How to Choose Between Goldfish and KOI

Many people have asked us over the years "Should I add
goldfish or KOI (or both) to my pond? The answer is "it
depends."

Goldfish are better suited to smaller water gardens and
ponds, in the 50 - 500 gallon range. Goldfish are
extremely hardy and easy to care for, which makes them
the perfect choice for the new pond owner or water
gardener.

KOI Feeding

KOI, on the other hand, require a little more knowledge
and better water quality in most cases, than goldfish
and are better suited to the more experienced pond
keeper. KOI generally thrive best in ponds over 500
gallons (the bigger - the better.)

This is becuase KOI can grow quite large and therefore
require more water in the pond for proper biological
breakdown of waste. KOI are also more expensive (and
harder to replace) than goldfish, so this should also
be taken into account before filling your new pond full
of KOI fish. More considerations...

Goldfish are an excellent choice for the average water
garden that is usually also full of a variety of potted
plants. Lilies, Lotus, Iris, and submerged annuals -
these all do well in a water garden pond with goldfish.
Goldfish will not disturb the plants, and will enjoy
playing around under the lily pads without disturbing
the plants.

Pond Goldfish

Japanese KOI on the other hand, and especially the
larger ones, will often create a huge mess out of
submerged potted plants. They seem to enjoy 'digging'
in the soil of the plants and sometimes even knocking
them over. This all leads to added mess in the pond,
and can create a real problem for the pond owner.

Generally, it's best to not have submerged plants in
large pots, when also keeping KOI. The ideal KOI pond
is much deeper than the average water garden, so the
necessity for plants to help with water quality and
shade is reduced.

However, if you still do want to keep potted plants in
your KOI pond, we recommend wrapping netting over the
tops of the pots, to keep the fish from digging in the
pots. Another thing you can do is to top the pots with
1" of pea gravel, and then larger river stones or
similar over that. The KOI will not be able to get
past the larger rocks.

As far as mixing Goldfish with KOI, this is fine and
very common, we've just tried to highlight the most
important differences between the two and between the
average water garden and KOI pond. Feel free to
experiment with both, and then decide which fish is
more to your liking.

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Brett Fogle is the owner of MacArthur Water Gardens and several

other pond-related websites including
MacArthurWatergardens.com

and Pond-Filters-Online.com. He
also publishes a free monthly

newsletter called PondStuff! with a reader circulation of over

9,000. To sign up for the free newsletter and receive our FREE

'New Pond Owners Guide' visit MacArthur Water Gardens today!

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