Pond Fish
It’s never good to overstock a pond!
Most ponds include fish. Do they say water or wooder? (Philadelphia humor). In fact, fish are often the reason people get a water garden in the first place! Fish are fun to watch. Many kids, including our own, name their fish. It did make for an awkward experience when our daughter named our fish for our neighbors and then a fish died and she proudly told the neighbor her namesake was dead!
While fish create a memorable experience, they can also bring headaches to water quality if you go overboard when stocking fish. Too many fish in the pond creates an imbalance in water, so you’ll want to make sure you’re smart about the number and size of fish that you place in the water garden. If you have too many fish, they won’t be healthy.
How much water per Pond Fish?
Fish typically need 10 gallons of water for every inch of their length, but keep in mind they will grow larger over the years. So no matter how tempting it might be to add just a few more fish, be careful not to overstock! Some pond experts even go so far as to recommend only ½ inch of fish per 10 gallons of water as a maximum stocking density.
If you’re a fish fanatic, you may find yourself with a pond containing 2 or even 3 inches of fish per 10 gallons of water and the fish seem to be fine. However, the density and ecological strain of this loading can turn your pond into a fragile system. The pH tends to sag, the fish tend to grow more slowly, and disease can become a common occurrence.
Too Many Pond Fish are Not Healthy!
It’s very difficult to salvage sick fish in a pond that’s overcrowded. Most likely, Mother Nature will sadly pick off your favorite fish to achieve her ideal stocking density based on the system the fish are in, and then the remainder may recover. Not only that, but you will need more food (creating more potential waste) when there are more fish than algae and other pond items to eat. Ponds are part of an ecosystem– when one part of the ecosystem is compromised, it all suffers.
So before adding another fish to your koi collection, make sure you have ample space so that all your fish are ensured a happy, healthy home! Contact us for more information. And if you want more information on pond fish in general, check out Aquascape Inc’s many informative blogs.
