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Help me set up a koi pond

4K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  MBilyeu 
#1 ·
Hi, me and my mom want to set up a koi pond. we are thinking of making it 4ft. deep at the deep end.

we want to know how long and wide to make it. we want to put a couple koi and breed them. also is it easy to breed koi? we want to make money from this pond. Buy a pair of koi, breed them, sell the babies.

so my questions are

How deep to make the pond
how long and wide to make it (in ft.)
and is it easy to breed koi./how to breed koi.

Also what is everything needed for the pond? we know liner, pump, filter, plants, fish. what else?

Thanks!

EDIT: We want to make it as cheap as possible!!!
 
#2 ·
This really is a loaded question. Honestly, there are entire books written to address these questions.

I would suggest at least 200 gallons of water per Koi. These fish grow large and fast and produce a lot of waste. You will need a high quality biological filter, which could be easily home made and disguised into your water fall or landscaping. There is a nice post in the Do It Yourself section by Austin on how to make a homemade pond biofilter.

A few tips. First, I would suggest a thick pond liner. Don't skip on this issue, as you do not want a leak. Next, plan ahead of time for plants. You want shelves within the pond at different depths for plant placement.

As I type this I am finding it more difficult than i imagined. A pond is a very VISUAL project. You need to gain some first hand experience by visiting pond stores and looking at their setups. You may also find that restaurants and businesses in your area have ponds. Look at as many different setups as possible to find out what you enjoy. It will be a more effective use of your time to post specific questions on the forum.
 
#3 ·
Keep in mind that if you put a few koi into a pond and hope that they will breed you may or may not get them to. If they do breed, you may or may not be able to "break even" with the costs associated with raising them. From the people I have talked to, the way to actually make money breeding koi, is to have a pond for the adults, a incubation tank, and a pond for the fry. Then you will have to manually retrieve the eggs and sperm. What my plans are for a pond, is one big enough for a few koi and buy high quality strain at a relatively small size, spending less than $30 a fish. Then sell them in 12-18 months hopefully being able to get $150+ for each. With a small backyard pond, I will still probably only make $300 a year at the most after food, power, and other costs are figured in.
 
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