Koi Pond and Pond Fish Guide: Setup, Filtration, and Fish Selection
Koi Ponds: Living Art in Your Backyard
Koi grow large, live 20–30 years, and develop genuine personalities. Getting the setup right from the start is everything.
Pond Size
Minimum 1,000 gallons for koi. Standard koi reach 24–36 inches in a spacious pond. Minimum depth of 3 feet for temperature stability and predator protection.
Filtration
Koi are heavy waste producers. You need: a pond skimmer, a bottom drain, a biological or bead filter housing beneficial bacteria, and a UV clarifier to control green water algae. Pump the full pond volume through filtration every one to two hours.
Pond Fish Selection
Koi pair beautifully with comet goldfish, shubunkins, and sarasa comets — all cold-hardy and compatible. Stop feeding entirely when water drops below 50°F; koi metabolism slows to near-standstill in cold water and undigested food causes serious problems over winter.
Find everything in our pond fish and koi collection, pond bacteria and water treatments at aquarium chemicals, and explore the rest of our aquatics collection.
