Koi pond in New England?

[DrNic]

My wife and I will both be finishing up grad school this summer and will soon be looking to purchase a house in the central/eastern area of MA. I've always wanted an outdoor koi pond but I'm not sure that's something I'll be able to do in this area.

Obviously I will have to bring the fish in for the winter. I was planning on setting up a kiddie pool style tank in the basement for winterizing the fish. Aside from that has anyone else in this area ever set one of these up? How big will I need to make the pond? Are things like racoons or large birds a concern?

Any thoughts on a New England based pond would be awesome! Thanks!

[Dave66]

In your region, your pond would have to be at least six feet deep so it wouldn't freeze solid. Koi can handle the cold as long as the pond doesn't freeze. They rather go into a stupor when it's cold like it gets there, and revive when the pond reaches about 60 degrees.

You'd need a pond heater (a disk that sits on the ice), to keep a space open for the gas exchange so the koi can breath.

If you're concerned, and can properly house them, since koi get pretty large, more than three feet, you can move them indoors for the winter. You'd need a heated swimming pool or similar to house such large fish. As for outdoor pond size, 16x24 feet or preferably larger, and deep in the middle.

Racoons and cranes are always a problem. There are motion-activated sprinklers that discourage such creatures.

Dave

[invadertoast]

I don't know anything about ponds, but there's a garden center in Rowley Mass that specialises in koi ponds. They have a large selection of fish and some MONSTER koi in their ponds. Might wanna check them out or give 'em a call!

It's called Country Gardens : http://www.countrygardens-rowley.com/

[smaug]

Honestly if you cant keep them outdoors in a large pond year round I would just forget about it.The stresses involved in re homing koi twice a year would seriously affect there health and lifespan.Instead have you considered comets or other fancy goldfish?They are small enough to handle such things and far less likely to bring a tear to your eye if they died like a 10# koi would.How big of a pond are you considering?

[DrNic]

invadertoast,
Thanks for the info! I definitly have to check them out when the time comes.

smaug,
After a quick google search I now see that koi are not what I was looking for. I didn't realize they got that big! I was thinking something more along the lines of comets, I just always thought those were koi. Obviously my mistake (blush)

As for size, that will depend on the size of the yard we have once we find a house. Ideally I want to do a U shaped pond with a rocking bench in the center. I included a quick drawing I did, I think you'll get the idea.

[invadertoast]

No problem - looks like an awesome idea you have! I stop by Country Gardens when I'm down that way, they have a good selection of comets and fantails as well as koi and they seem to be alot cheaper than other pet stores, except for their really high end koi of course, lol.

EDIT: A few years ago they organized a pond tour of people's ponds around the area, my mom and I went one day and it was really cool! I'm not sure if it's something they do on a regular basis but if you get a chance you should totally go on one!

[DrNic]

LOL the idea was suppose to be a suprise for my wife, at least for the moment, but she saw me posting that photo and got REALLY excited. Now we just have to find a house with a yard big enough:19:

Odds are this will be something I start working on next spring/summer at the earliest as we haven't even started looking for houses yet but thanks for the info. I'm definitely going to have to check out Country Gardens once I get some time!

[smaug]

That would be a wonderful design for a yard pond,nice and big too.Go as deep as you can,3-4 ft is not unmanageable.Keep in mind you will have to get in this thing from time to time for plant up keep and such.The only problem I see with your design is the sitting island will cause alot of waste in liner material,possibly you could use the big trim piece for a water fall?Good luck and keep us posted,ponds are such an awesome thing to have.

[DrNic]

I was trying to stay away from waterfalls for technical reasons but yeah I agree that getting a liner to that shape would be tricky. I had two ways I thought I might be able to pull it off. One, would be to get a HUGE piece and just cut it to size, which would leave a lot of extra. The second way is to get a long rectangular piece and fold it to create a U shape. To do it though I'll need a piece that is 2-3 times longer than the actual pond. Less waste but equally if not more expensive.

My other concern with a pond this shape is a way to hide the filtration. The best place for it to probably be is right at the top of the U, right in the line of sight of the bench, which I want to try to avoid. I think I'll put it off to one side at the end of one of the U arms, putting an intake on one side and the output on the other so that I get gentle flow across the pond.

Ultimately, the pond shape will be determined by the size of our yard. If I cant do a U, then I'll probably do a standard round or oval shaped pond with a bridge over it.

[DrNic]

Can you keep crayfish in a pond with comets? Will they eat each other?

Can the crayfish be left in the pond (maybe 3-4 feet deep) over the winter if I have gravel bottom and hiding places?

[PostalPenguin]

You could go for a full circle and make the bench into an island in the center with a bridge.