Should I Choose Koi Fish Or Goldfish For My Garden Fish Pond
Goldfish Are Hardier And Easier To Keep Than Koi Fish
The first question you need to ask yourself when deciding upon the choice of fish to buy for your pond is: What type of backyard pond have I got?
If you have a small preformed pond or a relatively small liner pond then I
would recommend that you choose fish that do not grow as quickly or eat as
much fish food as fancy Koi. Goldfish and shubunkins are an excellent choice.
Goldfish and shubunkins are much hardier pond fish compared with Koi, which are a sensitive carp family member that is relatively susceptible to fish stress.
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If your pond volume is anywhere up to 500 gallons then goldfish are far easier to care for and are much less hassle and stress. They are great if you are a newbie to pond keeping.
Unfortunately Koi grow quickly and consume large amounts of food, given the opportunity. This creates water quality problems, particularly with regard to ammonia build up and increased pond algae. The water will need to be purified and freed from ammonia and algae build up using a biological pond filter and UV light ...
Koi carp are also more expensive to buy and keep than the equivalent sized goldfish. A Koi can eat 3 times as much as the equivalent sized gold fish.
If you have a backyard pond containing potted aquatic pond plants then you may also want to reconsider keeping Koi. These curious creatures like to dig at the soil and roots of these water plants. If you are not careful you could end up with floating plants everywhere.
If you insist however on keeping aquatic plants and Koi together then you can always do the following, which will go some way towards stopping the Koi from damaging or uprooting your pond plants:
- Wrap pond netting over the top of the pots, to keep the Koi from digging in the pots.
- An alternative is to top the pots with 1 inch of pea gravel, and then larger river stones. This will stop these fancy carp from getting at the plants.
Goldfish on the other hand will not disturb your potted pond plants and find great comfort amongst Lilies, Lotus, Iris, and submerged annual varieties. They use the floating lily pads as a way of hiding from predators and the hot summer sun.
If you have a small preformed pond that is say 4 feet wide x 6 feet long x 2 feet deep and you keep several Koi in there you will find that they will soon outgrow their home. This will leave you with a bit of a dilemma! Do you build a new pond that is larger or do you get rid of the Koi?
There are other problems associated with Koi and small fish ponds. Koi are strong swimmers and will actively try to jump out of the pond. Shallow ponds also leave them, along with other pond fish susceptible to predators such as herons and raccoons. They literally have nowhere to escape to ... Click how to stop herons from eating my pond fish for further advice ...
It is far better in my experience to plan ahead and ensure that the size of the pond you intend to build is capable of holding the species of pond fish you intend to keep. Koi need a pond that is at least 4 feet deep … Click here to get a better idea of what you need to know before installing a fish pond ...
Many pond keepers commonly keep Koi, goldfish, Shubunkins and other pond fish species together. This is perfectly acceptable and they will live in harmony the vast majority of the time. Just make sure that you also feed smaller floating pellet food, as this gives the smaller gold fish a chance to compete with the bigger, greedier Koi.
How Can I tell the Difference between a Good Koi and a Bad Koi Fish?
I would like to take the opportunity here to admit that I am not an expert on Koi and what constitutes a really good Koi compared with a good Koi. I will however give you some basic advice.
Shape is a good indicator of the quality of the fish. Believe it or not the color of the Koi is not always a good indicator; the color will change constantly. If the fish is swimming around effortlessly, has the required two eyes and fins in proportion then it will probably be a good fish later on.
Let’s face it, unless you are looking to choose a potential Koi of the year for competition then as long as the Koi is healthy then it will be more than good enough … Click here for successful Koi keeping articles ...
