most common one made is overstocking. You'll find recommendations like 10 gallons per fish or something like that. Don't even consider koi if you can't maintain at least 100 gallons per fish. That's a minimum. Koi (and goldfish) need a lot of space and excellent filtration in order to maintain their health.

Do lots of research, read and converse with serious and experienced fish keepers.

Good luck!
Dark Lotus

Anyone with questions like this one I strongly suggest finding out if your area has a pond club and visit it. Reason being it gives you a ready resource of local people that might be willing to help with planning, design, building, growing, and emergencies.

Experienced ponders has one thing in common, after they have built their pond and got it set they all say I wish I have done that, or next time I will do this. Learn from their mistakes, visit their ponds if they let you, and if you can get someone to come over to help with site selection that will be great.

The best way to head off trouble is to look to those who has already experienced it. I wish I was given this advice when I started.

Also, be prepared to spend money. Short changing a foundation of any project will only lead to trouble.
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Jason B Bour
http://stonesriveraquatics.com