How Many Koi in a 15,000L Pond?

My dad and I are curious as to how many koi we could manage to fit without overstocking, helping us keep maintenance as low as possible. There are currently some comets in the tank (15 or so) that may or may not be staying, definitely would like to know how they could affect the numbers we could have. Thanks heaps.

 

I have never kept koi, and so my answer is based only on some cursory research; I have found that there are some pretty comprehensive sources out there [1] that you and your dad might find useful to keep the perfect low-maintenance koi pond.

There are a few sources out there that suggest that 1000l to 2000l are needed per fully grown koi in a well-filtered pond. So, assuming that you have a good filtration system that allows your pond to be low maintenance and you have no other fish in there, it seems that seven fully grown koi is the best bet [2].

There is some chatter [3] about goldfish rapidly reproducing and putting quite a strain on the filtration system. I think 15 comets and seven fully-grown koi is quite a lot for 15 000l, especially considering that the goldfish will have to be large enough not be eaten by large koi. Seeing as you have comet goldfish, the issue of fancy goldfish being out-competed for food should not be an issue, but the type of goldfish does need consideration if you decide to expand. There is also some concern about koi and goldfish interbreeding, which results in "mutt" type breeds that don't have much market value, but this isn't a concern if you are not trying to make your millions selling koi.

Ultimately, it comes down to doing some reading, but I hope this was helpful.

Some of the more enjoyable sources that I found:
[1] Happy Koi - Happy Koi - Koi keeping done right!I'm new! Where do I begin?
[2] How many Koi should you have in your Pond? | Isivande Fish & Koi Ponds
[3] Pros and Cons of Keeping Koi and Goldfish Seperated/Together [Archive] - Koiphen.com

 

Supposed to have 1 koi per 1000 gallons. You have about a 4000 gallon pond.

1 koi per 3785 litres of water.

What is the width and length of the pond?
What are you using to filter the water?

 

My pond is only 350 gallons and I do breed Shubunkins. Last spring I sold over 100 fry to my lfs. They sell pond fish. I sold over 100 more fry to a local rancher. After that I was done. They spawned 4 more times but I let Mother Nature take her course with those. I still ended up with 3 baby fish I gave away. Long story short, keep in mind that what you start with is not what you’ll end up with.

 

I have never kept koi, and so my answer is based only on some cursory research; I have found that there are some pretty comprehensive sources out there [1] that you and your dad might find useful to keep the perfect low-maintenance koi pond.

There are a few sources out there that suggest that 1000l to 2000l are needed per fully grown koi in a well-filtered pond. So, assuming that you have a good filtration system that allows your pond to be low maintenance and you have no other fish in there, it seems that seven fully grown koi is the best bet [2].

There is some chatter [3] about goldfish rapidly reproducing and putting quite a strain on the filtration system. I think 15 comets and seven fully-grown koi is quite a lot for 15 000l, especially considering that the goldfish will have to be large enough not be eaten by large koi. Seeing as you have comet goldfish, the issue of fancy goldfish being out-competed for food should not be an issue, but the type of goldfish does need consideration if you decide to expand. There is also some concern about koi and goldfish interbreeding, which results in "mutt" type breeds that don't have much market value, but this isn't a concern if you are not trying to make your millions selling koi.

Ultimately, it comes down to doing some reading, but I hope this was helpful.

Some of the more enjoyable sources that I found:
[1] Happy Koi - Happy Koi - Koi keeping done right!I'm new! Where do I begin?
[2] How many Koi should you have in your Pond? | Isivande Fish & Koi Ponds
[3] Pros and Cons of Keeping Koi and Goldfish Seperated/Together [Archive] - Koiphen.com

Wow thank you for that, will definitely have to check out all of those sources

Supposed to have 1 koi per 1000 gallons. You have about a 4000 gallon pond.

1 koi per 3785 litres of water.

What is the width and length of the pond?
What are you using to filter the water?

The pond is approximately 9m by 5m. The filter is the biofalls filter by aquascape.

My pond is only 350 gallons and I do breed Shubunkins. Last spring I sold over 100 fry to my lfs. They sell pond fish. I sold over 100 more fry to a local rancher. After that I was done. They spawned 4 more times but I let Mother Nature take her course with those. I still ended up with 3 baby fish I gave away. Long story short, keep in mind that what you start with is not what you’ll end up with.

Thanks for the tip. Don't think I'll specifically look to care for the fry, and any that survive will probably just be passed onto friends and family, or even an lfs like you.

 

I agree about 4 koi. My pond is slightly larger than yours and I have 4-6 koi. I just had a few babies and I’m trying to figure out concretely if they are koi or goldfish babies. I think they are koi. My goldfish breed like crazy and I have to take care of the multiple babies yearly. This year is especially bad.