Newbie to Ponds! Any advice?

[Xochi16]

Hello all! I have a swarm of questions and hopefully I can get some (as usual) good advice! I have not a clue about ponds. We have a ton of land (40+) Acres and I would like a pond close to the house, not a huge one. I have no idea where to even start. I thought about perhaps starting one now, and stocking it in the spring? Since I was unsure if Koi or other fish could live and/or hibernate in the winter months. So questions!
-What size is a good "beginner" pond?
-What about filtration? Heating? Stocking?
ANY advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Red]

What kind of fish do you want?

[Xochi16]

Actually that is one of my questions. What are good beginner fish? I thought about some simple goldfish, koi or some mosquito fish. I assume that the Koi would have to kept in a rather large pond, probably bigger than I could start out with. But I am most definitely no expert. What would you recommend?

[smaug]

The minimum size pond for koi is 1000 gal.This isnt as bad as it sounds if you have any budget at all.I did successfully keep koi in a 150 gal pond for 4 years but they were kept on the ragged edge of healthy and I had alot of headaches ,I dont recommend it at all.If the most you can afford is something small [150-500 gal] then the most you can safely easily stock are comets,common goldfish,fantails and fancy goldifsh and any other pond fish smaller then 6 inches.Dont get koi thinking that you have time to let them grow out,they grow fast if kept well.The 6" koi I bought 4 months ago are already almost 10".There are 2 options for types of ponds,preformed [up to 300 gal] and flexible [unlimited].They both have there pros and cons.Pre forms can be bought at lowes and are rather easy to install but give limited choices for filter types and shape.Flexible allow whatever you want.I recommend you buy one of the many big books on the subject,they are priceless and it is where I started.The complete pond builder by Helen Nash is a good choice.
Heating a pond is not necessary and would be cost prohibitive,the most that is needed is a heater that simply keeps an air exchange hole open during the very cold times.Mechanical filtration is useful but problematic due to the large amount of junk that goes through outside water,the most important is bio filtration which can be accomplished very easily using one of the many waterfall or skimmer combos available.Too much info to put in one post.Ask some more questions,Ill answer them.

[Kaz]

The minimum size pond for koi is 1000 gal.This isnt as bad as it sounds if you have any budget at all.I did successfully keep koi in a 150 gal pond for 4 years but they were kept on the ragged edge of healthy and I had alot of headaches ,I dont recommend it at all.If the most you can afford is something small [150-500 gal] then the most you can safely easily stock are comets,common goldfish,fantails and fancy goldifsh and any other pond fish smaller then 6 inches.Dont get koi thinking that you have time to let them grow out,they grow fast if kept well.The 6" koi I bought 4 months ago are already almost 10".There are 2 options for types of ponds,preformed [up to 300 gal] and flexible [unlimited].They both have there pros and cons.Pre forms can be bought at lowes and are rather easy to install but give limited choices for filter types and shape.Flexible allow whatever you want.I recommend you buy one of the many big books on the subject,they are priceless and it is where I started.The complete pond builder by Helen Nash is a good choice.
Heating a pond is not necessary and would be cost prohibitive,the most that is needed is a heater that simply keeps an air exchange hole open during the very cold times.Mechanical filtration is useful but problematic due to the large amount of junk that goes through outside water,the most important is bio filtration which can be accomplished very easily using one of the many waterfall or skimmer combos available.Too much info to put in one post.Ask some more questions,Ill answer them.

Smaug is the man to talk to about ponds, listen to his advice.

[Xochi16]

The minimum size pond for koi is 1000 gal.This isnt as bad as it sounds if you have any budget at all.I did successfully keep koi in a 150 gal pond for 4 years but they were kept on the ragged edge of healthy and I had alot of headaches ,I dont recommend it at all.If the most you can afford is something small [150-500 gal] then the most you can safely easily stock are comets,common goldfish,fantails and fancy goldifsh and any other pond fish smaller then 6 inches.Dont get koi thinking that you have time to let them grow out,they grow fast if kept well.The 6" koi I bought 4 months ago are already almost 10".There are 2 options for types of ponds,preformed [up to 300 gal] and flexible [unlimited].They both have there pros and cons.Pre forms can be bought at lowes and are rather easy to install but give limited choices for filter types and shape.Flexible allow whatever you want.I recommend you buy one of the many big books on the subject,they are priceless and it is where I started.The complete pond builder by Helen Nash is a good choice.
Heating a pond is not necessary and would be cost prohibitive,the most that is needed is a heater that simply keeps an air exchange hole open during the very cold times.Mechanical filtration is useful but problematic due to the large amount of junk that goes through outside water,the most important is bio filtration which can be accomplished very easily using one of the many waterfall or skimmer combos available.Too much info to put in one post.Ask some more questions,Ill answer them.
Thank you very very much! I would like to keep Koi, I think they're beautiful in the water. I'm just not sure about tackling a 1000gal as my first pond lol. Was it easy to care for? I was considering a 500 gallon. Where would I buy a flexible? Do you have any recommendations? How many fish would you think I could put in the 500gal or if I decide to be brave the 1000gal, and not be overstocking? Ah! So many questions! so sorry! Thank you for any advice! (I have purchased the book you recommended should be here in a day to or two!)thumbs2:

[smaug]

A 500 gal gives many possibility's for fish.If you know for a fact you can go bigger to the 1000 in less then 3 yrs you can stock 4 very small baby koi and let them grow up in it.I have since discovered that koi and goldfish will breed and have viable fry so I no longer advocate placing the 2 together.The resulting offspring are quite ugly and undesirable compared to the parents.In a 500 gal with very good filtration you can stock 4-6 butterfly or 3-4 standard koi,you will need the 1000 gal or larger pond in 3 years.Well cared for koi reach over a foot in 2 years,over a foot and half in 3.If you just want goldys ,be it std,fancy or comets you can stock quite a few of them in a 500,they stay under 10" and are not as active .A dozen combined of the latter would be ok.In a 1000 gal pond you could have the same amount of koi at an adult size,twice the amount of mixed goldys.Read over the book cover to cover when you receive it.There is plenty of info in it.Another book that is a bit bigger but not quite as technical is complete guide to water gardens ponds and fountainsby Kathleen Fisher.
I have not used this site but am just throwing them out there for reference.
https://www.pondliners.com/index.htm
they carry flexible liner material.If you can find it local so much the better but make sure it is actually pond used epdm 45 mil liner.The stuff that is sold for roofing may be toxic to water life.
There would be very little difference to taking care of a 500 gal to a 1000 gal pond.I went form a 150 to a 2500 gal and have paid much less attention to pond duty's this year then last.Water parameters stay stable and with the larger filters used for the bigger pond toxins build up at a much slower rate.